Chapter 12 Angus
ANGUS
I arrive home from uni, change into farm-appropriate clothing, and then go downstairs. Dad is sitting at the kitchen table, talking on his mobile. I go past him, but he grabs my arm.
“Your mum’s on the phone. She wants to talk to you.” He presses the phone into my hand. “I’ll bring the cows in. Join me when you can.”
I wait for him to leave, banging the kitchen door behind him, before sitting and putting the phone to my ear.
“Hi, Mum. How are you? How’s Gran?”
“Hi, love. Your gran is doing a lot better. She still needs help, but Aunt Kathleen is going to stay with her this weekend so I can come home for a few days.”
My aunt lives twice as far away from Gran as we do.
“You’re coming home?” I don’t miss the relieved quiver in my voice.
“For a few days. How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
A beat of silence follows.
“Tell me the truth, Angus. Your dad said things had been tense between you.”
I cough out a laugh. “It’s the same old stuff.”
“Tell me.”
I sigh. “I’m doing my best to help out around uni, but it’s never enough.”
“Tell me everything, Angus.”
“I have.”
“I know you and I know your dad. You both think keeping things from me is for the best. Well, it’s not. So talk.”
I rap my fingertips on the table. “He belittles me and my studies because he thinks it’ll make me quit uni and stay on the farm, and I—I hate it.” Tears sting my eyes.
“I know, love.”
“I wish you were here.”
“I will be tomorrow.”
“For a few days,” I echo.
“I’m sorry I can’t stay longer, but I might have a solution.”
I blink. “A—solution? To what?”
I can’t stay with her at Gran’s as much as I used to want to. It’s too far from uni. Besides, if I left Leeds, I wouldn’t get to have sexy fun with Richard anymore.
“To you and your dad butting heads all the time.”
I wouldn’t exactly describe it like that. It feels more like Dad tightening a noose around my neck, while I try to slip out of it and escape. I’m probably being dramatic.
“I know it’s mostly your dad putting pressure on you to stay. The farm means so much to him.”
“It’s his whole life.”
“Yes, but that’s no excuse to treat you the way he does. He needs to accept that you have your own life to lead and that you are going to move out.”
“Yeah, I am.” I refuse to waver on that. This farm will not take over my life like it took over Dad’s. He might enjoy farm life, but I don’t and never have. “What solution have you come up with?”
She chuckles. “You’ll find out. Assuming it all comes together. I have a few details to work out first. How’s uni?”
I fill her in on what units I’m studying this semester and how my coursework is going.
She asks about the Barbell Soc and my friends.
I tell her almost everything. It hurts to leave out one of the biggest joys of my life right now, but I can’t tell her about me and Richard.
No one can find out about us. Besides, I know it’s just a bit of fun. It can’t be more than that.
“It sounds like you’re doing well. I’m so proud of you,” Mum says.
My cheeks become hot. “Thanks, Mum. Hopefully, my final result will make you proud, too.”
“I will always be proud of you. I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow, all right? I should be home by mid-afternoon.”
“I’ll be here.”
“It’s Saturday. Don’t you have any plans?”
“I have a revision date with my lecture notes. No doubt Dad will also find things for me to do around here.”
Milking the cows is just one of the many tasks that need to be done every day. Admittedly, it’s the one that takes the longest and is the most regimented—the cows thrive on knowing exactly when they’ll get relief from having full udders.
Mum laughs. “Don’t work too hard. You need time to relax as well, you know.”
Oh, I know, and I have been doing lots of enthusiastic relaxing with Richard. Will we meet up tonight? I hope so. We never make plans in advance, which is half the thrill of our dalliance. I enjoy waiting to find out if Richard is going to call me or not.
“Angus?”
I need to stop daydreaming about Richard when I’m speaking to Mum. “I’m here. I’ll find time to relax, I promise. See you tomorrow. Love you, Mum.”
“I love you, too.”
I’m about to head out the door to go to a club with friends when my phone rings. It’s Richard. I answer without hesitation. Dad is in the sitting room, watching TV with the volume louder than necessary, but I step out into the yard and shut the door anyway.
“Hi.”
“Are you free tonight?” Richard asks.
Technically, no, but it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve blown my friends off to get fucked by Richard recently. I’m being a terrible friend right now, but I’m also a sucker for my sexy professor.
“What did you have in mind?”
“You’re not free, are you?”
“I was going to go to a club with friends, but I’m happy to spend time with you instead.”
He makes a strangled noise. “No. Go and have fun with your friends. I should have called earlier, before you made plans.”
“Are you sure?”
I’d ask him to come, but I know he’ll refuse. He has to. He can’t be seen dancing with me in a club frequented by dozens of students. Can he dance? I hope to find out someday.
“Of course. I’ll see you another night. Tomorrow, perhaps.”
It’s my turn to make a weird noise. “Mum’s coming home tomorrow. She won’t be here long.”
“Of course. You’ll want to spend time with her.”
“That doesn’t stop me from having late-night fun with you after she’s gone to bed.”
Richard chuckles. “What time?”
“Eleven at the usual place?”
“How would you feel about somewhere with a bed?”
I raise my brows. “Your flat?”
“No.” His tone is apologetic.
“Then where?”
“A bed and breakfast.”
My heart does a miniature loop-the-loop. I fan myself. “Isn’t my barn good enough?”
“Your barn is great, but not so great for my back. Or knees.”
“Oh, because you’re such an old man.”
“Naughty.”
“You like me being naughty, Professor.”
I can practically hear him shiver down the phone. “If you’d prefer the barn…?”
“The B&B sounds great. Only, I’ll have to be back at the farm by four.”
“It won’t be too far away.”
Just far enough that we’re unlikely to run into anyone who might recognise us, however, there's still a chance we might, which would make it exciting. Has Richard thought of that? Does it make his pulse race, too?
“And you don’t mind me loving you and leaving you in the middle of the night?”
“As long as you don’t wake me up.”
“Aw. You don’t want me to wake you for a goodbye kiss?”
“That early? No thanks.”
“What if that kiss was on your cock?”
He whimpers. “I could be persuaded.”
“Thought so. Text me the name and postcode when you know them. I’ll see you tomorrow night, Professor.”
“Tomorrow.”
I hang up, giddy with happiness. Richard wants to treat me to a night in a bed and breakfast. Well, half a night, because I won’t be able to get away until later than usual. I can’t wait. But right now, I need to head into town to meet up with my friends.
I’m sweaty, thirsty, and haven’t stopped moving since I arrived at the club, but I couldn’t be happier.
We started as a group of eight, but now only Jimmy and Steph are left.
The club closes in an hour. I’ve never stayed at a nightclub until closing time before.
Usually, I pull much earlier in the evening and go to my hook-up’s home.
I’ll have to find time to catch up on sleep during the day, after I’ve done all the jobs Dad throws at me, or I won’t have the energy to be any fun at all when I meet Richard.
The DJ has decided to play retro eighties tracks until the end of the night, which is cheesy but fun. I sing along when I know the lyrics, and dance my heart out, always, hips gyrating, arms above my head, turning and swaying in time to the beat.
A guy with a dazzling sequin shirt approaches me.
He dances opposite me for a while. I sort of dance with him, but keep my motions as unflirty as possible.
It’s kind of hard when I’m wearing a skin-tight, sleeveless pleather top, with lace-up sides, and equally tight-fitting wet-look trousers.
I bought my clubwear with looking and feeling sexy in mind.
After a while, he moves behind me, puts his hands on my hips, and grinds against my arse.
I politely brush his hands away, step forward and turn, so we’re facing one another again, with distance between us.
From the corner of my eye, I catch Jimmy staring at me, frowning.
I glance around. Steph is dirty dancing with two women a short distance away. Will she go home with them?
The guy I’m dancing with leans close so he can talk—or rather shout—into my ear. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m good with dancing, but I’m not looking for anything else.”
The guy hooks his lip and then boogies away to find someone else to flirt with.
I make my way to Jimmy. He’s safer to dance with.
He knows I’m not interested in him and vice versa.
He grabs my top in his fist and hauls me across the dance floor towards the toilets.
He’s about the only person whom I would let manhandle me like that, for any reason other than sex.
Richard can manhandle me all he likes. I can’t get over how sexy he is when he gets all bossy.
The toilets are a lot quieter than the dance floor. They also stink. I don’t want to think about why the floor is so damp.
“What the fuck is going on with you?” Jimmy asks.
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“Have you picked up an STD or something?”
“What gives you that idea?”
“I can’t think of any other reason why you’d be going through such a long self-imposed dry period.” He clicks his fingers and then points at me. “I’ve got it. You’ve decided to become a monk.”
I laugh so hard I double up. “Are you serious right now?”
He folds his arms. “How long have we known each other?”
“Four years.”
“Right. And I have never known you to go without sex for this long. It’s been weeks since you last hooked up with someone.”
I stop laughing abruptly. “So? I don’t need sex to have fun.”