Chapter 9
Nine
Newt freaked out when he couldn’t rouse River in the shower.
But his skin was warm, his breathing even, there was no rattling from his chest that implied he’d inhaled water, so he guessed shock and exhaustion had taken their toll.
Oh God, let it just be that. River wasn’t the only one who was shocked and exhausted. Newt was barely keeping panic at bay.
The accident wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t be expected to watch River every second of the day, but that wasn’t what Max would think.
River had almost drowned. Newt only just held in his sob as he clutched River a little tighter.
No point trying to wriggle out of responsibility for this.
It was his fault. And it had all begun with that kiss.
Newt hadn’t started it but he’d pulled River in, not pushed him away. Shit.
If he hadn’t discovered River’s jacket and shoes had disappeared from the boot room…
Christ Almighty. Thank fuck there was still a heavy frost on the ground, because when he hadn’t seen any footprints on the lawn, he guessed River had left via the gate and would probably not head down the road.
He’d seen the cameras around the property, but Newt had no idea how to look at the footage and had to rely on his intuition.
With a choice of trees or field, Newt opted for field because it would be easier going underfoot.
Then again, the woods offered more protection.
But…if Newt had made the wrong choice at any point, walked in the wrong direction, wasted time looking in the wrong place…
He swallowed hard trying to shift the lump in his throat and curled his fingers around River’s wrist, needing to reassure himself he was still alive, that his heart was still beating.
When he’d heard River call out, he’d raced towards his voice, seen him in the river, wrenched off his jacket and jumped in.
They could both have drowned. Newt shuddered.
He thought River must have fallen or slipped into the water.
He wouldn’t have shouted otherwise. The word he’d called hadn’t been help, but in a dangerous situation, maybe getting the right word out had been beyond him.
Though he needed to consider the possibility that maybe River had gone in deliberately, but changed his mind.
Which led to Newt’s deepest concern, that the kiss had pushed River over some edge. Shhhhit.
Once Newt had managed to get River dressed and they’d both rested, he’d have to find out whether he’d fallen or not and decide what to do if it was or not.
There’d be no choice about calling Max then.
But for the next few minutes, they were fine just curled up in the shower, getting warm.
River opened his eyes a couple of times, then closed them again.
“Everything will be all right.” Newt was trying to reassure himself as well as River.
Eventually, he switched off the water and went to get towels.
River barely stirred as Newt dried him. He managed to get him out of the shower, but wasn’t sure he could carry him all the way to the main room.
Upstairs would be impossible. In the end, Newt dragged him through the house on a large towel.
He mustered one final burst of energy to hoist him onto the couch, then he was exhausted.
Once he thought he could move without falling over, he went over to the basket of blankets and draped two over River.
Taking a deep breath, he reached underneath to peel the wet boxers down River’s legs.
Please don’t wake up now. If the kiss had freaked him out, this would really make him panic.
But River slept on. Newt took the wet things to the utility room, removed his own boxers and wrapped a dry towel around his waist.
More washing to do. Everything that was wet went into the machine, including their footwear.
He just remembered to take River’s post out of his pocket before he put his jacket in the machine too.
Should he call Max? He didn’t want to, but…
Newt returned to River and put the back of his hand on his forehead.
He was warm, but not too warm. Newt decided he’d be all right, that there was no need to contact River’s agent.
Then immediately felt wracked by guilt to be relieved River couldn’t tell Max what had happened.
He went upstairs to get dressed. It was a good thing he’d kept his prison discharge clothing.
Hopefully the stuff he’d ordered would arrive soon.
When he got back to River, he’d not moved.
Not the moment to feel a surge of lust, but Newt’s cock wasn’t listening.
He clenched his teeth. Newt was torn between wanting him to wake up so he knew he was okay, and wanting him to stay sleeping to give him chance to think.
Though he wasn’t sure thinking was going to be much help.
You kissed me. And yes, Newt had kissed him back but why had River freaked out?
Was the kiss so bad? Maybe it was. It was the first kiss of Newt’s life.
It hadn’t felt bad. It had been great, right up to when it wasn’t.
But River hadn’t panicked until he was on his lap and Newt had put his hand on his back.
Maybe the kiss was…acceptable, but not the touching?
Yet River’s cock had been hard. Newt’s too.
Had River just come to his senses and realised Newt wasn’t a woman?
How was he going to be able to tell him what was wrong?
If River had died, Newt wasn’t sure he could have lived with himself. Guilt would have eaten him up. It was currently nibbling at his stomach in a determined way. He really should call Max, maybe take River to a doctor…
“Oh,” River suddenly gasped. He opened his eyes, seemed as if he was going to panic until he saw Newt, then he smiled and closed his eyes again.
A smile.
Newt wasn’t going to leave his side.
Newt woke with a start, shocked he’d fallen asleep, but more shocked not to find River on the couch.
Now where had he gone? When he didn’t find him downstairs, he was worried.
Nor was he in his bedroom. Even more worrying.
But when Newt reached the door of the media room, he heard talking and sighed with relief.
River was speaking over his part in a film, stopping and rewinding, then trying again.
He went back downstairs, glad that River was trying to help himself get better.
He moved the clothes to the drier and started another wash.
Once he had potatoes in the oven, on a timer to start baking in forty minutes, he made himself a cup of coffee and read a book.
Tried to read a book. It was hard to concentrate when he kept wondering how River would react when he came down.
With such limited language skills, it wasn’t as if they could discuss things.
Though Newt guessed River would pretend nothing had happened.
He looked for something they could do tomorrow. If they were out of the house, it might be easier.
An hour later, River came into the room.
“Than…k yooou,” he said haltingly.
Not for the kiss. Though for a moment, Newt desperately wished it was.
“Please don’t go out again into the evil forest without telling me. You’d be helpless against ogres and orcs. I’m not sure I could handle them either, or Niagara Falls downstream.”
River snorted, but he had a small smile on his face. Newt hadn’t planned to make light of what had happened but maybe it was the right direction to take.
“Did an ogre push you in or an orc?”
River took a moment to get a word out. “F…f…”
“A faerie? How am I supposed to explain that to Max? I’d lose my bonus. Though no one mentioned faeries lived locally.” Oh fuck, shut up!
“Fe…fell. F…fok…fox. Fell.”
“You saw a fox, missed your footing and fell?”
River nodded.
“Do you feel okay?”
“Yesss.” He pointed to Newt.
“I’m fine. I… I didn’t look,” Newt blurted, then wished he hadn’t said anything. “I mean, I took your wet boxers off under the blanket. I didn’t touch or look, I… I wouldn’t want you to think I’d taken advantage. You were completely out of it.”
River sat on the couch.
“Do you want me to call Max?”
“No.”
Newt didn’t feel as relieved as he’d hoped.
“Are we going to talk about that kiss?”
“Not…gay.”
Newt wondered if he’d been practising saying that. Not gay. Right.
“Di…la.”
And that.
“You’re saying you have a girlfriend. Dila.”
“Yes.”
Newt desperately wanted to say—You sure about that? —But he didn’t.
He’d googled. There’d been two other girlfriends before her. And they were just the ones Google knew about. Newt couldn’t just leave it. He should have, but he didn’t. “You’re straight but you kissed me.”
River just sat there, his eyes wide.
Don’t push. But Newt couldn’t help himself. “Does your cock know you’re not gay?”
River groaned.
“Did you kiss me because you were curious?”
No response from River.
“Are you still curious?” Newt took a deep breath.
River shook his head.
Newt wished River could talk to him. Maybe the sudden lack of inhibition had something to do with the head injury. He didn’t want to lose this job. But if River was mixed up, that was Newt’s problem too. Maybe he needed to let it go. If River kissed him again, then…
Back off.
Newt plastered a smile on his face. “I found a game on my phone that helps with word recognition. Why don’t you try it while I make dinner.” He found the game and handed River his phone. “You get shown two images and you have to tap the one matching the word.”