Page 13 of The Tourist

Somethingtasted suddenly sour in the back of my mouth.

Dan movedaround so that he was in front of me. His eyes were soft when theylooked at me. Hopeful, too. “So, what did Matty say about nextweekend?”

Nextweekend? My mind tried to shift back intogear. Always the awkward moments after the sex, slipping deeperinto my host’s character.

“Whetherhe’ll let you take time off from the bar. Depends if the new guy’sshaping up, you said.”

I nodded. Iracked my brains for the right memory. “For…?”

“Going away.”Dan peered at me, his brow furrowing. “I told you all about it,remember? That place by the coast. There are some great pubs aroundthere. We can take a walk in the mornings, go around the town inthe afternoon.”

“Justus?”

“Yeah.” He grinned, though his earnest eyes still watched mecarefully. “Sea air. Outdoor hikes. Good breakfasts and a big,comfortable bed.” He was still cautious of me. Why the hell was that?

It soundedgreat. Get away from the city, have some fun, plenty of sex.With Dan. Even so, mystupid mouth opened and out came, “I don’t know.”

Dan frowned.“Why not?”

“I just needto double check, that’s all.”

He stared atme. Something dimmed in his eyes, like the sun growing mistythrough a too-hot summer haze. “Okay. No problem.”

Of course itfucking was. Eventhough I was the one messing him about, I knew how he’d be feeling.It was a shock that the overlap was still strong, maybe more so. “Ijust need to confirm I can take the time off.”

“Confirm withMatty?”

“Yeah. Ofcourse.” I recognised the new expression in Dan’s eyes as well. Itwas pure, naked disappointment. I turned back towards the counter,nudging a couple of plates around as if I was clearingup.

“You don’thave anyone else to ask,” he said, very softly.

I tensed up. “No, of course Idon’t.”

“That wasn’ta question,” Dan said, his voice clipped. “I was tellingyou.”

What the helldid he mean? And then, deep down, I knew he’d seen thephone.

“I’m dating you, Dan. There’s no one else.” I wanted to turn back around andsee the expression on his face—but at the same time, I didn’t.“It’s just, no one’s ever asked me away for the weekendbefore.”

“Don’tpatronise me, Ricky.”

“No! I meanit.” I spun around then, and grabbed for his hand. “Why’d you askme?”

He frowned,puzzled. “Why? Because I want you to come with me.”

“Just to go tosome pub by the coast—?”

“It doesn’tmatter where, for God’s sake!”

Whoa.He’d never raised his voice like thatbefore.

“Ricky.” Helooked stricken. “Fuck it, I didn’t mean to shout. It’s just… backin the bedroom, I let you know how I feel. And I hoped you’d feelthe same. Hell, it’s not about where we go, but the fact we’redoing things together. At least give it some thought.”

I nodded, slowly.

Dan laughedraggedly. I could see his worry, written all over his face.Obviously wasn’t much of an actor. Notlike me. “I’m not the most talkative guyabout these things. But today… it just feels right. I don’t knowwhy, don’t know why I feel different. It seems I’ve found the ballsto say what I want, what I feel. Maybe because now, it matters.With you.”

“Dan.” It waslike he was giving me something. With a shock, I realised I didn’tknow how to accept.