“ApermanentSharpie.”
I winced.
Rami shook his head. “These fucking kids are feral. I’m pretty sure Charlie will have grown fangs by the time we go home.”
“And when’s that?”
“The weekend, maybe? I need to speak to my boss, but the signal is so bad up here, and Safia’s Internet is awful, and…shit, sorry, you don’t need to hear me rant.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Well, I do. I want you to look at me and see the dude you wanted to date, not an angry yuppie trapped up a mountain.”
“You’re not a yuppie. For starters, you’re not posh enough, and I hate to say it, but I think you’re too old to qualify.”
“I never pegged you for a pedantic twat.”
“You never pegged me at all.” Too late, I realised how filthy it sounded. Then Rami’s rich, dirty laugh rang out and I had no regrets.
“Well, if I’m on a promise,” he said. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that date after all.”
“Just want me for my body, Stone?”
He shrugged. “There’s nojustabout you, Hawthorne.”
I liked it better when he called me Fen, but the sentiment made my chest feel warm. “That’s sweet. Listen, I’ve got to go, but I’m heading into town around three. Come down if you want to join me. If not…I’ll see you around, okay? Maybe. If you don’t leave without saying goodbye.”
“I’d never do that.”
“No?”
Rami slid his hands off mine and gripped my wrists, yanking me closer to him with a sudden strength that made me stumble. “No,” he whispered. “One way or another, you’re stuck with me, I just…I don’t know how much of me I have left to give yet.”
He was so close I could’ve kissed him.
I settled for blurting out words with little conscious thought. “So don’t give me anything. Justbe, and come find me when you’re ready.”
* * *
Rami
Of course I went to find him, propelled down the mountain, as if I needed any encouragement, by Safia’s foot up my arse.“We’re making popcorn, watchingElf, and going to bed early, Charlie included. Stay out all night if you want.”
She’d waggled her eyebrows.
I’d scowled so hard I’d nearly given myself a stroke, and yet here I was, hiking in the wind with a condom in my wallet.
Not that I’d put it there any time in recently. Lord knew how long it had been there, but still, I couldn’t deny that the prospect of a date with Fen ending on a promise had my blood running so hot I barely felt the bitter winter wind as it blasted my face.
The mile-long hike passed quicker than I was prepared for too. Before I knew it, I was at Fen’s gate, heart pummelling my ribcage, searching the horizon for any sign of his glorious shoulders.
All I got for my trouble was the beauty of the land where he lived. Thanks to the winter sun the snow had almost melted, leaving behind the lush green of the forest trees that covered Fen’s side of Christmas Mountain. His house was nestled amongst them like a picture book, but as pretty as it was, I was craving a different kind of beautiful.
I vaulted the gate, glad my trainers had survived the great blizzard. Paddy had feet the size of canoes and I hadn’t fancied rocking up to a date wearing Safia’s lilac wellies.
The ground was still wet. My Adidas squelched in the grass as I approached Fen’s house, then it occurred to me that he might not be there. His work day took him to the other side of the mountain, to the timber farm that had been in his family for generations, a route he’d walked when I’d been here last, but with his Land Rover nowhere in sight, I wondered if he’d driven.
Then I wondered if he’d left without me. Was I late?