Chapter Five
Alfie
Of all the ice cream shops in all the world, Jonathan had just walked into mine. It felt like something out of a dream.
All the searching, all the hours lost in thought, all the worries that I’d never be able to find him again… and yet here he was.
And he looked just as stunned as me.
“Fucking hell,” Milo said in hushed awe from beside me, clearly none the wiser to the way I was staring at the gorgeous gothic man who’d just strolled through the door. “Is that Theo Foxx?”
“Maybe,” I said, casting a quick glance at the pretty blond man in the strawberry dress who I’d already served once today. “He was in here earlier, I remember that.”
“Uh-huh.”
Ignoring Milo, I fixed my eyes back on Jonathan, who was still staring at me like he couldn’t believe I was here.
“Didn’t expect to see you here,” I said, my hand reaching vaguely towards the bucket of scoops, knowing I should probably think about serving him and his…
friend. The name Theo was familiar, and it wasn’t just from the way Milo had said it.
I had a feeling Jonathan had told me about Theo too.
“No, er, me neither,” Jonathan said. He looked so flustered, as if he wasn’t sure what to do or say, and the way he kept glancing at the door made me wonder if he was two seconds from running. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“Don’t apologise,” I said with a smile. “What can I get you?”
He glanced up at the board and then took a small step forward to peer into the counter.
His clothing was a little more understated this time, with pinstripe trousers and a matching waistcoat over a black shirt with silver clasps on the collar and two thin silver chains hanging between them.
His hair was pulled back into a low bun, a few wispy strands framing his face, and he’d gone for two simple pairs of silver earrings—a hoop and small cross hanging from each lobe.
He was still absolutely stunning. The most beautiful man I’d ever seen.
“Cinnamon and white chocolate?” he asked as he raised his head, the question clear in his tone.
It was a more unusual flavour pairing, but Darcy had tried one similar in Florence and had been determined to try and recreate it.
It had taken several months and a lot of frustration, but he’d finally perfected it and the three of us hoped it would become a local favourite.
“Yeah, it’s really good. Sweet but with a little bit of warmth too.
” I grabbed a wooden spoon out of a pot to get him a sample.
“I was a bit sceptical at first, but it really works. Here.” I held out the tiny scoop of ice cream for him to try.
He stepped forward and his fingers brushed against mine as he took the spoon out of my hand, sliding it between his lips.
I tried not to stare, because the last thing I wanted was to make him uncomfortable, especially when he was already so nervous.
“Can I try some too please?” Theo asked sweetly and I nodded, shooting him a smile. I’d almost forgotten he was there.
“Of course,” Milo said, swooping in beside me. “You can try whatever you want. Also, I just have to say, I’m sure you get it all the time, but I’m a huge fan of yours.”
“Thank you! You’re so sweet! I’m so glad you like my work.
” Theo beamed and winked, and I was pretty sure Milo nearly passed out.
It had taken me a moment to figure out who he was, and now I was a little stunned that, when Jonathan had said he knew someone who did MyFans, he’d been referring to one of the biggest amateur gay porn creators in the world.
Who the hell was going to turn up next? Austin Carter!
“Ohhh, can I try cinder toffee too please?”
“Of course!” Milo grabbed another spoon, his natural charm radiating out of him in spades. “Hey, you just got engaged right? Congratulations!”
“Thank you! He’s around here somewhere,” Theo said, glancing out of the door and then turned to Jonathan. “Is it good?”
“It’s great,” Jonathan said, a gentle smile spreading across his lips. “I’ll have this one please.”
“Just the one scoop or two?” I asked. “Regular cone or a chocolate dipped one? They’re both waffle. We make them in house.”
“That’s so cool,” Theo said as he took his own sample from Milo, sucking it into his mouth. “Oh, that’s so good! Good choice, Jonathan.”
“Just a regular cone please, and one scoop.”
“He’ll have two,” Theo said as he took the sample of cinder toffee to try.
“No, one is fine.”
“No, you get two because you need a treat!”
“Theo, don’t bother him,” said another voice, belonging to a tall, willowy man stepping through the door.
Like Jonathan he was dressed in dark, gothic clothing, with pale skin and long hair that fell around his shoulders, giving him an almost vampiric air.
He was incredibly handsome, but from the way he was looking at Theo it was obvious they were together.
“If Jonathan just wants one, that’s fine. ”
“Fine, but can I have two please? In a chocolate cone,” Theo said, as the other man walked over to him and kissed the top of his head. “What do you want? They have a tea and biscuit flavour!”
“Do you want to try some?” Milo asked from beside me and I decided to leave them to it. If Milo could look after Theo and his fiancé, it would mean I got Jonathan all to myself.
“So, one scoop then?” I asked as I picked up one of the waffle cones, making a mental note that I needed to grab some more out of the kitchen as soon as possible since we were already running low.
“Yes, please,” Jonathan said as he moved even closer to the counter, and the world suddenly shrank to just the two of us. “Just one.”
“How did you get on, by the way? At the tournament?”
“Third. Took a couple of big hits and didn’t recover as well as I’d have liked.”
“That’s still awesome though.”
“Thank you,” he said as I handed his cone to him. He reached into his pocket and I shook my head.
“On the house,” I said.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
“I know, but that’s one of the perks of being a co-owner. I can do that sometimes.” I smiled at him. There were a few more people coming through the door, but Milo was still behind the counter and Darcy was in the kitchen if he needed help.
They’d manage without me for five minutes. I hadn’t had a break yet, and this seemed like the perfect time.
And if they were busy, they couldn’t drop in and ask any awkward questions, which was perfect because their nosiness would either make Jonathan freeze or send him running for the hills.
“Do you have five minutes?” I asked.
“Maybe…” Jonathan glanced at the other two men, who were still chatting to Milo near the till. “Yes, I can do five minutes.”
I grinned, my heart racing as I ducked around Milo and out from behind the counter. After spending so long thinking of this moment, I didn’t know what to say. All I could do was hope I’d think of something by the time we got outside. “Let’s grab a seat. If you don’t mind sitting outside.”
“No, I’ll be fine for a few minutes. I remembered to put sun cream on this morning.”
“That makes one of us,” I said as we stepped into the sunshine.
The sky was clear and a sharp crystal blue, the brightness almost hurting my eyes.
There were a few people sitting around, but there was some space on a couple of orange and pink chairs off to the side, near the sweet shop that was our left-hand neighbour.
It still felt strange to sit down in chairs we’d bought to go outside our ice cream shop, that was now open and serving our ice cream.
After months of planning, hard work, copious amounts of swearing, a few tears, plenty of test batches, and one spilt tub of teal paint, it was finally a reality.
All I could do now was hope everything paid off.
“So, this is the business your friends talked you into opening?” Jonathan asked as we sat down, his tongue darting out to lick his ice cream.
He gave the tiniest happy sigh and the soft smile on his face widened.
He seemed a little more relaxed out here, and I wondered if being around his companions was the thing that’d made him nervous.
Or maybe it was just the unexpected shock of bumping into me out in the wild.
“Yeah,” I said. “Not what you imagined?”
“No, sorry.” He licked the ice cream again. “Although I’m not sure what I imagined if I’m being honest. Maybe a hobby shop? Or something completely unrelated like a pet salon or fruit importers.”
“I mean, I have worked for an international manufacturing firm, so I could figure out a fruit importers. But a pet salon would be wildly out of my wheelhouse.”
“Mine too. Theo has two guinea pigs though and I look after them sometimes if he and Laurie are away, and I grew up with cats, but neither of them would ever let you give them a bath, so I don’t really have any pet washing experience.
The one time we did need to bathe one of the cats, it took three of us and Treacle sulked on top of a bookcase for a week afterwards. ”
“Treacle?”
“Yes, my mother named him. She found him as a stray and took him home, and he reminded her of the black treacle she was putting in the Christmas cake,” he said fondly. “We also had Delilah, Lulu, and their newest kitten is named Weasel.”
I snorted and laughed softly. “I think your family wins at pet names.”
“Oh, that’s nothing, truly. My sister keeps threatening to give her first cat a ridiculously long, titled name like Lord Periwinkle Archibald Fluffernutter the Third.
Unfortunately, her shared student house doesn’t allow pets, although I can see her sneaking one in if the mood takes her.
” He flushed slightly. “Sorry, I’m talking a lot about myself. ”
“You don’t have to apologise, I like hearing you talk,” I said. “I’ve got one older brother, and he now lives in London with his wife, so I don’t see him very often.”
“You’re from Yorkshire though?”
“Yeah, me, Darcy, and Milo actually grew up in Heather Bay. Then I moved to Sheffield for uni and ended up getting a job there, so I only moved back a couple of months ago when Darcy badgered me into this.” I gestured at the store, remembering the day the shop front painters had come and the way I’d felt seeing Lick It!
painted across the top and the sign being hung.
“I do like it though, despite the stress. It’s different. It’s weird finally being open though.”
“I suppose if you’ve been waiting a long time and working towards this point, it’s both bizarre and a relief.”
“Exactly! Like we’ve gotten over this huge hurdle and finally opened, which is both the end and the beginning because now we actually have to make it work,” I said with a nod, grateful that he understood.
I’d had a variation of this conversation with Darcy and Milo a hundred times, but it was also nice to talk to someone else about it.
My friends were worried enough without me piling my anxieties on top.
“You seem to be doing well so far,” Jonathan said, nodding at a small gaggle of elderly people who were wandering towards us.
“That’s the book club from Novel Tea. They’re ferociously nosy gossips too and seem to think they’re some sort of Heather Bay watch, but if they like you then they’ll tell everyone and you’ll be inundated. ”
“I’m sure Milo will dial up the charm. He’s good at that.”
“Do you need to go back then?”
“In a minute,” I said, desperate to keep this conversation going as long as possible. “You work locally, right?”
“Yes, about maybe a ten-minute walk? Depending on how fast you go.” He’d nearly made his way through his ice cream now. “Theo dragged us down, mostly because he wanted more ice cream. I wouldn’t usually come but Laurie insisted, because ice cream wasn’t something he could bring back.”
“I’m glad you did come. I’d been hoping I’d get to see you again.”
“Me too.”
I wanted to tell him how much I’d been thinking about him, but I couldn’t find any words that didn’t sound creepy.
“Do you think… would you like… maybe, if you want, we could hang out some time?” I asked, aware of just how painfully awkward I sounded, like a teenager figuring out how to talk to their first crush.
But I couldn’t let Jonathan slip through my fingers a second time.
“I… yes, I’d like that,” he said quietly. “I’d like that very much.”