Chapter 6 #3
Michael Hammond had been a few years above me at school and was entirely the opposite of my type.
“Sounds lovely, Mum. You know I’ll support you whenever you choose to get back out there. You’d make Michael Hammond a lovely cougar, I have no doubt.”
“You got your difficult nature from your father.” She narrowed her eyes at me.
“And his ability to cook, luckily for you.” I booped her on the nose and she batted my hand away.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, can you make enough for one more?” she asked.
“Yeah, there’ll be plenty, why? Who else is coming?”
“I told Dylan to invite his brother, Cooper. I always had a soft spot for him, and thought it would be nice to see how he’s doing. He works for Jack still, doesn’t he?”
She continued her rambling without my response as I internally panicked because I hadn’t prepared to have Cooper here. For dinner. With my mother.
I finished cooking in a bit of a daze. I debated texting Cooper to give him a heads up, but then the not very nice part of me kind of wanted to see the look on his face when I caught him by surprise.
When the doorbell rang, Mum asked me to go and answer as she was busy scooping her hair up into a bun on her head.
My wide build took up most of the doorway. At the front of the small group of visitors was Dylan Bailey, short with a mop of brown curls on his head; his boyfriend Axel, standing behind him like his bodyguard; and Cooper, trying unsuccessfully to use his friend’s large frame as a human shield.
“Evening,” I said.
My mum appeared behind me then. “Well, let them in, Patrick. It’s freezing!”
She led the way to the back of the house where the dining room and kitchen were, and I followed behind. Dylan got straight to kissing her arse about the invitation to dinner, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
Unable to help myself, I reached out and tugged on Cooper’s jumper, causing him to stumble back into my chest.
He let out a small gasp, but there was enough of a gap now between him and the others that he could get away with whispering. “Hi, Sir. Sorry. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“I know.”
I reached my hand around to his front, sneaking under his jumper and T-shirt, and brushed a finger over his nipple.
“Shhh,” I said as he whimpered.
Cooper bit into his knuckle to stop himself making a noise.
I tweaked his nipple this time before letting go and stepping back.
“Off we go.” I nudged him to start walking in the direction of the others. Cooper glanced over his shoulder and gave me a scandalised look which had me grinning.
“What can I get you all to drink? I’ve got a nice bottle of red here if you fancy it?” Mum offered.
Cooper had quickly taken a seat, and I could see the dilemma written all over his face as he wanted to be polite and accept what was offered but hated drinking wine. I decided to be nice and put him out of his misery by quickly grabbing a bottle of beer from the fridge.
“Glass?” I asked.
“No, this is fine. Thank you.” He smiled up at me with such a soft expression that I needed to look away before I did something stupid like bend down and pepper little kisses all over his face in front of our families.
Get a grip, Patrick.
I quickly scuttled back into the kitchen while Mum poured their wine. She brought me a glass, and I handed her the tray of cheesy-garlic dough balls to take through. I didn’t bother having any as I’d been snacking on them while cooking the main course.
Once it was ready, I plated up the chicken and mushroom linguini and brought everything through to the dining room. The only seat left was next to Cooper, and after I sat down, I couldn’t help but knock my knee into his and leave them pressed together under the table.
Everyone dug in enthusiastically.
“Wow. Thanks, Mr Morgan. Abbie will be trying to poach you for her restaurant if she ever gets a taste of this,” Dylan said.
I might have scowled a little. Abbie was Dylan’s step-mother, and she owned what I personally thought was a slightly pretentious fusion restaurant on the outskirts of town.
But Dylan said it as if I wasn’t already the owner of a cafe who cooked for a living and therefore was some poachable line cook.
“Patrick. Mr Morgan was my dad,” I said, effectively killing the mood around the table.
Whatever. Dylan had started it, and I’d already told him to stop calling me that.
“Well, let’s all tuck in before it gets cold,” Mum interjected diplomatically.
Cooper wolfed down his food like he hadn’t eaten in weeks, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was the type to live off packets of ramen at home. I didn’t like that thought. He was a big guy, he needed to eat properly.
I made a mental note to check what he was eating during the week. In a neighbourly way. If your neighbour was overbearing with no self-control in sight.
As soon as Cooper finished, I topped up his plate, and he thanked me with a shy glance.
I tuned out most of the chitchat around the table. It was largely Dylan and my mum talking in circles about teaching at Foxwood Primary and “the good old days.” Like Dylan wasn’t essentially reminiscing about being an infant.
Instead, I mostly watched Cooper from the corner of my eye. He didn’t say much. Just smiled and laughed where appropriate. Answered direct questions from my mum, and then eventually got brave and put his hand on my thigh.
I rubbed my index finger over his knuckles and wished I wasn’t so fucking broken that I could just interlace our fingers and kiss the back of his hand, declaring him as mine for everyone to see.
The thought alone panicked me, though, a bolt of fear jolting me because I’d already let Cooper get too close, and I didn’t know how to backtrack.
Regretfully, I stood up and cleared the table, all while avoiding looking at Cooper’s face because I feared that if he looked disappointed or wounded by the subtle rejection, I might well have cracked.
The next morning, I bundled up for sitting on my doorstep because it was fucking freezing. My breath practically turned to ice rather than vapour when it hit the cold air.
Despite the drop in temperature, my little fox friend still came and paid me a visit. He was impatient and didn’t wait for me to open the gate, leaping up onto the wall and over instead.
“Couldn’t wait to see me today, huh?” I asked.
He chirped happily when he spotted the large cat bed that I’d bought for when it got really cold. It was a sort of fluffy dome he could crawl inside and just poke his head out for scritches.
If Jack could see me now, I’d never hear the end of it.
I took a sip of my coffee and used my other hand to scratch his chin.
“Can you keep a secret? Well, I fucking hope you can. I’ve been using you as a silent therapist for years.” I chuckled.
He looked up at me and nodded his head anyway.
“You know how when people find out their partner is cheating and everyone is all ‘there must have been signs’ or ‘you must have had your suspicions’?”
I took a deep breath and swallowed.
“Well, I fucking didn’t, and I think it would have been easier if I had. I’m not even sure if I’m still angry at Max for cheating on me or if I’m angry because he stole my ability to trust my own gut instinct. Because I didn’t have a clue.” I blew out a breath into the frigid air.
“And I was so bloody smug, too. I was proud of us because we’d found a way to compromise while staying monogamous, which we both said we wanted. But later when it all unravelled, and I looked through his phone…” My eyes burned. “It had been going on for six fucking months.”
The little fox crawled out of his den and climbed onto my lap, butting his head into my stomach. I unzipped my coat, and he cuddled in closer.
“Before me and Max got together, I was known on the scene to be a reliable Dom for subs to wet their feet with. I had this intuition for what they needed and how much to give and take, and I loved it. But then, I thought I’d been giving Max what he needed, and obviously that wasn’t the case—Hey! Ow!” The little fucker nipped me.
“Fine! Maybe I’m not responsible for Max being a shitty boyfriend, but I clearly missed something.”
The fox side-eyed me like he still wasn’t content with that suggestion, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe Jack wasn’t the only one who needed some actual therapy.
“It’s freezing. I’m not staying out here for long with you today,” I lied.
I’d stay right up until he trotted off again, like always.
I wasn’t sure there was anyone I liked spending time with as much as my little fox friend, aside from more recently Cooper.
It probably made me a narcissist or something since the fox couldn’t talk back, but he had his ways of communicating all the same.
Lectured me with his eyes and nipped at me when he disagreed.
But most importantly, he comforted me too.