Chapter Four
Will
“I need you to settle something for me,” Theo said as he dropped into the seat next to me in our crowded corner of the Sleeping Goose.
“What’s that?” I asked, wondering what I should mentally prepare myself for. I never really knew with Theo. Across from us, Laurie slid into a free chair and sighed.
“I’m sorry,” Laurie said. “He won’t stop harping on about it.”
“I’m not harping on about anything. I’m just trying to convince you that it’s a fabulous idea.”
“What is it?” I asked as I drained the last of my first pint. “Am I going to need to forget this conversation ever happened?”
Theo giggled. “No, I promise it’s not that bad.”
“You said that the last time you wanted me to settle something.” Being asked to compare monstrous dildos was not anything I’d ever thought I’d be doing, and I was sure I’d never be able to get the idea of Theo using one of them out of my head.
There were some things you didn’t need to know about your friends.
“Okay, it’s definitely not like that,” Theo said. “I found a taxidermy chess set on Etsy, a full chess set made of mice with little hats and costumes and props, and I want to get it for our flat, but I need you to convince Laurie not to be such a stick-in-the-mud.”
I glanced over at Laurie, who’d unbuttoned his dark coat to reveal an equally dark shirt and waistcoat, and wondered if I should tell Theo it wasn’t my job to convince his boyfriend of anything.
But they’d probably been having this argument all day and wanted a third party to settle it once and for all.
“Can you play chess?” I asked, and Theo sighed forlornly.
“No, but I could learn. And even so, it would be perfect for the aesthetic.”
“You also forgot to mention that it’s over a grand,” Laurie said pointedly.
“Seriously? A fucking grand?” I asked, turning to stare at Theo.
“What’s over a grand?” Lane asked from his seat on my other side. He was a builder and one of my best friends. I didn’t realise he’d been listening since our group was so loud and noisy, but now he seemed fully invested.
“A chess set Theo wants,” I said.
“Is it made of fucking gold?” Lane asked.
“Better,” Theo said with a grin. “Stuffed mice.”
“Fuck no,” Lane said. “You can’t spend a grand on a chess set made with dead mice.”
“Exactly,” Laurie said. “Thank you! That’s my point exactly. And we don’t have room for it.”
“But it’s so cute,” Theo whined, his lips starting to form a pout. “And I want it.”
“I want doesn’t get,” Laurie said.
“You’re so mean.”
“I’m not mean. I’m practical.”
I watched the pair of them bicker and smiled to myself.
I wasn’t getting involved with this any further.
I’d never known Theo not to get his way, and the fact that Laurie could say no to him was astounding.
The fact that Lane had backed him up was even more so, although I knew Lane’s views on any sort of taxidermy had been set when Theo had gifted him and his boyfriend, Oliver, a stuffed frog last year.
“I’m sorry, Theo,” Lane said, giving Theo a sympathetic smile. “I don’t know if you’re going to win this one.”
“I’m not giving up,” Theo said. “Just you wait.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Laurie said with a raised eyebrow, and I bit back a chuckle.
“And that’s my cue to go to the bar,” I said. “Anyone want a drink?”
After collecting the extensive drink order from our small horde of people, I slipped through the crowd towards the bar.
The Sleeping Goose was always packed on Friday nights as people came to relax and unwind, and the fact that it was Heather Bay’s unofficial queer bar and designated safe space meant it was filled with a huge variety of people rather than the traditional pub crowd.
I’d started coming here with Lane a few years ago when the current owners, Soren and Colin, had taken it over.
Since then, it had become our regular meeting place, and every week, we assembled for a few drinks and to catch up.
Our group had grown over the years, but our plans had never changed, and it was one part of the week that I always looked forward too.
“Excuse me,” I said, sliding past a man I didn’t recognise who stood at the bar.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a smooth London accent that instantly flagged him as someone who wasn’t from around here.
I assumed he was a tourist, despite the fact it wasn’t the season, or someone to do with the upcoming period drama that was supposed to start filming up at the Castle any day. “I keep getting in the way.”
“You’re fine. It can’t be helped.”
“Yes, it is rather like a can of sardines in here.”
My lip twitched into a smile as I let my eyes roam over him.
He was about my height with artfully styled honey-blond hair and hazel eyes framed by long lashes.
He had a strong jaw lightly dusted with stubble and full lips I couldn’t stop staring at.
He was stylishly dressed in a dark pea coat over a jumper, and the cut of both screamed money.
“I’m Jamie,” he said, giving me a wry smile and cutting the silence between us. I swallowed and blinked, feeling like I was being snapped out of some sort of mesmerised state.
“Will,” I said. I wasn’t sure if I should stick out my hand or not. I wasn’t used to random encounters with strange men in pubs. I had a few regular hook-ups, but they were all locals I already knew.
“Can I buy you a drink, Will?” Jamie asked as he slid a step closer.
“Er, maybe? I’ve just gotta get a round for my table first.” I glanced back towards my friends, praying none of them could see us because otherwise I knew I’d be the sole focus of their attentions.
I’d hoped the crowd would keep us covered, but it parted at just the wrong second, and I saw Lane look up and over to us, and I knew I’d been spotted.
“Maybe afterwards, then? I’ll wait here.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said as I tried to get my head to stop spinning. Soren chose that moment to come to my rescue, and a few minutes later, I had a tray laden with drinks in my hands.
“I’ll see you in a minute,” Jamie said with a smile that made my stomach drop. I nodded and let my feet carry me back towards the table and the pack of wolves hungry for gossip awaiting my arrival.
As if it wasn’t bad enough I’d been spotted, they all went silent when I arrived—a rare feat I’d only seen happen once before when Lane had brought Oliver to the pub on a whim last summer and introduced him to us.
At that point, Oliver had been Lane’s mythical teenage ex-sweetheart who’d ruined him for all other men.
He’d turned out to be a charming, funny man who was the perfect match for Lane, and even at that point, when they’d claimed to just be reconnecting as friends, it had been obvious to me that they’d end up back together.
Which they had. And they were now more in love than ever.
“Who’s that?” Lane asked because he was always straight to the point.
“Tourist,” I said, handing him his pint before distributing the rest of the drinks. “Sounds like he’s from London.”
“He’s really cute,” Theo said. “What did he ask you?”
“Nothing much.”
Alex, one of the other members of our group and the most cynical man I’d ever met, scoffed. “It didn’t look like nothing.”
“Mmmhmm, it definitely looked like something,” Lane said with a grin that meant nothing but trouble.
“He just offered to buy me a drink,” I muttered.
“Then why the fuck are you still here?” Lane asked. “Go. Get laid.”
“I’m not…”
“Will, darling,” Theo said sweetly, “when a gorgeous man offers to buy you a drink, you accept. Then you find somewhere with a lockable door and let him fuck your brains out. Or vice versa, depending on your personal preference.”
“What have you got to lose?” Alex asked as he picked up his pint. “If he’s a tourist, it’s not like he’ll be sticking around.”
“Exactly,” said Spencer, Alex’s older brother who I’d known since school. He gave me his attempt at a stern expression, which was like being frowned at by a golden retriever. “You need to have some fun, Will. When was the last time you got laid?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, slightly sharper than I’d intended. “I didn’t realise this was a group decision.”
“It’s not,” Noah said. He was Alex’s best friend, Spencer’s boyfriend, and probably one of the most sensible men at the table, but even he was giving me an encouraging smile. “We just worry about you.”
“You don’t need to. I’m fine.”
“Of course you are,” Theo said, his sweetness now laced with sarcasm. “And let me say, one workaholic to another, you need some downtime, and one night of fun with Mr. Sexy over there will not kill you. Besides, you can leave straight after.”
“Mr. Sexy?” I raised my eyebrow, and Theo shrugged.
“You didn’t give us his name, so I had to improvise.”
“Theo has a point,” Oliver chimed in from his seat on Lane’s other side. “Go and talk to him, and if you’re not comfortable, then you can leave.”
“Exactly,” Lane said. “And if he won’t leave you alone, we’ll set Alex on him.”
“Why me?” Alex asked indignantly.
“Because you’re our resident asshole and could probably kneecap him without a second thought,” Lane said. Alex thought about it for a second, then shrugged.
I was still standing in front of them, unsure what to do.
I wasn’t going to admit it, but it had been a while since I’d gotten laid.
The brutal winter days didn’t exactly leave me with a lot of energy to leave the house, and I very rarely invited hook-ups over since it would be easy for both my parents and someone at the yard to see an unfamiliar car and start gossiping.
But I was in town, and if Jamie was just visiting, then he had somewhere we could go. I glanced over my shoulder and saw him watching me, a smirk on his plush lips. Various parts of me warred with each other over whether this was a smart decision or not, but in the end, my libido won.
“Fine, I’ll go talk to him,” I said. “But if any of you come over and say anything, I’m leaving. And I’m not telling you what happens either.”
Theo opened his mouth, then winced and closed it quickly, and I had a strong suspicion someone had kicked him under the table.
“We won’t say a word,” Lane said and picked up his pint. “Thanks for the drink.”
“Yeah, yeah, you all owe me,” I said, shaking my head and taking the tray back to the bar. I slid it over the polished surface to Soren, then walked round to where Jamie stood. He’d tucked himself around the other side of the bar from my friends, away from their prying eyes.
“Hello,” he said, his smile widening into something dangerous and charming that made my stomach flip. “All sorted?”
“Yeah. Apparently a two-minute conversation is enough to require a full interrogation.”
Jamie chuckled softly. “I’m glad they let you escape.”
“Me too,” I said, flagging Colin down to order some drinks. “So are you just visiting?”
“Yes,” Jamie said. “I wanted to get out of London for a bit.”
I nodded, quietly wondering why, of all places, he’d chosen coastal Yorkshire at the start of February. “You’re definitely out of it here. Heather Bay isn’t exactly Kensington.”
“That is very true, but it seems nice enough,” he said. I wasn’t sure if he was just being polite or not.
“It’s pretty in the daylight. In the sunshine, the whole place comes alive,” I said, suddenly feeling defensive.
I knew Heather Bay wasn’t the most glamorous of places, but it was my home and well loved by everyone who lived here.
“And the moorland is beautiful. You won’t find anything else like it. ”
Jamie looked at me for a second as if he was trying to figure something out. “I’ll have to try and get out there before I leave. I didn’t get in until mid-afternoon, and it was a bit late to do anything by that point.”
“Just make sure you stick to the paths if you go out walking,” I said. “Don’t go in bad weather, and don’t bother the sheep.”
“Okay. I’ll remember that.” He picked up his drink off the bar and took a long, slow sip, his eyes never leaving me.
I couldn’t work out if this was the most awkward conversation with a man I’d ever had or just a close second.
I thought the honour of the most awkward went to the time some drunken lad had tried to chat me up at university, then vomited on my shoes.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m really not good at this.”
Jamie chuckled softly. “Conversation or flirting?”
“Both.”
“If you want, we can skip both of those and get to the fun part.” He leant closer and lowered his voice, his breath ghosting against my skin and sending shivers down my spine. “Come back to my hotel with me.”