His Horizon - Con Riley Page 0,11

clambered down its far side. The rocks there were slippery, streaked with seaweed, the purple domes of anemones visible while their fronds were tucked away until the next high tide. Louise was nimble as she splashed through shallow rock pools, headed for the curving jut of the nearby headland. They’d played here so often as kids, their dad teaching them about all the good things to eat that were usually hidden—shrimps, seaweed, and winkles a diet he’d promised anyone could survive on. Now, Jude splashed through those same pools of chilly water, not yet sun-warmed as they would be by noon.

Rob cursed, and Jude looked back.

He didn’t seem half so carefree here as he had with Lou in the kitchen, or as relaxed as he had asleep in the boatshed. Rob’s arms were now outstretched as if he walked a tightrope, face drawn tight with concentration. He flailed, seaweed slippery under his feet, close to falling until Jude doubled back to save him.

It was his turn to extend a hand, Rob’s whole body rigid as he tried to keep from falling. Somehow, despite their previous standoff, teasing him came easily, as it had towards the end of the contest. “What’s this?” Jude asked. “Don’t you know how to keep your balance? Have I finally found something Daddy couldn’t buy you?”

“Fuck yourself, fish face,” Rob sing-songed, another reminder of a past life where ribbing each other had started to feel normal. Had been something Jude looked forward to. Had begun to feel like foreplay.

Jude kept hold of Rob even after he steadied, letting the distance between them and Louise increase. “Listen. You’re right. We do need to talk.”

Rob nodded. “We do.” The breeze ruffled hair that Jude recalled threading his hands through only once after wanting to for ages. He watched Rob do exactly that now, fingers pushing it back as he added, “Jude, you have to know that I got the shock of my life this morning when Lou said you’d actually come home.” His gaze darted to Louise in the distance. “I didn’t know how you’d react to me being here.” His lips pressed together like they’d used to while he cooked against the clock, focussed in a way he apparently never managed for his father. “I haven’t told her about us.” His eyes only met Jude’s for an instant. “What was I meant to do? Say, ‘Oh, by the way, things might get a bit awkward because I once snogged your brother, but don’t worry, he left before I got a chance to fuck him? We’ll keep things strictly business from now on?’” Rob pulled free and started to cross the rocks. “Besides,” he cast over his shoulder. “I figured out pretty quickly that she doesn’t know about you. I’m not here to out you.” He sounded firm, but he almost lost his footing again.

“Hold onto me,” Jude ordered before checking where Louise was. She’d already reached the headland where the coastal path led to the beach and campground. This was the perfect time to speak without her hearing, and perhaps his last chance. “Tell me, honestly, what are you doing here?” Rob had such a bright future in London, his dad’s restaurants a legacy no one sensible would abandon. “I don’t understand. What on earth is here for you?”

Rob’s gazed dropped to his lips.

Jude kept talking rather than poke at an ember that months away had done so little to tamp out. “I heard you won,” he said to change the subject. “The contest, I mean. Congratulations.”

“You could have told me that yourself at the time.”

Jude shook his head. “I’d left by then.” He’d left all right, and not for a chance to work on his suntan for months. Instead, that had been the start of a living nightmare.

“You could have called me,” Rob said dryly. “Or replied to one of the messages I left you. Didn’t you hear? There’s this brand-new thing called email. It’s only been around for a few decades, but some people say it’s handy.” He whipped out his phone, the sharp edge to his tone barely sheathed by humour. “And all the cool kids these days are using this thing called social media.” Arty snapshots of food filled a grid on the screen. “See? You take a photo with your phone, and then you add a message.” He thrust the phone towards Jude, a photo of Louise on the screen, her eyes crossed and a dab of white paint on the end