14. Edward
EDWARD
Edward was lying on the sofa with his head in Milo’s lap.
He loved that there were no boxes either of them occupied outside of sex.
Edward loved being the big spoon when they slept, and lying like this with Milo gently stroking his hair.
Although having his mouth this close to Milo’s cock was a lesson in restraint, even if he was bloated from eating too much food.
He may have overdone it with the cooking, but Milo had eaten everything, showering him with compliments.
It wasn’t often he got them. In his job, he was constantly being told he was a cunt, and that was just his colleagues, let alone what his constituents and the wider public thought of him.
Edward felt something twitch against his cheek.
“Are you hard?” he asked.
“Not fully.”
“How?”
“How could I not be, when your face is right there?” said Milo with a smile. “Just relax. I’m not expecting anything.”
That was fortunate. Although his mouth was working fine, he was paying the price for the pounding he’d begged for this morning.
Every time he’d winced during the day, he’d gotten a knowing smirk from Milo – the fucker.
He couldn’t complain, though, since he’d got what he’d asked for, and had zero regrets, but it wasn’t something he’d be able to do on the regular.
When he’d promised Milo they would be an open couple by the time of London Pride, he’d meant it.
As soon as he won the leadership contest, he’d come out straight away.
There would be no more hiding. If people had a problem with having a gay prime minister, they could vote him out the following year.
But a year was all he needed to prove he was the right person to lead the country.
He needed to talk to Olivia about his plan, but he knew she’d support him regardless.
He just didn’t want to saddle the country with Hargreaves, so if that meant keeping things quiet for longer, that’s what he’d do.
“Ooh,” said Milo. “I haven’t given you your present yet.”
“You gave me that this morning.”
Milo snorted. “This’ll be something you can tell your friends about . . . oh, shit. I’m sorry, Eddie. I didn’t mean.”
“I know what you meant,” said Edward, sitting up and giving Milo a kiss. “You show me yours, and I’ll show you mine.”
“You got me something?”
“Of course I did,” he said, sitting up. “What’s this face about?”
He didn’t like the look, which was a mix of shock and grief.
“I haven’t really been given anything since my mum died.”
“What about your friends?”
“We do more jokey things, like a secret Santa, without the secret. I usually get stocking fillers when I spend Christmas with Liam’s or Lexie’s family.”
“Okay, so you get something, then?”
“Yeah, but I know they only feel obligated because I’m the little orphan kid.”
“First, you’re not a kid. You’re nearly thirty.”
Milo scowled at him, making Edward laugh.
“I don’t know any of these people, but I am absolutely positive that nothing they do is out of obligation. Your friends love you, so it’s only right that their families would as well.”
“Look at you, knowing all the right things to say. It’s just that Christmas can be hard when you see people with their family, but . . .”
“You don’t need to say anything, Milo. I get it. Would you rather do presents tomorrow?”
“No, let’s do them now, and then we can go to bed.”
“Really?”
“Just to sleep.”
“You’ve said that before.”
“Fair. But I promise I can restrain myself. Your present’s in my bag.”
“Well, yours is in the bedroom as well, so we may as well go to bed now, and open them in there.”
Milo hesitated for a second before nodding.
What was he nervous about? Edward pulled Milo up from the sofa and kept their hands connected, walking him into the bedroom.
He hoped he hadn’t overstepped with Milo’s gift.
Before he could overthink things again for the millionth time since deciding, he grabbed the gift, which was in an envelope.
Edward turned and saw Milo holding a perfectly wrapped gift.
It was the size of a shoebox and looked like something you’d see in the window display of a high-end store.
“I almost don’t want to open that. It looks too perfect. A man of many talents.”
“My talents lie elsewhere. I paid for this to be professionally wrapped.”
Edward laughed and took the gift, handing his envelope over to Milo.
“You go first,” said Edward.
“Let’s get into bed, then.”
They got cosy under the duvet before Milo opened the envelope.
There were two pieces of paper, as the gift came in two parts.
He read them both, his eyes widening as they moved down the page.
He looked at the second page, and his eyes watered.
Was that a good sign? Edward just wanted him to be happy.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Milo.
“Thank you, is usually the polite response.”
“Piss off,” he laughed. “You’ve not even read my stuff.”
“I don’t need to. If it’s written by you, it’ll be perfect. But I know you’ll need some reassurance, which is why there’s two parts to the gift.”
“Would you read it first?”
“I’d be honoured, but I think the editor will have a more objective opinion than me.”
“Thank you.”
“There you go.”
Milo laughed and leaned forward for a kiss. Edward loved Milo talking about his writing with such passion, and the fact he’d written a book was impressive. He needed to share it with the world.
Edward had gotten him an editorial package, for him to work with someone who would give him the professional reassurance that what he’d done was good. The next part of the gift was support for getting his book published, whichever route he took it to market.
“I guess it’s my turn,” said Edward
“Oh, God. This doesn’t compare. How much did this cost you?” he asked, holding the paper up.
“You don’t ask questions like that, Milo. And that isn’t how presents work. That you chose something for me is priceless.”
“Look at you, being all romantic. I thought you hadn’t done this before?”
Edward felt his face heat, but Milo was giving him one of his wicked smiles, so he knew he was just being teased.
The gift was so beautifully wrapped that he didn’t want to damage any of the paper.
He carefully unwrapped the bow and opened the paper at the seams. It was something his mother had done, as she’d liked to save quality wrapping paper and reuse it.
Pulling the paper off the box, he wasn’t sure what to expect, but it wasn’t this. He wanted to burst into tears.
“How did you get this?”
“Online. A guy was selling it, because it had belonged to his dad. He wasn’t interested in it and wanted it to go to someone who would really appreciate it.”
“How did you know I wanted this one?”
“I didn’t, until you told me,” said Milo, letting out a breath he must have been holding. “You talked about how much you love the Tudor period. I saw the ones you already had and wondered why you didn’t have this one.”
“I’ve never been able to find it.”
“I’d like to make this bold claim that I scoured the internet for weeks looking for it, but I think I just got lucky on eBay, and he lived in London so I could pick it up before we came here.”
Edward looked at the box in awe. He'd been slowly building his ship-in-a-bottle collection for years. His mother had gotten him the first one, but he didn’t have a vast collection.
Each of his ships was a replica of something significant from British history, like the Titanic, Cutty Sark, and Mayflower.
He’d never been able to find a Mary Rose that didn’t look cheap or that fitted with his collection. This one was a perfect match.
“Do I need to give you two some alone time?” asked Milo.
Edward really wanted to tell Milo how he felt about him, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment by making things too heavy. Until he was home and he had a plan for how he could be with Milo openly, he didn’t want to set the wrong expectations.
“I love it,” he said, leaning forward to give Milo a kiss. That was all he could say right now, but he hoped Milo picked up on what he really meant.
The rest of their break went by in a blissful bubble locked away from the outside world. Nothing had happened back home that required Edward to leave early, and Milo had spoken to Liam and Lexie on Christmas Day, then turned his phone off. He’d wanted a complete break.
All they’d done for the past five days was eat, watch films, and make love.
Edward wasn’t sure if he’d be walking right again until February, but that’s what he got for falling in love with a younger man.
Neither of them had said anything about their feelings for each other, but Edward believed Milo felt the same way about him.
He just hoped his situation wouldn’t eventually become a deal-breaker.
They planned to go back to the town they’d been to on their first day, when things suddenly changed.
“What the fuck!” said Milo from the bedroom.
Edward dashed over from the kitchen, where he’d been making lunch. Milo was looking at his phone with a concerned look on his face.
“What’s happened?”
“I’ve got like a gazillion missed calls from Liam, Lexie, and Kieran. And loads of messages asking me to call urgently. These have been coming in for three days.”
“Who’s the most level-headed?”
“Lexie.”
“Call her first. I’ll give you some privacy.”
“No, please stay here with me. It’s gonna be bad news. There’s no other reason for them all to have called me this many times. They’d just tell me in a message.”
Edward knew he was right, and there was no purpose in trying to reassure him otherwise. All he could do was be here for Milo, and whatever was just about to be dropped on him. Milo took a deep breath and called Lexie.
“Where the fuck are you?” Lexie’s voice was so loud that Edward could hear her clearly.
“What’s happened?” asked Milo.
Edward couldn’t hear Lexie anymore, but from the tears rolling down Milo’s face, it wasn’t good.
“My flight is tomorrow . . . I’ll try, but I don’t know. It’s not like we’re close to a big city.”
Whatever had happened meant Milo needed to get home as soon as possible. That was something Edward could do. He pulled out his phone and started looking at options. He kept one hand on Milo’s back and kept stroking it.
“Should I call him?” asked Milo.
Edward didn’t hear an answer, so he wasn’t sure who they were talking about.
“I’ll deal with Kieran when I get home. Just tell him you’ve spoken to me so he stops calling. I’ll let you know when I’ll be back . . . Love you too.”
He hung up the phone and dropped it in front of him, his head bowed.
“Liam’s mum died.”
Edward pulled Milo towards him as he broke down. Edward didn’t even know Liam and he was struggling to hold back tears. They’d both been there before, so he could empathise to a degree with what Liam was feeling, but every boy’s relationship with his mum was different.
“I can get us on a plane in three hours.”
“What?” said Milo, looking up at him.
“We have to change at Bergen instead of Oslo this time, but the stop is only an hour. We’ll be back in London by dinnertime.”
“We?”
“I will not let you fly home on your own after getting news like that.”
That caused Milo to cry into his chest. He knew when they got back home, he wouldn’t be able to be with Milo like this, but he could at least make sure he got home safely.