“That’samazing.”
His face is full of startled pleasure, his eyes wide. “You really like it?”
“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.” I trace the lines gently. “You’re good at this.”
He immediately pastes a disinterested look on his face. “Maybe.”
“Definitely.”
He directs a quick look at me. “Rhys said I could do it professionally.”
I straighten up, my interest sharp now. “Did he? What do you think of that?”
He shrugs, putting the notepad and pencil back in his pocket. “He mentioned an apprenticeship.”
I whistle. “Wow! That’s a huge honour. He doesn’t take them on anymore. Would you do it?”
I hold my breath, waiting for his answer. This has been on my mind a lot since he started getting better. I can’t bear the idea of him going back to modelling. It doesn’t suit someone as sensitive as Xavier, and the attention isn’t good for him. I also don’t think he has any interest in fame and glamour. But I can’t tell him what to do. He’s a grown man, and the decisions he takes are his own.
He hesitates. “It would take a few years, and the money isn’t good.”
“I saw your bank balance, Xavier, and I know you’re doing okay for yourself.” I wink at him. “If you run low on money, just hock some of the designer shit you’ve been given this month.”
He laughs, and I lick my lips, unsure if I should say what I’m thinking. Fuck it.
I say, “If that is what you want to do, I’d fund it.”
His mouth drops open. “What?”
I paste on a casual look, but I know he isn’t fooled for a second. “You’ve always been very important to me. I want to see you happy.” Left unsaid is whatisn’tmaking him happy.
The silence lasts for a few beats, and then I freeze as he lowers his head to my shoulder. I break my stasis immediately, and my arm comes up to cradle him to me. My grip is probably too tight, but I can’t help that. I want to hold him so close that he’ll never leave me.
“Thank you, Roo,” he says softly.
I swallow hard. “You’re very welcome, Xavi.”
We stay that way in silence, comfortable until Xavier stirs. I let my arms reluctantly fall away from him, already feeling his absence. He turns around and looks back at Mull in the distancebehind us. The rocky outcrops of the island are contorted into strange and fantastical shapes.
“It looks like some land lost in time,” he says, adeptly steering us away from any more serious talk.
“I’ve always thought it looked like a remote Greek island where a Minotaur lived.”
“I always felt sorry for him.”
I shoot him a surprised look. “Why?”
“Because he must have been so lonely and desperate for someone to see him for who he was and not what he looked like.”
I stare at him, unable to fight the tenderness in me for this man. No matter how wildly he behaves, I will always see the sweet boy inside him, desperate to love and be loved and covering his feelings with snark. He flushes, and I conceal my smile.
“Do you see the headland to the left, the one that looks blue and green?” I say, pointing.
“Yes?”
“Those lines are where an earthquake happened and lava cut into the land.”
He studies it carefully. “I almost expect to see dinosaurs coming out into the open.”
