His Horizon - Con Riley Page 0,6
he hadn’t seemed at all spooked.
Rob hadn’t cared, Jude realised now, about winning or losing, and why would he need to with a chain of restaurants his for the asking? None of it had been serious to him, Jude decided as he lingered under the spray, replaying Rob’s wink after they’d both got through the semi-final. He also remembered the shared taste of champagne when Jude had forgotten his better judgement and finally let Rob kiss him.
He shut off the water and grabbed a towel.
Stupid. That had been so stupid.
Rob hadn’t meant anything by it. He flirted with everyone, his wide-eyed gaze making everyone around him blossom. Jude would have been better off not knowing what it felt like to have all that attention solely on him; easier if he hadn’t had that kiss to recall over and over. Besides, the last he knew from Louise was that the pub was barely breaking even. How the hell could she afford to pay someone used to central London wages? And why the hell would Rob waste his time in a run-down pub in the back of beyond? He could take his pick of his dad’s restaurants.
Maybe he’d misread his sister’s last business updates, Jude thought as he dried himself on a towel that was new and fluffy. He noticed a subtle anchor emblem embroidered on its hem that was also at the centre of each new wall tile. It was a classy look, he had to admit, rather than the homely hotchpotch he remembered. Trade must be improving if the pub could pay for a live-in chef and expensive upgrades like this bathroom remodel.
Louise passed in the hallway again. He opened the door, towel around his waist, and gestured over his shoulder. “Why’d you put in new bathroom tiles?”
“Let’s talk tomorrow. Today, I mean.” Louise yawned. “I’m going to bed. See if I can’t get a few hours of sleep before breakfast.” She stifled another. “If you’re sure you don’t want anything to eat now, that is. I could make you something?”
“No. No, thanks.” Jude’s stomach was in knots, this homecoming fraught enough without finding out his sister had reached out to someone he’d tried so hard to get out of his head. “I’ll sleep too.” He stepped back into the bathroom to dress, the boxers he pulled on sticking to his still-damp skin, his legs tanned a deep caramel compared to the white cotton. He emerged, still rubbing at his wet hair as he crossed the hall to his bedroom, lifting the heavy black door latch just as Louise called out.
“No, wait!”
The door swung open into a room that bore no relation to the one where he’d slept for his whole childhood.
“Jude….”
Instead of the twin bed and desk set he remembered, a generous king-size was covered by snowy linens. His posters and noticeboard were gone too, no sign of his college textbooks either. Instead, more thick towels were folded at the foot of the bed along with a menu. It too featured the anchor motif he’d first noticed in the shower room.
Jude stepped inside this alternate reality on legs that once again felt like rubber. “What’s this?” He snatched up the menu and scanned it from top to bottom. “Come and experience fine dining courtesy of ‘Britain’s best new chef’, Rob Martin, while you stay at the New Anchor,” he read. “The New Anchor? What’s new about it, Lou? And what’s all this about ‘fine dining’?” He turned in time to see Louise flinch, so he spoke more quietly, voice low-pitched and insistent. “We do pub grub, Lou. Pub grub, not fine dining courtesy of Rob fucking Martin.” Jude swiped drops of water away from his eyes. “You know, for the first few months I was away, it sounded like you were low-key worried about cash every time we spoke. But the summer season is almost here, and that’s our one chance to make some real money. You know it as well as I do. It’s why I came back—” he only just managed to rein in the words when I should be searching, but that guilt still clung, almost strangling him as he continued. “So imagine my confusion when I find half the pub remodelled and that you’re paying for a fine-dining chef we don’t need.” Maybe it was tiredness that made his control slip. “For fuck sake, if you’ve got money for all this, why’d you need me to come back? I could have—”
“You could have what?” Louise