A Long Way Back (Unfinished Business #2) - Barbara Elsborg Page 0,48
on his trousers.
Do something! Say something! “Not with a woman?”
Tay shook his head.
“Not even with yourself?” Ink whispered.
Tay raised his eyebrows. “I’m not a saint.”
“I think saints probably wanked.”
Tay groaned.
“But you just kissed a guy and you liked it, right?” Ink said.
Tay hesitated, then nodded.
“What comes after is even better.”
“What’s that?”
“Salmon and salad. Oh, and a glass of white wine.”
“And then?”
“Another glass?” Ink pushed to his feet and put on the rest of his clothes.
Once Tay was dressed and had his shoes on, Ink held out his hand. Tay grasped his fingers and Ink pulled him up. When Tay wobbled, Ink wrapped his arms around him without thinking. “Sorry!”
But Tay clung to him. “I’m not.”
“You’ve convinced me that you’re over the me-not-touching-you thing,” Ink whispered. “But don’t let anyone else touch you.” Not until I’ve gone.
Tay smiled.
WHILE TAY WAS SHOWERING, INK fed Dog, put the towels in the dryer in the laundry room and brought the swimming costumes back to the flat. Then he started to get the meal ready. It was easier to think straight when Tay wasn’t next to him. It was as if the guy exuded a raging torrent of pheromones every time he exhaled. Ink’s head spun in his vicinity. He liked the feeling, but it scared him. Keeping control kept him safe. He had to remember that. Nothing lasts. He had to remember that too.
He made a salad dressing with oil, vinegar, lemon juice and mustard, then scattered sunflower and pumpkin seeds and a few pine nuts over the mix of lettuce leaves. He’d really missed eating lettuce. It didn’t last long enough out of a fridge for him to justify buying it. But sometimes, if he saw a pre-washed bag reduced, especially if it had a sachet of dressing with it, he treated himself, and ate it from the bag with the plastic fork he’d cherished for five months until it broke.
Oh God, shut up about fucking lettuce. Something has started here.
Tay came into the kitchen on his crutches, his dark hair roughly tousled, his skin glowing. The sun had caught him.
“Do some stretches while I shower,” Ink said.
“More exercise?”
“I think getting glasses from the cupboard, then the wine from the fridge and pouring us both a drink is an excellent use of your muscles.”
Tay laughed. “Really, Mr I-don’t-drink?”
“It’s your fault. One glass yesterday, and now I know I like it, I’m doomed to want more.”
“Bit like my kiss?”
Ink felt heat rush into his cheeks. “Yes.”
“Good.”
Ink walked up to him. “We start slow, right?”
“Right.”
Ink lifted Tay’s hand, kissed his little finger, smiled, then went to check the salmon.
After Ink had showered, he retrieved the towels from the machine and brought them back to the flat with his face pressed against them. Warm, clean, soft, sweet. He sighed. How easy it was to be seduced by simple pleasures. He walked into the kitchen to find Tay had laid the table, poured the wine, and was on the phone. Ink pulled the salmon from the oven and checked it was done.
Tay joined him at the table. He looked shattered now, as if he’d fall asleep where he sat. What had happened in that short while?
“My mother again,” he said.
“Is she exhausting to talk to? You look tired.”
“She was checking you hadn’t drowned me.”
Ink huffed.
“Not really. She’s ecstatic that you took me to the pool and said to tell you thanks and give Dog a tickle from her. My father asked me if I’d sent in the details for the criminal record check and told me to be careful.”
“You don’t do what your parents tell you to, then?”
“Not since I was twenty-six.”
“Are you by any chance, twenty-seven?”
Tay smiled.
Ink lifted his glass and held it out towards Tay. “A toast. To the most inspiring, amazing, brave, intrepid individual among us. Duckie.” He took the duck from his pocket and put it on the table.
Tay chuckled. “To Duckie.”
“So tomorrow…” Ink tucked into the salmon. Tay’s pupils were tiny. He’d taken something.
“I have to work in the morning and your bed’s being delivered.”
“We’ll go out in the afternoon.”
“Okay.”
“How are you feeling? Sure you’re okay?”
“I think today has caught up with me. That’s the most I’ve done since before I fell. Everything hurts.”
Tay’s speech was slightly slurred too. Fuck.
“Have you taken something?”
“Yeah, for the pain.”
“I’m sorry if I made you do too much,” Ink said.
“I need to push myself if I’m to get rid of the chair and the crutches.”
“Want to watch a film after we’ve eaten? Have another massage?” Have