“Even mine. How do you think I ended up inking up a storm in Camden in the first place?”
“I’ve got no fucking idea. You never told me.”
“Get your coat, then. I’ll tell you on the way.”
Brix hauled himself up the rocks, climbing a path he knew like the back of his hand. The sea had eroded some of the ancient formations he remembered from childhood, but this route to the highest cliff in the bay never seemed to change.
He reached the halfway ledge and glanced over his shoulder. Calum was a heartbeat behind him, his dark gaze more alive than Brix had seen so far, leading Brix to wonder why he hadn’t brought him out sooner. After all, Calum had been with him for six days now. “All right down there?”
“Fuck yeah. Keep going. I want to see what it’s like from the top.”
“Just a sec.” Brix veered off the steep path and rounded a crumbly verge. The opening to the small cave couldn’t be seen, but he knew where it was. Had done since he was knee-high to a grasshopper.
He crawled inside, feeling around for any sign that Peg had moved the counterfeit DVDs here after they’d disappeared from his garden the first night Calum had stayed at the cottage. His hand hit a thick plastic sheeting. The type Peg’s crew used to protect their goods when contrary bastards like Brix forced them to stash their shit in the vast Lusmoore cave network hidden amongst the cliffs. What lay beneath the sheeting felt like DVDs, though the few packages he felt could only hold half the amount Peg had dumped in his backyard.
Good. They’re moving them on. Brix never knew what drove him to check up on the family business he’d worked so hard to distance himself from, but it was something he found himself doing time and time again. Perhaps he was seeking reassurance. After all, a bunch of counterfeit DVDs was nothing, right? The caves had hidden far worse in years gone by.
“Brix? You in there?”
Brix withdrew his hands from the contraband like he’d been burned. He’d forgotten Calum waiting outside on the windy cliffs. He backed away from the loot and shuffled awkwardly out of the cave, barging straight into Calum, who wasn’t where he’d left him.
Calum steadied Brix with gentle hands. His light touch burned, quickening Brix’s pulse. Or maybe it was the sea air going to his head. It had been a few weeks since he’d made this climb. Yeah. That was it. It had to be, because there was no way the surprise in Calum’s eyes was mirroring the shock in Brix’s heart.
After a protracted moment, Brix regained his footing. Calum released him and shot him a quizzical frown. “What were you doing in there?”
“Just checking something.”
“‘Something’?”
“Aye. Plenty of shit I don’t want to talk about either. Fair’s fair, ain’t it?”
Calum scowled, though there was no anger in his gaze. “You got me there. I’ll keep my gob shut. I’m assuming you don’t want anyone to know you go crawling around the caves up here?”
“You assume right, but I’m not worried about you running your mouth. You barely speak to anyone.”
“I don’t know anyone.”
“You know me.”
Calum’s halfhearted glare mellowed to the crooked grin Brix had dreamed about in years gone by, the lopsided smile that made his eyes gleam. “I talk to you.”
Brix grunted and pushed Calum ahead of him on the cliff path. “Do you bollocks. You talk to Lee more than you do me.”
“Jealous?”
“What do you think?”
The spark in Calum’s gaze faded. “I was just messing, man. Didn’t mean nothing by it.”
He looked down at the hiking boots Brix had lent him, apparently lost in the art of putting one foot in front of the other. Brix frowned, nonplussed. Did I miss something?
Brix had no idea, but if the past few days had taught him anything about this new, subdued version of Calum, it was that these loaded silences needed to be quickly filled, or else hours could pass before Calum spoke again. Besides, was it really his business that Calum and Lee had hit it off like they were the long-lost mates?
But the masochist in Brix couldn’t let it go. “Has Lee been showing you some of her tricks?”
“Actually, yes. I thought she’d be more shady about her stuff, but she’s shown me loads.”
“Good.” Brix pulled himself through a narrow gap in the rocks. “That’s how we roll at Blood Rush. Share the love, you know? I want everyone to grow as an artist, not worry and bitch over who’s making the most dosh.”
