“I know you can hear me.” Liam didn’t care if he sounded like a hard-ass. This was unacceptable. He couldn’t believe Mark had sided with this guy and allowed him a chance. “I’m not going to wait around for you. I have work to do.”
Crickets. And soup-slurping snores. Nathan put his arm over one of his ears to block out the noise.
“You have left me no choice then.”
Liam walked into the bathroom. He grabbed the empty trash can and placed it in the shower. He turned on the water. Like his own shower, it took a few minutes to get warm and the first gust was pure ice cold. During the darkest winter months, Liam would force himself to take cold showers to wake himself up. He felt the water with his finger and lurched it back.
He didn’t warn Nathan when he doused him with a bucket of cold water. The liquid launched into the air and landed smack on his bum. Nathan jumped up and screamed at the top of his lungs. He tripped inside his tangled up pants and fell to the floor.
“Bloody hell!” Nathan yelled.
“My thoughts exactly. You’re late. You were supposed to be at the farm thirty minutes ago.”
“I think I have hypothermia.”
“That will be the least of your problems if you don’t get to the farm immediately.”
“You could’ve tapped me on the bloody shoulder!” Nathan pulled up his pants. He rubbed his temples. “Jesus.”
“Keep your voice down. You’re going to wake Mark and the kids.”
“I think I should. I have to warn them that their uncle is a fucking psychopath.” Nathan stumbled to the bed and plopped down. His soggy underwear squished on the sheets, making him leap up again. “Shit!”
“Get dressed and get to the farm. We have heaps of work to do. I will see you out there in twenty minutes.” Liam stopped before the left the room. He found a picture of Mariel on a hiking trip on the nightstand. “What are you doing with this?”
“I, uh, the frame was dusty. I was going to clean it.”
Maybe Nathan was the fucking psychopath here. Liam got in his face, where he was met with a gust of alcohol-soaked breath. “Have you been drinking?”
“No. That’s my antibacterial mouthwash. It’s very strong.”
“I don’t know what you’re doing here. All I know is that you came out of nowhere and snuck onto our property yesterday. You have to earn my trust, because right now, you don’t have it. Any questions?”
“Yes. Does my twenty minutes start now or once you leave?”
Liam turned and walked out. He wished he had another bucket of cold water.
* * *
Twenty-five minutes later,Nathan met him at the barn. Liam was going to say something, but it wasn’t worth it. He was honestly surprised he was only five minutes late. Nathan almost tripped over a patch of grass. He inhaled a puff from his cigarette and walked with a wobble that reminded Liam of Jack Sparrow inPirates of the Caribbean, or Johnny Depp in real life. How much “antibacterial mouthwash” did he imbibe?
“Are you sure you want to wear that?” Liam gestured to his jeans and long-sleeve T-shirt that had FCUK written across it. That stood for French Connection, a very posh brand of clothing Liam had seen on people in Wellington nightclubs.
“If we’re critiquing outfits, can we start on yours next?” Nathan pointed at Liam’s mud-splattered jeans and wrinkled flannel shirt.
“You’re going to get dirty. You’re going to be on your hands and knees today.”
“You sound like my ex-boyfriend.”
Liam felt his ears get red. He got a flash of what that entailed early this morning, and he might’ve just thought about Nathan with his pants down again.
Nathan smirked with his cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He put his sunglasses on, covering his bloodshot eyes.
“The sun isn’t up,” Liam said.
“Yet.” Nathan pushed them up his nose. “I’m prepared.”
“Are you hung over?”
