“Hey! I’m so glad you could come.” Abi wrapped Alex up in a tight hug as soon as he set foot through the door. “It wouldn’t have been the same without you.” She kissed his cheek before letting him go and then gave Jake a hug.
Alex set his bag down and walked over to where Nick was making a round of coffees. He slapped him on the shoulder. “All right, mate?”
“Yeah, you?” Nick smiled at him and passed him a mug. “Have this. I’ll put the kettle on again for the rest of them.”
Alex eyed it and scrunched his nose. “No beer?”
“It’s in the fridge, but sadly not cold enough yet. I’ve put some in the freezer too.”
“Excellent. Where’s Riley?” He glanced round for the others. As an afterthought he added, “And Dylan?”
Jake snorted from next to him and brushed past to take his stuff upstairs.
Nick poured two more mugs of coffee and pointed up where Jake had just gone. “They’re both upstairs. Dylan’s gone to the loo, I think, so steer clear of the bathroom for a bit.” He said it with a grimace. “Riley must be in his bedroom. If you’re going up, you can tell him his coffee’s ready.”
“Which one’s he in?”
Abi and Nick always had the master bedroom, which was fair as it was her dad’s lodge and all the rest of them had to pay for was heating and food. The other three rooms—a double, single, and a twin—they drew straws for.
“Riley’s in the twin with Jake.”
Alex reached down to pick up his rucksack. Might as well take it up with him. “So, where am I this time?”
Nick leaned back against the worktop and grinned. “You’re in the double again, you lucky bastard.”
“Awesome.” Next to the master bedroom, the double was the best one to get. He set his coffee on the table and shouldered his bag. “Be back down in a sec.”
Taking the stairs two at a time, he hurried to the top, stopping briefly to throw his bag onto the big double bed in his room. Soft voices drifted out from the room next to his, and he followed the sounds down the hallway. Leaning unnoticed on the door frame, he watched Riley and Jake for a second.
Jake sat hunched over, searching for something in his bag—probably the plug for his phone charger, seeing as he now had the cable in his hand. Riley lay stretched out on his bed, eyes closed and arms above his head. A flash of skin caught Alex’s eye as Riley fidgeted, and he glanced down to see the pale tone of Riley’s stomach where his T-shirt rode up.
Alex never understood why Riley complained about his lack of defined abs. They weren’t the be-all and end-all. As far as Alex was concerned—and he had tried to tell him many, many times—Riley had a sexy stomach, firm and solid, with that oh-so tempting happy trail that stood in stark contrast to his skin. He certainly had nothing to moan about.
“See something you like?” Jake grinned as Alex jumped, startled.
He hadn’t realised they’d noticed him. His cheeks heated, which was ridiculous, he hadn’t been doing anything—it was just Riley, for God’s sake. “In here?” Alex laughed it off. “No chance.”
Riley pushed himself up onto his elbows, his gaze flicking down to where his stomach was still on show, then back to Alex. The expression on his face was hard to read, and for some reason the tension in the room seemed to have ratcheted up in the last few seconds.
Alex got the feeling he was missing something.
Then Riley sat up and smiled at him, and the tension vanished just like that. “Looks like there are perks in working for your old man, after all.” He stood and walked over to give Alex a hug.
“Seems so.” Alex gripped him tight. It had been a while since they’d touched like this, and he’d missed it. Riley gave the best hugs. Alex let himself sink into it.
Jake cleared his throat and Riley immediately stepped back.
Jake stood. “I’m going back downstairs. So, feel free to carry on with your beautiful reunion.” He waved a hand at the two of them, where they still stood close together.
Riley raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything, instead moving back to sit on the edge of his bed.
“Oh, that reminds me.” Alex caught Riley’s attention, then gestured behind him down the stairs. “Nick said your coffee was done.”
“Thanks. We might as well go back down, then.”
Alex nodded and turned to go, glancing back over his shoulder to check Riley was following.
Riley smiled at him. “I see you got the double again. Lucky bastard.”
