Chapter Nine
Alfie
When I turned back from looking at the sea, I noticed Jonathan staring at me with a peach flush across his cheeks and a soft expression that made me melt, but the way he was subtly twisting his fingers together suggested there was more going on.
Did I have something on my face?
I brushed my thumb across my mouth, checking I hadn’t been walking along with ice cream smeared across my cheek. I couldn’t find anything though. “Everything okay?” I asked him, holding out my other hand for him to join me by the railing. “Do I have something on my face?”
“No,” he said quietly as he took my hand, the touch sending tingles running down my arm like pulses of electricity.
His skin was warm against mine, and softer than I’d imagined.
And when I glanced down, I realised there were little flecks of red paint clinging to the skin around his perfectly painted nails, which had some sort of chrome effect over the black. “I was just thinking.”
“About what?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, drawing him closer to me.
We weren’t quite chest to chest, but it was still the closest we’d ever been, and I was blown away once again by how beautiful Jonathan was.
My heart was racing as my eyes kept flicking down to his mouth.
He wasn’t wearing any lip colour today—or if he was, it wasn’t super noticeable—and they were a pretty shade of deep rose.
I wondered what they’d taste like. “You can tell me.”
“I was just thinking about you,” he said, voice hushed like he was worried about speaking too loudly. “About this. How I selfishly like having you all to myself for a minute.”
“It’s not selfish. I’m glad we have this moment too.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, pulling into a tiny smile. “It’s a good thing I left the house then.”
“Very good,” I said, squeezing his hand and tugging him an inch closer.
“I’m so happy you found me again. I tried to look for you online the week after the tournament, but I couldn’t remember your surname, just, er, how good you looked and how much I liked talking to you.
” I chuckled softly and glanced down at the beach below us.
“Darcy and Milo may have offered to try and find you, but I’m glad I didn’t have to take them up on it. ”
“Y-You looked for me?”
“Yeah, of course. Not very well, obviously, but I tried.” I twisted my head so my eyes could meet his. “I really like you, Jonathan. I think you’re so interesting and clever and cool, not to mention absolutely gorgeous.”
“Oh… thank you,” he said, the flush on his cheeks deepening to something that was almost cherry.
It showed off just how much dark red suited him.
“I really like you too. I’m, um, well I’m not really good at this, talking to people I mean.
Making a connection with someone, but talking to you, it feels easier?
I don’t know if that’s the right way to put it.
But I like talking to you. A lot. And being around you.
I feel like maybe I can be myself and you won’t mind that I’m awkward or not good with people or conversations. ”
“You can be,” I said, squeezing his hand again. I was tempted to reach out more, to touch his face or his chest, but I didn’t want to push him. I wanted him to feel completely comfortable and at ease, because I had to see more of who he was.
Because what I’d seen so far was enough to convince me that he was someone I needed in my life, chaotic and nerdy as it was. “I want to get to know you Jonathan, more than I already do. Because you’re amazing.”
“I’d like that. And I’d like to do the same—get to know you, I mean.” He stepped a tiny bit closer and my breath caught in my throat. “I think you’re beautiful too. Is that okay?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Good,” he said, with that sweet small smile that I really wanted to kiss. “I wanted to find you too. I thought about asking Theo for help, but he’s a bit… well, he’d definitely have gone a bit overboard.”
“I got that impression,” I said with a wry smile. “He seems… enthusiastic.”
“I feel like you’re just being polite. He’s a handful and a menace, but I like him. He’s never afraid to be himself, in fact, he’s always unapologetically himself. And I admire that. Sometimes, I wish I could be the same.”
“I think you are, more than you realise.”
“I hope so. If I can be even a fraction as confident as Theo and Laurie, I’ll be very happy.” He glanced away for a second, staring wistfully off into the distance. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to go off on a tangent.”
“It wasn’t.” I wished he could see what I saw, but maybe it was up to me to show him how wonderful he was.
And how much I already wanted him, just the way he was.
“Please don’t apologise. I like talking to you and I don’t want you to ever censor yourself because you don’t think I’ll be interested, or you’re worried about boring me. ”
He let out a self-deprecating chuckle and shook his head before turning back to me. “I’ll try. Although, I do think I can be quite boring sometimes. Especially when I talk about my interests.”
I grinned and gently swung his hand playfully.
“I don’t know if you’ve realised this, but I am also a nerd.
I like war-gaming, and painting miniatures, and printing my own.
I read books about mythology and fantasy epics, and I love going to old places just to wander around and soak in the history.
I’m currently listening to a seventeen-hour audiobook about the Assyrian Empire.
I don’t think you have to worry about me considering your interests boring. ”
“That sounds very interesting though. Can I—?”
“I’ll send you a link,” I said. “I’d love someone to talk to about it.
” We lulled into a natural silence for a second, our eyes meeting then glancing away then meeting again.
Nerves swirled in my stomach, the kind of nerves I hadn’t felt for a long, long time.
When I’d said I really liked Jonathan, I’d meant it, and it was almost paralysing because I didn’t want to say or do the wrong thing and scare him off.
I supposed I could only take it one day at a time.
And remember to tell him exactly what I was feeling, so he didn’t doubt me when I told him how much I enjoyed spending time with him.
Perhaps the best thing to do was to jump in with both feet.
“Can I ask you something?” I asked.
“Of course.”
“Would you like to have dinner with me one night this week? Not just as friends, but on a date.” My words came out surprisingly calm and smooth, which was good because inside I was screaming and sweating.
“I’d love to,” Jonathan said, the brightest smile I’d ever seen lighting up his face, his eyes crinkling in the corners. Joy really did look stunning on him. “That would be fun.”
I exhaled loudly, the tension leaching from my body so quickly my knees almost buckled. “Awesome! That’s… yeah, that’s awesome.”
Jonathan let out a soft laugh and covered his mouth with one hand. “Did you think I was going to say no?”
“I don’t know? Maybe? I’m not very good at this.”
“Asking people questions?”
“Yes, and dating. It’s been a while.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, biting his lip as nerves visibly crawled across his face, covering up his smile like thick, dark cloud on a summer day.
“I suppose I should tell you, just in case you want to rescind the invitation, but I haven’t had a boyfriend since I was in high school.
I’ve never actually been on a proper first date. ”
“That’s okay,” I said softly. “Seriously, it is.” A stray strand of his hair had been caught in the summer breeze, wafting in off the sea, and I reached out to gently brush it back off Jonathan’s face.
“You don’t need to worry. There’s no expectations or anything.
Just the two of us going out for dinner and hopefully having a nice time. ”
“That sounds nice.”
“Good. You’ll just have to give me some ideas of where we should go. Things have changed quite a lot since I left, and I don’t want to end up somewhere terrible that makes you wonder why you said yes.”
“I’ll have a think,” he said as his face slowly relaxed, uncovering his smile again. “I don’t really go out a lot but I can ask. What sort of food do you like?”
“I’m not particularly picky, I like most things,” I said.
“Sorry, that’s not very helpful. Um, Italian is always good, as is nice pub food.
Chinese, Indian, Thai… the only thing is that I don’t usually eat a lot of red meat and I’m not the biggest fan of blue cheese, unless it’s in something like a broccoli and Stilton soup. ”
“No worries, I’ll see what I can find.”
“I’ll ask too. Darcy’s been back a while, I’m sure he’ll know of somewhere.
” I just had to ask in such a way that wouldn’t arouse suspicion.
Except, Darcy already knew about Jonathan and he’d sent me out with him today, so there was no hope of keeping our date quiet.
All I could do was hope he and Milo kept their noses out of my business.
And pigs could fly.
Thinking of Darcy reminded me that I probably needed to get back, because as much as I’d have loved to have spent the rest of the afternoon with Jonathan, I had a job to do. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I should get back.”
“Oh shit, I’m sorry for keeping you.”
“It’s not your fault.” I grinned as I interlaced our fingers together. “Well, maybe a tiny bit for being so distracting.”
He flushed again. “Is it my fault for distracting you or your fault for getting distracted?”
“Definitely the second.” I stepped back while still keeping hold of his hand. “Will you walk back with me?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “Then I’ll head back to mine and try and get some more painting done.”
“Make sure you remember to take a break for dinner at least,” I said as we began to walk back along the front, the late-afternoon sunshine warming our skin. I loved the feeling of our fingers interwoven together—it felt so natural, like something we’d been doing forever.
We chatted a little bit about dinner plans, because Milo was determined to drag us to the pub this evening come hell or high water, and then about our favourite meals or things we loved to eat.
I’d never been the best cook, simply because my job hadn’t always allowed me the time and energy to do more than the bare minimum, and I joked that if I ever won the lottery then my biggest indulgence would be getting a private chef.
My favourite foods probably wouldn’t change though, but it would be nice to have someone else deal with the meal planning, shopping, cooking, and washing up.
We turned back onto Saltgate, taking a moment to admire Milo’s board, and headed towards the shop. “Do you think Milo will keep redrawing the lines around the border?” Jonathan asked as Lick It! came into view.
“God, I hope not,” I said with an exasperated sigh. “I’d really like to get on with our neighbours, not start a war with them.”
So far nothing had come of Milo’s ridiculous border markings, but that didn’t mean nothing would. I’d have to look in the budget and see if we could afford to get a barrier system to keep the tables and chairs within bounds. It would be worth it if it stopped relations with next door deteriorating.
“You can live in hope.”
“I can and I will. And if all else fails, Darcy and I will step in and apologise.”
“Will Milo be upset?” Jonathan asked as we stopped outside. There didn’t seem to be too many people around, which was good. Hopefully it hadn’t been chaos while I was away.
“Probably but he can deal,” I said, casting a glance at the door. I could see the pair of them inside behind the counter watching us. Neither of them were trying to hide it, and Milo even waved at me. Fuckers.
“I’ll let you go,” Jonathan said softly. “But I’ll message you about dinner. Maybe Wednesday? Would that work for you?”
“That sounds perfect,” I said, ignoring all thoughts of our audience and the barrage of nosy questions that would inevitably be coming my way. “I can’t wait.”
“Me neither.” He looked at me for a long second, and then leant in to brush his lips across my cheek. “I’ll see you then.”
He squeezed my hand before letting go and walking away. I watched him go as my finger reached up to touch the spot he’d kissed, a wide smile spreading across my face and my heart fizzing like I’d dumped popping candy on my tongue.