Zig kissed him on the neck.“This and that.Come on, I’m horny.”
It wasn’t easy, but Si disengaged himself.“You always saythis and that.What does that mean?”
Zig stood there, looking at him, his arms folded.“You want to do this now?Fine.He buys and sells stuff.Well, sells it, anyhow.”He grinned cheekily.
Si’s blood ran cold.“Stuff that don’t belong to him?Like they copper pipes and all from the site?What was stole from Adam’s dad?”
“Jesus, your accent sometimes.Oi, don’t look at me like that.I never said it was Adam’s dad’s stuff.Dad and Trent, they don’t tell me everything they get up to.Anyway, so what if it was?He’ll claim it on the insurance, get his money back, and then everyone’s happy.”
Si didn’t reckon Mr.Merchant was ever gonna be happy about having his stuff nicked.And anyway— “What about the insurance company?”
“Who gives a fuck about them?They’re minted.Stick it to the man, love.”
Si was pretty sure that wasn’t how insurance companies worked.If people made claims, they put up premiums, didn’t they?So stealing stuff was sticking it toeveryone.His heart plummeting, he tried to explain that to Zig.
Zig got hacked off with him.“You telling me that boss of yours ain’t loaded anyway?He can stand to lose a few grand.”
“But it’s theft.”
“Jesus, Si, grow up.Everyone’s on the make.You telling me your boss don’t fiddle his VAT?What goes around comes around.”
Si couldn’t believe it.Did Zig really think stealing was okay?No.No, he couldn’t mean that, and he hadn’t had nothing to do with whoever had ripped Adam’s dad off.
He couldn’t have.
But if he can’t see there’s anything wrong in stealing...What else did he think was okay?Gods, what else had Si been blind to, dazzled by good looks and a flirty smile?
Zig had his hands in his pockets, and his voice was strange—strained, almost—when he spoke again.“So, we good?”
They weren’t, were they?They weren’t good, and Adam wasn’t living here no more, and Si had gone and ballsed everything up for Adam’s dad by running his mouth off.
He could feel his heart tearing itself apart as he forced himself to say, like it didn’t matter, “Uh, yeah.Fine.Know what though, I reckon I’ll be heading back to Glastonbury soon.This being a brickie lark, it ain’t me.Gonna go to college, get a trade.Might as well go home and save on rent, like.”
Zig’s face froze for a mo, then he gave his usual blinding smile.“Yeah, no worries.See you around if you’re ever back this way again.It’s been fun.”
Then he strolled off into the night, leaving Si alone in the cold with his heart in pieces.
Present day
Sitting on Si’s sofa—the man himself a solid, comforting presence beside him—Zig had been more than half planning to sneak out of the living room in the night and into Si’s bed.The thought of those arms around him, that big body pressed against his, chasing away all the fears that’d followed him here from London...Well, Zig was only human, wasn’t he?And it was just sobloodygood to see Si again.Smiling at him, too.Hugging him, even.It was like the last six years and all the shit they’d brought him hadn’t happened.Having a night or two—or maybe more—with Si wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, would it?Not so long as he kept his head.Kept reminding himself it wasn’t gonna last.
But after Si went off to get those last beers, the mood had seemed to change, somehow.Had his mum been texting him again?No, he hadn’t taken his phone into the kitchen.Butsomethinghad made him avoid Zig’s eyes after that, though.
It was like...It was like something had happened to make Si see Zig differently.
Like the night they’d broken up, six years ago.
Zig had been actively avoiding thinking about that night.He’d had enough pain to deal with in the present, since then.But now...now the memories were flooding back regardless of whether he wanted them to.
Shame twisted his gut in knots.Looking back, the blinkers finally off, it was no wonder Si hadn’t wanted to be with him anymore.Zig could hardly believe the bloke had let him in the door when he’d turned up out of the blue, let alone allowed him to stay.
So, they’d sat in front of aTaskmasterrerun, drunk their beers—Si ended up leaving half of his—and said goodnight.
Zig spent the night on the sofa, cuddling a bloody cushion instead of Si’s solid form.Fuck it.At least this way Zig didn’t risk getting hurt when it inevitably went tits up, and Si deserved better than him, anyway.Maybe he’d leave in the morning.Carry on going west until he...What?Landed in the sea?
He fell asleep at last, and dreamt weird, watery dreams.
Si seemed in a better mood after he’d slept, which made one of them.“Mornin’,” he called out cheerfully, plonking a mug on the table by Zig’s head.“Still take your coffee black?”
