Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,89

occupied.

It seemed that something was against Mathieu, however, because Nathan was waiting inside the kitchen for them with a knowing smirk and a small chuckle. Solomon groaned and buried his head in the cupboard under the pretense of needing a drink of water, while Mathieu turned about three shaded of scarlet and stammered out, “I’m-I’m gonna go say, uh, go say goodbye.” Ducking out of the room, he practically ran into Emilia. Taking a deep breath, he brushed his hair back and tried to get a hold of himself. “Uh, where’s your mother, sweetie?” He asked her nicely.

“She’s in the foyer. Where’s Prince?” Emilia asked, already trotting passed him to the kitchen.

Rolling his eyes, he muttered a ‘thanks’ before stopped up in the room the wrangle on his boots. It was painful with the cuts on his feet, but he managed a lot faster than the day before. He rather wished that it had taken longer, giving him more time away from the other men. But it didn’t, so he went downstairs to find Veronica. “Hello?” He poked his head into the sparsely furnished room.

“Here, lovely.” She stood from where she was kneeling in front of the chest, seemingly digging around in there for a set of matching placemats, and straightened her dress. “Are you guys leaving already?” Veronica asked, hands on her robust hips.

Mathieu smiled politely at her. “Yeah, I think so. I wanted to say goodbye and thank you for the hospitality.”

“Oh, it’s always my pleasure! The boys always breathe a breath of fresh air back into this place. And Solomon gets Emilia off of my hands for a bit.” She said with a laugh. “I hope I get to see you again. Take care of them, won’t you? Especially the blond one; he needs it.”

“Eh?” Mathieu asked, wondering if this woman was perhaps psychic and knew what had happened. What bad luck, he thought, considering he had just resolved to not think about it again unless Solomon brought it up.

“You’re the first boyfriend he’s brought along. You two are a cute couple, even if I’m not really a supporter of gays.”

“What? Wait! No! It’s not like that! I mean—yes, I’m gay—but it’s not like! I mean, ugh!” His words had started to trip over themselves, and he finally threw his hands up in surrender. It seemed the right words weren’t going to come out, so he just gave up.

Her face was skeptical. “Really? You mean to tell me that all of the blushing you two are always doing over each other, and the flirting, means nothing? Nathan said you two sharing a room is pretty common, even.” She raised an eyebrow. “I barely saw you two at dinner, and even I thought…”

“It’s more in a platonic way…” Mathieu said, averting his eyes.

Veronica smoothed her dress again, frowning. “Well…I don’t really know what to say.” She said. “I mean what I said, thought. You two would be a cute couple.”

Mathieu nodded and wrinkled his nose in an embarrassed way. “Er, thanks.”

“You’d better get going,” she suggested. “They’re rather impatient.” Her hand landed on his shoulder in a supportive way. “Good luck.” It was obvious she meant with more than the trip.

“Hurry up, Mathieu.” Nathan called from the other end of the inn.

“Told you.” Veronica gave him a wink as he ran outside to where the other two were waiting for him. Grabbing the hand Solomon was holding down to him, he hopped onto the back of the tuvash. That small touch had them looking away awkwardly.

“Er, hey.” Solomon looked over his shoulder at Mathieu.

“Huh?”

The blond gave him a quick peck on the lips, blushing and embarrassed. “Ready to go?”

“Depends, what was that about?” Mathieu asked, clearly confused. He wasn’t protesting, just off kilter again.

“Just…felt like it.” Solomon said, trying not to meet his eyes. “Is it okay with you?”

Looking over at the redhead who was watching them intently, Mathieu flushed and looked away. “Yeah. I think I’m okay with it.” Ducking his head, he tucking his face against Solomon’s back, hiding how red his face and neck had become. If Nathan had said something to the blond, he owed the redheaded man big time. If not, he was still a neon shade of red. He would need to corner Nathan later and get the scoop.

As they started to ride Mathieu cleared his throat. He wanted to talk, but not about the kiss. It seemed those worked better when they weren’t talked about. So, he settled on a topic