Alex squinted in the darkness; Riley’s body was just a blurry outline at the side of the bed. He wanted Riley under the covers, next to him.
“Don’t go,” he managed, his words slurred and difficult to get out, and he pushed the quilt down a bit for Riley to get in. The next thing he felt was Riley’s warmth beside him, and he rolled over to spoon up behind him. So much better.
With a happy sigh, Alex drifted back to sleep.
The bathroom door closed heavily and Alex woke with a start. He smiled and stretched, expecting to find a warm, sleeping Riley next to him, but instead got empty sheets. “Fuck.”
He rolled onto his back with a sigh. Just a fucking dream. It had seemed so real, and eerily familiar. Had he dreamt that before? More likely he was so used to having Riley crash in his bed after a few beers that he just expected him to be there.
Ignoring the ache of disappointment at waking up alone, Alex threw the quilt off and sat up.
He groaned as he recalled getting all sombre and introspective last night, analysing Riley’s behaviour for hidden meaning. God, he should cut down on the alcohol this weekend before he did or said something stupid that he couldn’t take back. The last thing he and Riley needed was a repeat of the last time they were here.
They had things to sort out, and getting the silent treatment again wasn’t in Alex’s plans. The toilet flushed, and whoever it was must have gone back to bed, because when Alex got up and opened his door, the lodge was silent again. He nipped back in and checked the time on his phone—08.15. Not that early, but way too early to be up on a Sunday.
Alex went to the loo and then contemplated getting back in bed, but he felt too awake to go back to sleep. The sun was out and he felt jittery, as though he needed to be doing something. He swapped his T-shirt for a long-sleeved top and pulled on the pyjama bottoms he’d kicked off during the night. After grabbing a thick pair of socks—because despite the heating, it was still chilly—he quietly made his way downstairs.
The curtains were open in the living area, and the view that greeted him made him stop and stare for a minute. A thick layer of frost coated everything. The grass and the trees sparkled white in the rays of the early-morning sun.Beautiful.He could look out at that for hours and not get bored. The undisturbed peace of the scene calmed his racing thoughts and made him want to just sit and relax. Maybe try and soak up some of the tranquillity before the others got up.
Coffee first, though.
Alex hummed softly as he waited for the kettle to boil, smiling to himself and shaking his head. As if Riley had been jealous of that guy in the bar—it was a ridiculous thought. Thank God Alex hadn’t actually said that out loud to anyone. He refused to acknowledge the small part of his mind that insisted he hadn’t imagined Riley’s jealousy. Alcohol played tricks on the mind; he should know that by now.
With his coffee in hand, Alex walked back over to the picture window and perched on the edge of the sofa, letting the frosty scene outside capture his attention. If he looked hard enough, he could spot the spider webs glistening on the bushes. It looked like a different world out there. The sun would burn it all away in a couple of hours or so, but maybe, if they were lucky, they might get snow while they were here. Just as long as it was gone by the time they had to drive home. Walking in it was one thing; he didn’t fancy driving his dad’s car back through heavy snow.
Alex reached for his coffee, still half looking outside, and somehow between the table and his mouth, he managed to spill some down his front. “Fucking hell!”
He hurriedly set his mug back down and jumped up, plucking the scalding hot material away from his chest before giving in and taking the whole thing off. The heating had kicked in now, and the room wasn’t as cold as he expected. Still a little on the cool side, but it beat having boiling coffee next to his skin.
A glance down told him it wasn’t too bad—bright red, but the sting was already starting to fade. He wiped himself off with a dry bit of his T-shirt, picked up his coffee, and moved closer to the window. The glass was cold to the touch when he put his hand against it, and he let it rest there for a while before placing his icy palm on his chest. “Ahh.”
He smiled as the coolness soothed his skin, and closed his eyes for a second.
A creak on the stairs sounded loud in the stillness of the living room. Alex looked up in time to see Riley coming down in his socks, pyjama bottoms, and a hoodie.
Riley stopped when he saw Alex, then almost fell down the bottom two steps, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. “Oh. I didn’t realise anyone else was up.” Riley’s gaze dropped to Alex’s bare stomach, then a bit lower, before quickly moving back up to his face.
All Alex’s thoughts from last night flooded back, and his heart rate picked up. He swallowed and turned to face Riley fully, now extremely aware of how much of his body was on display. His pyjama bottoms were slightly too big and the waistband sat low on his hips. With his T-shirt being so long, it hadn’t mattered before, but looking down now, the bottoms were verging on indecent. Not that this would have bothered him in the slightest before, but with Riley darting glances at him, he felt exposed, on display. It also made his stomach flutter in that delicious, anticipatory way.
He cleared his throat, not knowing how to handle the situation. The murmured voices upstairs meant the rest of their friends would be down soon, and Alex really didn’t want to start this conversation with the chance of them being interrupted. He still wasn’t 100 per cent sure he wanted to start it at all.
Finally, he settled on, “You’re up early. Couldn’t sleep?”
Wow, he sounded stilted to his own ears. Riley must be able to sense his discomfort.
Yet if he did, he chose not to comment, shrugging a shoulder instead. “Yeah. Weird dreams.”
“Me too,” Alex replied automatically, then blushed as he remembered what they’d been about. To his surprise, Riley’s cheeks looked a little flushed as well, and he turned abruptly and headed into the kitchen.
“Want another coffee?” Riley called back over his shoulder as he flicked the kettle on to boil.
Alex glanced down into his mug—still more than half-full. “No, I’m good, thanks.”
He stood and watched Riley putter about the kitchen, getting a mug and coffee out of the cupboard. All the while he wondered if it would be weird to nip upstairs and get a clean T-shirt. Thankfully, Abi and Nick came downstairs a couple of minutes later and saved him the trouble.
Nick grumbled, “God, do we really need to see all that first thing in the morning?”
“Oh, I think it’s a lovely view.” Abi laughed and sent an appreciative glance at Alex’s six-pack before waving a hand at the scene outside. “I love a frosty morning.”
