Chapter Twenty
Gus
In the morning I woke Billy up and pulled him beneath me again. His bemusement was sexy as hell, but it didn’t take him long to figure out what I was getting at. “Again?”
I grinned, despite the sleepless night I’d spent staring at him. “If you’re down with it.”
Billy was down. I took it easy on him in case he was feeling the effects of the night before, but he didn’t need kid gloves. Whatever anxiety had plagued him until last night seemed to have gone.
After, he curled against me, panting. I rubbed his back—it had become one of my favourite things to do—and contemplated the ceiling while I waited for him to come back to me. We were sticky, sweaty, and in desperate need of a shower, but it was Sunday. I’d lie here all day if he wanted to.
Billy dozed for a while, but eventually my grumbling stomach disturbed him enough to slide off me and stomp downstairs to make breakfast. As ever, I’d lost track of what we had in the fridge, so the smell of bacon drifting up the stairs caught me off guard.
I rolled out of bed and into the shower. By the time I got downstairs, Billy had plated up bacon, fried eggs, and enough mushrooms for a small army. “Wow. When did you go shopping?”
“I didn’t. The stand next to Mia’s was the dude from the farm shop. He hates Keane and loves dogs. If I wasn’t nearly certain it was you who stole Jessie, I’d think it was him.”
“Maybe it was.”
“Fuck off, Gus.”
“Rude.”
“If you say so.” Billy slid a plate towards me. “Made you breakfast, though. So I’m forgiven, right?”
“You were never in trouble.”
“Makes a change.”
I didn’t like how his face was sitting. As if he really thought that anything that had happened yesterday was his fault. I left my breakfast where it was and rounded the counter to hug him, but before I could get my arms around him, my phone rang from where I’d abandoned it by the sink last night.
It was Luke’s ringtone.
“Answer it,” Billy said. “It might be important.”
I doubted it, unless something huge had happened in the twelve hours since I’d last spoken to Luke, but I took the call. And then wished I hadn’t as my BFF reminded me I’d agreed to go out and quote a complete re-roof on an empty property the next town over. “Remind me again why I have to do it today?”
“The owner lives in London during the week. He’s driving back tonight.”
I sighed, letting my gaze drift to Billy.
Luke chuckled. “Come on, mate. It’ll take an hour at most. You know I’d do it myself, but I promised your sister we’d catch the early ferry tomorrow, and we’ve got a bunch of stuff to sort out in the shop before we can head home and pack.”
“I know, mate. That’s why I offered to do it in the first place. I’d just forgotten why it had to be today. Will you get me some apricot croissants?”
“They’re on the list. Anything else?”
“Just the usual. Mia knows what I like. When are you back?”
“Friday. Unless you need help with work. Let me know, yeah?”
“Will do.” I ended the call, half a mind on the fact that I’d have to leave Billy for a few hours, and the other on the French goodies I’d have in my cupboard by next weekend. I was still getting used to Mia playing the role our mother had for years with her monthly trips across the Channel. Before she’d come back, I’d settled for ordering beers online, but it had never felt the same. Now it was a weird mix of nostalgia, grief, and warmth, and I never knew quite what to do with it.
Billy nudged his way into my personal space. He wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled my neck. He didn’t speak, but he didn’t have to. His lips at my neck were enough to distract me from just about anything.
