“Because I’d be taking from someone who might not be in the right place to make decisions. I’m not talking about…” I tap a finger against my noggin, and he fills in my blanks.
“Mental capacity.”
“Yeah.” That legal tactic already crushed him. There’s no way I’m adding to those bruises. “Because that’s what a real friend would do instead of”—wanting to finish what we started—“accepting gifts from you. Want to know what that real friend would do?” He nods, and I channel my cousin. “A real friend would warn you to button your lip instead of making hasty offers. He’d tell you to raise your guard even higher.”
Does Dair do that?
No, he fucking doesn’t.
He’s in my space before I know it, and I give Kev another reason to put me in a headlock, because when Dair’s head tilts up, mine tilts down.
We kiss, and yeah, it’s over way too fast. I’ll add that regret to my ever-growing tally. But I have to accept that’s a problem all of my own making. I’m the twat who just told Dair not to trust anybody, and he backs off, nodding again as if he finally believes me.
Immediately, he comes back.
He’s up on tiptoes, only this time to deliver a tight hug, and he really is a lot stronger than he looks. I’m breathless when he backs off for a second time.
“You’re not taking, Vincent,” he tells me firmly. “I’mchoosing to give.” He heads for the door and slips his shoes on. “So you keep those chairs. And the table, plus everything else. I don’t need them.”
That’s the opposite of him keeping his guard raised. It’s also annoying that by the time I stamp into my own shoes and grab my jacket, he’s outside already.
“Stop.”
That’s another order he doesn’t follow, although he does turn around. Dair walks backwards, his eyebrows raised all while adding distance that I can’t help thinking I’ve created.
That gets me moving faster. I jog to catch up. “Where are you going?”
“Back to work.”
“Another care shift?” He can’t have slept much since his last one ended.
“No. I meant back to work inventorying everything. There’s still so much china to list.” He takes a deep breath, then smiles. It’s nowhere nearly as bright as the first one he showed me this morning. “I won’t ask your firm to take it all away for me. Not when there’s so little money in it.” He reminds me of a weekend plan I don’t remember mentioning but must have. “Enjoy your haircut.” He sweeps a hand through his own hair, and I speak without thinking.
“Come with me.”
That hand in his hair stills. “To?”
“My cousin’s place. Marilyn could give you a trim too.”
His smile winks out like Blake’s did yesterday evening. “Because I look a mess? I know I’m overdue. I haven’t had time.”
I must have been listening just as hard during our long-distance calls. He mentioned that big bill hanging over his head enough times to guess it’s the reason why he takes every care shift going. I meet him on the pavement, close enough to him that no one else hears a hard man like me make a soft confession. “You look good to me. All I meant was that I don’t want you to walk away yet.”
This smile?
Abso-fucking-lutely worth it.
I push back a fall of auburn hair from his eyes and tell him something that would make Kev throw up his hands, despairing. “And I’ve been thinking of a way to get you some more cash. You don’t have to come to Kev’s with me, but if you’ve got time, I could show you on the way there. I’m going that way anyway. It’s up to you if you want to come with me. No pressure.”
This time, it’s me who backs off. But that’s okay.
Dair quickly follows.
We rattleour way under the city, too hemmed in by tourists for much talking, finally leaving the Jubilee Line behind at Canary Wharf. The last leg of this journey could involve another train ride. A short hop on the DLR would get me closer to Kev’s place. Instead, I take Dair on a walking tour of what used to be working dockland.
These wharves have been gentrified, old warehouses surrounded by sleek banking and tech-bro tower blocks. And these waterside buildings are also the location of more coffee shops similar to the one where we watched Blake and Adey reconnecting. I peer through their windows.
“Look at the furniture. The chairs and tables. What do you notice?”
