“I don’t have his number.”
“Why not? Thought you were old friends?”
“Not quite. We worked together once upon a time.” I kept it vague. If Safia hadn’t filled Paddy in, that was his problem. “I guess we are friends, though. Maybe.”
Okay. I was getting less vague. And Paddy possessed a penetrating stare Safia’s terminal impatience denied her. He needled me with it, silent and searing. Then wordlessly picked up my phone, typing in Charlie’s birthday to unlock it. He loaded Fen’s number into my contacts and opened the messaging app. “Just so happens we’re sitting in the hot spot for phone signal, and the spare room is the other, by the window. What do you want to say? I’ll type it out for you.”
“Thought you hated typing on phones?”
“I do, but I’ll make an exception for you, brother.”
Paddy wasn’t my brother, but I’d often wished Damon had been like him—kind, strong, hardworking. Annoying in ways that didn’t set my entire life on fire. “Just tell him…uh, just say thanks for the hospitality. I appreciate it, and…fuck, I don’t know.”
“That’ll do.” Paddy thumbed out the message and hit send before I could catch a glimpse of the words he’d typed.
He passed the phone back with a cheeky grin and when I scanned the screen, I saw why.
Rami:Thanks for the hospitality. I owe you one. Collect your debt whenever you like x
Git. In my head, I curled my hand into a fist and punched Paddy’s massive bicep as hard as I could. But when I reached for the anger, it wasn’t there.
After all, he’d only written what I would have if I hadn’t been stuck on a loop of introspection. And the kiss at the end?
Wishful thinking, becausefuckI wished I’d kissed him goodbye. Even if I never saw him again, at least I’d know if his lips were as soft as they looked, and pondering on that kept me occupied for the rest of the evening.
It was late by the time I relinquished Lalla and drifted across my sister’s yard to the log cabin she called the spare room. Charlie was sleeping with Addie in the main house, gifting me a welcome respite from parental night duty, and I couldn’t deny the cabin was everything I’d dreamed of when I’d paced my city centre flat with a pissed-off baby in my arms. Warm, secluded, and darker than hell once I’d turned the lamp off, it was fucking heaven.
I plugged my phone into the socket built into the wall. Buoyed by the knowledge that signal was shite up here, I’d resisted checking it every ten seconds for a response to the Paddy-fuelled message I’d sent Fen, but the blank screen now was still a kick in the dick I didn’t need.
Twat.
Me. Not him. I ditched my phone on the dresser, stripped off my borrowed clothes, and crawled, naked, into the timber bed. The sheets were cool against my skin, and smelled of woodsmoke and…Fen.Wow. You’re obsessed, mate.Damnit. How had that happened? I’d been hot for him since we’d met, but I wasn’t a dude who nurtured attachments. When it came to matters of the heart, I was a lone wolf. Always had been. Grindr was my best friend when I had the time. When I didn’t, I was happy alone.
But…I wasn’t happy now. The unanswered text festered in my mind, and despite the brain-aching fatigue smothering me, I couldn’t sleep.
I was wide awake when my phone flashed at 2 a.m.
Probably an email. Ignore it.
I got up and padded across the cabin, the chilled air biting into my bare skin with a discomfort that was somehow stimulating. Or maybe my cock was as much of a weirdo as I was. Either way, I was semi-hard for no reason whatsoever.
My phone was still flashing. I picked it up, expecting disappointment.
A rush hit my heart, hard and fast, and yeah…maybe my cock too.
Fen:I’ll find you x
Rami:I’ll wait x
6
Fen
Two days. That was how long it took me before I invented a fictitious reason to drive my Land Rover up the mountain to check on Rami. Knowing he was still there and that he wanted to see me had settled the dancing nerves in my heart while I’d tried to figure out a rational-sounding explanation for appearing unannounced at Safia’s place, but my pulse still pounded in my ears as the homestead came into view.
I’d brought firewood, despite the fact I’d helped Paddy stack his log store two weeks ago with enough to last him till spring, a reality he somehow managed to ignore as he waved me through the gate and glanced at my loaded back seat.
He opened the door and hoisted the unnecessary sacks onto his Hulk-esque shoulders. “Rami’s up the barns,” he said. “Loving life, no doubt.”