The heat in my cheeks caught Laura’s eye almost before I’d sensed it myself. She pinched me with a smirk that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Gaz. “Do I take it that you’re not here for your dinner?”
Despite the lingering disquiet in my veins, I couldn’t help but grin back at her. “Nah. I’m just here for the car.”
“Hot date?”
“I hope so, but I’m okay with anything warm.”
Laura beamed and opened the fridge. She pulled out a giant Tupperware box and pushed it against my chest. “Casserole, in case you don’t get round to cooking.”
“Love you, Ma.”
I took the Tupperware and escaped to my car, still blushing like a motherfucker, though I couldn’t deny that Laura’s obvious glee had made me feel a hundred times better. She’d always been my biggest champion, more so than my real mother, but she’d never held back from telling me when shit was a bad idea.
The drive to the commune took barely ten minutes, a far cry from my perilous bike ride the night before. I drifted through the orchard, buzzing at the prospect of seeing Kim. A few people were lingering outside their trailers, cooking over open fires now the rain had eased. Some waved, some nodded and smiled. Most paid me no heed, like Kim had nighttime visitors all the time. Perhaps he did.
Stop it.
I silenced the devil on my shoulder, a leftover gremlin that Rich had so kindly left behind. I believed in Kim and me with every day that passed, and I’d be fucked if I’d wreck it with the crazed paranoia I’d run all the way to Porthkennack to escape. Red was right: Kim deserved better than that—we both did.
Shame Kim wasn’t home. My knock went unanswered, and after a brief wait, I opened the trailer door to empty space and silence.
Disappointment surged through me, my craving for Kim at an all-time high, but there was little I could do but stick Laura’s Tupperware in his tiny fridge and search for some entertainment while I waited for him. I ended up in the back room, camera in hand, lanterns lit. It truly was a beautiful space, and I entertained myself by taking macro shots of the bristles of Kim’s used paintbrushes.
And that was exactly how he found me a few hours later. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea it was so late, or I’d have called.”
In truth, I’d lost track of time too, and I’d given up checking my phone when it had become obvious that it wasn’t going to ring. “Don’t worry about it. I found something to do.”
“So I see.” Kim dropped his bag on the floor and ventured closer to peer over my shoulder. “Is that lens one of the close-up whatsits?”
“A macro? Yeah. Wanna see?”
“Damn right.”
I passed Kim the camera and tried not to get a boner over how good my two favourite things lookedtogether. “What do you think?”
Kim lowered the camera and blinked. “That’s some crazy shit. It looks like tie-dyed hay.”
“Cool, eh?”
“As cool as you are.”
I snorted. “Not very, then. Gaz has been calling me a bloody anorak my whole life.”
“Gaz is a dick.”
“There is that.” I reclaimed my camera, turned it off, and set it safely aside. “A lovable one, though. Both my brothers are. Can’t stand them, but I’d never be without the daft twats.”
“I have mates like that.”
“Makes me glad to be a loner. How was your day?”
“Long.” Kim ran a hand through his hair with a weary sigh. “Inking and sanding . . . think I’ll be doing both in my sleep tonight.”
“Can we do it together?”
Kim’s face brightened considerably. “You’re staying?”
“If you’ll have me.”