39
Leah made lasagna and set Will on getting ready a salad to go with it. She also had him air out the living room, hoover, set the table, and gave him another job to do whenever he had a second to himself. By the time it was seven, Will’s phone had buzzed several times, and he hadn’t dared take it out. Gabriel was under “Maths Nerd” on his phone, but it would only take Leah a second to figure out who was texting him.
Gravel crunched in the driveway.
Will looked out to see Dad’s van pulling up. White paint was spattered over his jeans, and his shirt was in a similar state. “Welcome home,” Will greeted as he came in the door.
“What’s going on?” Dad questioned.
“Dune and his parents are coming over for dinner,” Will explained.
“Mr and Mrs Coyne?” He said in surprise. “I’ll go get dressed.” He said and continued up the stairs.
Will was in the middle of watering the plants when another car pulled up into the driveway. “I’ll get it,” he called, dashing for the front door.
Leah abandoned what she was doing, coming around the corner as Will opened the door. Dune stood on the doormat with a bowl under his arm. He wore a nice white dress shirt with dark jeans, and he’d combed his hair. Will blinked. He looked good.
Dune looked curiously between Will and Leah, and Will remembered that he was meant to be convincing Leah that they were together. Standing there dumbstruck about what to do wasn’t a good way to go about it. Luckily, Dune wasn’t frozen up like he was.
“Hey.” Dune stepped inside. “Didn’t think I’d be seeing you again this soon.” He pressed a kiss against Will’s cheek, only a breath away from his lips. “Leah, thanks for inviting me over. Mom and Dad are coming with the food. They made the dessert.”
Leah narrowed her eyes at their exchange. “Kitchen is that way if you want to put the bowl down.”
“I know my way around.” Dune gave Will a lopsided grin and dropped him a wink. Vigilant Leah, of course, saw all of it.
Will bit his lip. Dune was good.
Even Leah seemed to waver.
“I’ll show you where to put it,” Will offered, going with Dune into the kitchen. Leah had to stay to greet his parents. Will checked behind him to make sure she hadn’t followed and lowered his voice.
“Thank you so much for doing this,” Will whispered.
Dune placed the bowl of potato salad at the center of the table. “Anything I need to know about what we got up to last night?” he asked.
“We spent the night in Dublin.” Will kept his head turned toward the door.
“Okay.” Dune moved next to him, sliding his arm around his lower back, “And I left all those marks?”
Will frowned. “There’s one mark.”
“Maybe from Leah’s perspective.” Dune bent down, his lips pressing against the top of Will’s shoulder. Will tensed as his hot breath went down the back of his shirt, tickling his spine. Before he could pull away, Leah and the guests walked in.
Leah frowned.
“Now boys,” Mrs Coyne put her hands on her hips. “I hope you’ll keep your hands to yourselves while we eat.” The amusement in her voice was obvious.
Dune straightened with an exaggerated sigh. “If you insist.”
After Dune had stepped back, both Mrs Coyne and dad hugged him. “Dune told us about your accident,” his dad said as they sat down. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fully recovered,” Will answered. “It was more of a tip than a crash.”
“That’s good.”
“And how are you getting on in Dublin?” Mrs Coyne questioned.
Will took the spot next to Dune, who casually slung his arm over the back of his chair before talking. Will was glad that Dune’s parents talked a lot because Leah didn’t have time to get any interrogation in edgewise. Plus, with how much they mentioned Will over at Dune’s house, and how familiar they were with him, his case was only strengthened.
Dad joined them and they were digging into dessert before the table went quiet. Well, everyone but Will was digging in. He’d only eaten one or two bites of the entire meal, something nobody pointed out even when his full plate was cleared for dessert. As normal as he wanted to come off, anxiety had done a number on his stomach. He knew better than to try to eat.
But Leah was frowning at him.
Will forced a mouthful of the berry pie down and lifted his hand to hide the gag. Dune’s hand closed around his shoulder, squeezing it. Will swallowed, and the feeling of nausea came back. Dammit. Normal or not, he had to go. “Excuse me a minute.” He left them with Dad talking to Dune’s father about the fishing taxes around the coast of Ireland—something Dad was oddly knowledgeable about.
He went to the bathroom upstairs, the farthest from the kitchen. He squeezed his eyes shut as he bent over the toilet, just waiting.
“Hey.” Dune came into the bathroom and put a hand on his back, rubbing gently between his shoulders. “It’s okay.”
“I don’t feel okay.” Will took in hard breaths. His phone was heavy in his pocket. It had buzzed again during dinner, and he was ready to call Gabriel now. How could he go from feeling so good to this in the space of one day? “I haven’t thrown up in weeks,” he said miserably. “Not since the crash.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Dune repeated, pulling Will away from the toilet bowl and into his arms. Still struggling to get in proper breaths, Will let himself go slack against his chest. The door creaked open, and Leah’s soft steps came up behind him.
“I’m sorry, Will,” Leah said, distraught. “I’m not trying to upset you. I’m just trying to look out for you.”
She glanced at Dune. “Do you mind giving us a minute?”
“I mind,” Dune said back levelly. “Whatever this is about, you can talk to him later.” The arms around Will tightened, and he felt Dune take in a hard breath before continuing. “Maybe you think you have to fill in the parent role for him, but a bit of advice? Try not making him feel so bad for spending a night out with his boyfriend. It literally makes him sick.”
“I’m sorry. I saw your volleyball at his house, and I thought…” Leah whispered.
Will latched onto her last sentence. Dune had convinced her. She just needed another little push. “Is that what this has been about?” Will faced her, giving his best I can’t believe you look. “His niece plays volleyball.”
When the guilt crept into her expression, Will knew he’d won. But it didn’t feel like a definite victory, but instead a temporary one. Because even if she was convinced now, in this moment, what about later down the road? Would he and Gabriel always need to hide?
“Why don’t you two stay up here for a bit.” Leah said softly.
Will felt bad, but then he recalled the horrible things she’d said about Gabriel. “Yeah.”
When she left, Dune got his attention. “Do you want to stay here or go to your room?”
Will rubbed his stomach. The nausea had lessened. “Room.”
With the door closed firmly behind them he relaxed. That was until Dune sat on his bed and looked at Will expectantly.
Will averted his eyes. “Thank you.”
“You and Gabriel, huh?” Dune said casually.
And just like that, the fear was back in his body, spreading through him with every beat of his heart. “I don’t—”
“Will.” Dune interrupted, firm but gentle. “I figured it out a while ago. I just didn’t realise how far it had gone.”
Unlike with Leah, Will didn’t know how to deny it to Dune. There was no accusation in his voice. No confrontation. Dune just knew, and he didn’t need Will to confirm it for him. But if he knew, and still covered for Will, that had to mean something. He stepped toward him. “Don’t tell anyone,” he said desperately. “Please, don’t.”
“You like him a lot,” Dune remarked, his voice painfully neutral and not giving anything away.
“Yeah,” Will admitted.
“I don’t know,” Dune said. “I don’t know how I feel about him, Will. He’s a tutor willing to sleep with his student, who also happens to be a minor.”
“We haven’t slept together,” Will denied. “And he doesn’t want to take it further until after I turn eighteen.” He came to Dune’s side on the bed and gripped his hand. “Please, please don’t tell anyone.”
Dune studied him and his shoulders dropped as he sighed. “I’m not going to tell anyone.”
Will went slack in relief. “Thank you.”
Dune rubbed his eyes and let out another sigh. “You like him?”
“A lot.”
“And he’s good to you?”
“Yeah.” Will nodded. “And he makes me feel good about—” he hesitated, taking his lip between his teeth. “Well, about me.”
At that, Dune’s exterior softened. He wrapped his arm around Will’s waist and placed a kiss on his cheek, this one lingering. Will went still. “You should feel good about being you anyway,” Dune said softly, his hand clasping Will’s. “Not just because of someone else.”
Will’s pulse was racing in his throat. “I know.” His voice was barely a whisper, his eyes slitting shut as Dune nuzzled his jaw. “But…”
Dune’s breaths got heavier as his lips moved along the line of Will’s jaw, his free hand cupping Will’s cheek and turning him. Will was frozen, not even breathing as lips pressed against his. Dune’s tongue glided over his bottom lip, pushing them apart and kissing him properly until Will’s body answered while his mind went rigid. Dune knew about Gabriel. He agreed not to tell anyone, and now he was kissing Will. What if this was the condition?
Dune took hold of his shoulders, pressing him back onto the mattress, easing his weight on top of Will.
It was feeling the body over him that broke Will from his shocked daze. “Stop,” he said, panicked. He got his arms between them and shoved Dune away. “Get off me.” He jerked himself up as Dune sat back. “Get—”
“It’s okay, I’m moving back.” Dune put up his hands in surrender and sat at the edge of his bed. Will’s panting broke the stillness between them, and he saw hurt in Dune’s eyes, but also acceptance. “Sorry,” Dune said. “I would have regretted it if I didn’t at least try.”
“Try what?”
Now the hurt in Dune’s eyes was clear. “Will,” he said, upset, “I wouldn’t force you to—how could you even think that?”
“I know. I know you wouldn’t.” Will got out past his racing heart. “I’m sorry.” What had he just done? Why had he let that happen? God, Gabriel… He saw Dune’s expression sink further, and his head ducked down, the hurt deeper than before. Will bit his lip. He’d have to worry about Gabriel later. Dune was his friend, and he’d been there for Will when nobody else had been.
“I know, Dune,” Will got out in a surer voice. He slipped across the mattress to Dune. “I’m sorry for that. And I’m sorry for asking you to do this even knowing how you feel.”
Dune lifted his gaze once more. “Friends?”
“I’m kind of a crappy friend,” Will said unhappily.
“Nobody’s perfect.” Dune gave a sad shrug. “Friends?”
Will nodded. “Yeah. Friends.”