nineteen
Ramon focused on the road on their drive back in the dark.
David appeared to be sleeping, leaning up against the passenger door.
He doubted he was. Avoiding contact more like.
He’d blown it, making that comment at the café, but what was he supposed to do?
They were good together. Today had been amazing, the best day of his life…
for years. David had loved it, he’d been positively…
glowing. Ramon couldn’t imagine them ever being apart, and whatever it was in David’s life that had him…
whatever it was, he could, should just face up to it.
Sitting there in the sunset with him after a day that he could only describe as perfect, and even that didn’t come close: it had been sublime, almost ecstatic.
Dealing with whatever he had in his past had seemed like a small thing they could overcome, just a bump in the road… wasn’t it?
David had lashed out with a vehemence Ramon hadn’t seen in him before.
That anger was… covering something up. The files from Forensics sitting on Ramon’s drive floated into his mind, but he pushed the idea away.
As a policeman, he… did he have a duty? No, he didn’t know David’s situation and it was none of his business.
There was no indication of a crime. You can’t fingerprint someone just on a mere suspicion.
As he had. But he wasn’t going to do anything with it.
That was a weak moment. He’d delete the files.
And then even if David was involved with something, it wouldn’t be his call. He could claim innocence.
Except he couldn’t. David had left Carme’s stables to avoid giving her his details, his real name.
Or maybe he hadn’t. What did Ramon know?
All he had were suspicions. Perhaps he could ask him?
Yeah, see how well that had gone. He glanced over.
David’s eyes were closed tight, his unruly blond curls mussed over his head, his lips slightly parted, and his breathing suggested he was asleep.
Except he wasn’t. Just another suspicion of Ramon’s.
In less than half a minute, their glorious day had gone pear-shaped.
He looked back at the road, focusing on the white line flicking along beneath his headlights.
They’d have to have it out when they got home.
Wouldn’t they? The last twenty-four hours had been a beginning, an amazing start, and Ramon wanted it to become something more.
They were good together. They got each other like no one he’d ever met before.
He wasn’t about to let this one go without a fight.
So if it meant a fight…. He didn’t want to fight.
He wanted to take David in his arms, hold him, kiss him, throw him roughly on the bed, tear off his clothes, grab his ankles and take him again, sore ass and all.
Let him suffer a little the way he’d made Ramon suffer.
His cock was hard and tenting his jodhpurs.
He adjusted it, but it still made a tight bulge pushing out against the thick fabric.
He hoped David didn’t wake up and see it.
He hoped he did. He wanted to feel his lips on his cock again, push into his throat, sense him choke as he took him in.
Stop it! Now he was horny again, and the pickup’s vibration wouldn’t let his erection go down.
Maybe that was the answer. When they got back to the masia, they’d have sex and sleep, deal with whatever they had to deal with in the morning. Let it go.
His mobile, lying on the dashboard before him, beeped. He picked it up. Policemen knew better than anyone the dangers of using a mobile while driving, and his hands-free was on the blink—he needed to get it replaced. He chanced a glance at the screen. Carme’s name flashed up.
“David… David, are you awake?”
His eyes snapped open immediately, and he looked at Ramon, those clear blue irises tentative.
“Yeah?”
“Can you…? There’s a message from Carme. Can you read it to me?”
David took the phone.
“I need your fingerprint.”
Ramon held up his index finger, keeping his eyes on the road, as David pressed the phone onto it to unlock it. Then he waited while David found the message.
“It’s Estel. He’s taken a turn for the worse.”
“Weren’t they supposed to be walking him this morning? Maria was meant to do it.”
“I’ll read it to you:
[Carme:] Bad news. Estel’s leg inflamed again. Ernest here looking at it. I’ll keep you informed.
“Shit. Tell her… Tell her I’ll be there tonight.”
“Sure… ah, actually, my Catalan’s not good enough. How do you…?”
“Just write: Vinc aquesta nit.”
“Done.”
Ramon returned the phone to the dashboard. But a few seconds later it started to ring.
“I can’t pull over here. You’re going to have to get that.”
David picked up the phone again.
“Hola?”
“Put it on speaker.”
A few moments later Carme’s voice came over.
“Hello? Ramon? Who is that?”
“Ah, it’s… David.”
Ramon and David looked at each other.
“David? What are you doing…? Is Ramon there?”
“Hi, Carme,” Ramon said. “Sorry, I’m driving. I couldn’t answer.”
“Where are you?”
“Down at the Delta.”
“OK,” Carme huffed. “Let’s take it one thing at a time. I was wondering why you’d spell ‘vinc’ with a ‘b’.”
At David’s look, Ramon explained: “You pronounce it ‘bink‘, but you write it with a ‘v’.”
“Oh, sorry.” David looked uncomfortable. “I never learned to write the lingo well, just speak it.”
“No problem, it’s a tricky language to learn. So, Carme, what’s up with Estel?”
“Apparently the message to Maria didn’t get through. He wasn’t walked today and the swelling’s come up again.”
“But didn’t Ernest say we were out of danger?”
“He needed to be walked twice a day. Maria didn’t know and I only came in by chance this afternoon. The vet’s with him now. If you’re down at the Delta, I’m sure he’ll be fine…”
“No, I’ll drive back this evening. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have left him.”
“As you want, but Ernest and I have it covered, honestly. And ah, David… can we expect to see you again?”
David just stared at the phone in his hand, which he held between them.
“I, ah… sorry.”
“Well, good luck with everything.” Her voice sounded more than slightly annoyed. “You could have given me a bit more notice.”
He went to speak, but the call had ended. They drove in silence for a while and then Ramon said:
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“Well everything. You. The mystery. Do I get to know anything more about you?”
“I, ah… sorry.”
“Just like that? Sorry? That’s it? That’s the end? Bye, Ramon. Thanks for all the fish.”
“What?”
Ramon shrugged. “It’s a line from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
“Oh.”
They drove in silence after that.