Chapter Seven
Milo
“How would you feel about getting lunch with me?” I asked as I leant casually on the counter of Saltgate Sweets the following Thursday. My aim was to look cool, charming, and suave, and not like I was bricking it at the idea of asking Rupert out for lunch. And I thought I was pulling it off.
In my mind I was at least, and that was what mattered. Confidence came from within. If I thought I looked cool, I looked cool.
Rupert, on the other hand, looked flustered as fuck and it was adorable. “Oh, er, well, that would be—”
“Yes. The correct answer is: yes, I’d love to, thank you,” Norman said, popping up behind Rupert and putting his hand in the small of his back, gently pushing him towards the end of the counter.
“Is it?” Rupert asked with complete bewilderment.
“Yes,” Norman repeated with a firm nod and another push on Rupert’s spine.
“Go on, get your coat and take this young man up on his offer.” He looked me up and down, and I couldn’t tell if he was appraising me with benevolence or condemnation.
From what I’d heard about Norman, it was more likely to be the second.
I’d tried to look a bit more put together today though, in a pair of vintage jeans, my trusty boots, and a sweatshirt with dripping ice cream and slogan on the chest, which was a test print for some Lick It! merch.
I wanted to use the winter to try out a few different designs and see how they looked before we launched them next spring, and what better way to try them out than to model them myself.
I’d thrown an old bomber jacket over the top too, which I’d found in a charity shop in Newcastle, and added my trusty beanie, because it was pissing it down—again—and I was sick of getting a wet head.
The universe was clearly punishing me for shaving my head, and I’d decided to try and grow my hair back as quickly as possible. I didn’t think I’d do a mullet or wolf cut again, but I’d see how I felt when I had enough hair to do something with.
“Where are you taking him for lunch?” Norman asked, his tone implying there were many wrong answers to the question.
“Wherever Rupert wants to go. But I was going to suggest Novel Tea as a first option—they do pretty good sandwiches. And their cakes are lush.”
Norman nodded approvingly, glanced around to check where Rupert was, then leant forward conspiratorially. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but keep doing it. I haven’t seen the boy this happy in years.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” He shot me another look and raised a thin, grey eyebrow. “Don’t fuck it up.”
“Wasn’t planning to,” I muttered, a tight feeling in my chest. I didn’t know whether to tell Norman we weren’t dating, that this wasn’t anything more than a tentative friendship. But I couldn’t. Because it would feel dishonest.
It had only been a few weeks since we’d started talking properly, but I already felt attached to Rupert. I liked him. Probably more than I should. And when I’d teasingly asked him if he fancied a shag, I’d only been partially joking.
If Rupert had said yes, I’d have taken him up on it in a heartbeat and that realisation had been keeping me up at night for the last week.
I hadn’t told anyone about it because I already knew what Darcy and Alfie would say.
They’d tell me to talk to Rupert, to spend more time with him, to see how I felt.
Which was why I was here, asking him on a not-date.
See, sometimes I did take their advice. They’d be so pleased when I told them. If I told them. Which I wouldn’t, but that wasn’t the point.
“Ready to go?” I asked as Rupert appeared from the back of the shop wearing his long, royal blue coat and hat, his yellow umbrella tucked under his arm.
“Yes. I assume it’s still raining?”
“Pissing it down.”
“How lovely,” Rupert said with a smile that could only be described as charming. “At least it’s not snowing.”
“If we get snow in October, I’m leaving this fucking country.
I’m not kidding, I’ll fucking move,” I said as I opened the door for him, the pair of us ducking out into the street.
The wind had started to pick up too, gusting down the narrow road and swirling around the bottom of Rupert’s coat.
It was already too strong for him to put his umbrella up.
“Where would you go?” Rupert asked as he pulled his collar up and the pair of us walked quickly down towards the front. Luckily Novel Tea was only one street over, so we didn’t have to go far.
“Not sure. Somewhere warm. I think Darcy and Owen have the right idea—they’re sodding off to Australia for three or four weeks over Christmas.”
“That would be too hot for me,” Rupert said.
“I’m built for temperate climates. I went to a family wedding in India a few years ago and nearly melted.
It was forty-five degrees! I’m not used to that.
Luckily, I don’t go very often. Although, summer here is infinitely worse.
Somehow a nice summer’s day always manages to feel like the surface of the sun! ”
“It really does. Thank fuck I can go and stand in the freezer.” Luckily Lick It!
hadn’t gotten too warm, mostly because we had to keep it cool, but there were days I’d volunteered to fetch stock from the kitchen freezers as often as possible so I could cool off.
British summer was a hell understood only by those who’d experienced it.
“Have you got a lot of family in India?”
“A bit—mostly aunties, uncles, and cousins. My grandfather too. He and I read a lot of books together. He’s retired now so it keeps him busy. We play chess online too, and I still can’t beat him.”
“That’s nice you get on well though.”
“Do you not get on with your family? You don’t have to answer if you’d rather not.
I know family can be a difficult subject for a lot of people,” Rupert said.
We’d reached Novel Tea at this point, golden light shining out of the large windows into the grey daylight.
It wasn’t too busy, and there were several tables around the edge we could snag.
I guessed the bad weather was putting people off.
“We’re fine,” I said as we stepped inside, the warmth and delicious smells of coffee and cake enveloping us.
I didn’t really know how much to tell Rupert.
It would kind of ruin the vibe to say my family had always considered me a problem child and too much work.
I’d given up trying to get their approval several years ago, and we were barely more than acquaintances now.
But it didn’t bother me, because I’d found my real family. And I liked them a hell of a lot more.
“We send birthday messages, Christmas presents, check in occasionally. Darcy and Milo are more like family to me, and they’re awesome,” I continued as we joined the short queue by the counter.
“They do seem very nice,” Rupert said.
“You’d like them. Alfie’s a nerd and Darcy’s sweet as fuck, once you get past the bossiness and the stress.”
“I mean, he has to deal with you. Is it any wonder he’s stressed?” Rupert shot me a teasing grin, and my mouth fell open in delighted shock.
I gasped playfully. “Rupert! I never knew you had it in you to be so mean. Don’t worry, I’ll still buy you lunch.”
“Oh, you don’t have to…”
“Of course I do, I invited you.” I gestured at the counter. “What do you fancy?”
We discussed the various options, and when we got to the front of the queue, placed our orders with Alex, the sexy, vaguely emo-looking owner.
He had fluffy blond hair, sleeve tattoos, a permanent don’t-fuck-with-me look, and a skin-tight black T-shirt, and was most famously known as the partner of international superstar and all-around hottie, Henry Lu.
I fucking loved that, despite having the money to do anything, Alex was still running a coffee shop with his brother. But he was a typical no-nonsense Yorkshireman, and I couldn’t imagine him wanting to leave. Especially not for somewhere like LA.
“I’ll bring everything over in minute,” Alex said as I tapped my phone against the card reader. He looked at me for a second. “You’re one of the guys who runs Lick It!, right?”
“That’s me. Milo,” I said with a casual smile.
“Cool. Do you guys supply businesses? We’d like to offer proper milkshakes and ice cream floats in the summer, but I’m not fucking making ice cream. I’d rather use good, local suppliers.”
“We’ve not, but it could be something we do in future, especially if you’re interested,” I said.
I wasn’t about to say no to a business opportunity like this.
Not without discussing it with Darcy and Alfie first—Darcy would be the one keeping up with the supply after all, and Alfie would be able to do all the shit like pricing.
“We’re closing over the winter, but if you’ve got a number or email, I can talk to Darcy and Alfie and then maybe we can meet up to discuss it? ”
“Sounds good.” He grabbed a blank Novel Tea loyalty card and scrawled his details across it. “Here. Drop me a message whenever you wanna chat.”
“Cheers.” I shoved the card in my jacket pocket, hoping I’d remember it was there later.
Rupert was waiting patiently behind me, and I grinned as I turned to him, gesturing at the tables. “Where do you want to sit?”
“I don’t mind,” Rupert said.
“You pick.”
He looked for another second, then led us over to a small table at the back, slightly tucked away, with two comfortable, squishy-looking chairs on either side of it. “Is this okay?”
“Perfect!” The chairs were gorgeously comfy and easy to sink into. If I wasn’t careful, I’d end up staying here for the rest of the afternoon instead of getting back to work. But it wasn’t like we were busy. Nobody would notice if I took a nap here instead.
“That’s nice of Alex to ask about supplying them,” Rupert said, hanging his coat over the back of the chair before he sat down. He was wearing a mustard-coloured knitted jumper, and it was the sort of thing only he’d make sexy.
“Yeah, it’s cool. I just need to ask the others, and figure out a way to do so that doesn’t make Darcy panic.”
“Do you think he would?”
“Maybe? I don’t know.” I leant back in the chair and crossed one leg over the other, thinking deeply for a second. Maybe I shouldn’t be talking to Rupert about Darcy, but sometimes it helped to have an objective person in the room.
“He was really stressed out this summer—we hit the ground running a lot faster than we anticipated, and then he and Owen decided to forget communication was a thing. I guess, I don’t want to stress him out again.
But it’s more because I want to protect him, not because I think he’s incompetent.
Darcy’s the most determined person I’ve ever met, and if he wants something, there’s no point standing in his way.
The shop is his dream, and he made it come true.
I can’t imagine wanting something so much that you bend your whole life into figuring out how to make it work. ”
“It’s incredible really,” Rupert said. There was a tiny hint of sadness in his eyes as he glanced away which puzzled me, because didn’t he feel the same about the sweet shop? After all, why would you run a retail or food business in this economy unless you really wanted to.
“Yeah but, surely you get it? I mean, you opened the sweet shop, right?”
He shook his head. “No, it was my uncle’s business. I took it over when he died.”
“But you like running it, don’t you?”
“I suppose,” he said. He looked so glum and it instantly made me regret this conversation. I hadn’t wanted to upset him. This whole outing was supposed to be fun.
“Oh! I showed Alfie some of those links you sent me for suits,” I said, leaning forward in my seat and smiling brightly, hoping the change of subject would distract him.
“Did he like them?”
“Fucking loved them! He’s ordered a couple of bits to try on, but he’s super excited.”
Rupert’s face lit up and it sent warmth rushing through my chest. “I’m so glad. What did he order? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Hang on, I’ve got the links. Let me show you.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scooted my chair around the side of the table so we were closer together.
Just because it was easier to show him things, obviously. Not for any other reason.
Alex brought our food and drinks over while we were deep in conversation about Alfie’s suit options, but that didn’t stop us.
We continued chatting at speed between mouthfuls of sandwich and cake and quick sips of our drinks.
The food was great, but I barely registered the taste.
I was too focused on the beautiful man sat next to me, whose eyes danced like starlight whenever he was interested or excited, and whose mouth had the most stunning curves.
In all these months, I’d never really noticed just how utterly gorgeous he was. It was mesmerising.
“Do I have something on my face?” Rupert asked, touching his lip self-consciously.
I cursed myself for getting caught. “No… I just… sorry.”
“What then? You keep looking at me.”
“You… you have a very nice mouth,” I said. “And it keeps distracting me.”
“I… what?”
“Your mouth, it’s very pretty and I can’t stop staring at it.
” I shouldn’t have said it once, let alone repeated myself, but fuck it, it was too late for regret now.
I was riding this train all the way to the end, where there’d either be a station for me to stop at, or a cliff to fall off and die in a fiery furnace.
“Oh.” Rupert’s voice was soft, but he didn’t look uncomfortable. Just confused. Did he not know how pretty his mouth was?
“Sorry, you can tell me to sod off,” I said quickly. “I just wanted to be honest with you.”
“I don’t mind,” he said, eyes finally meeting mine.
“Yeah?”
He nodded and hummed, leaning a tiny bit closer. “I like your mouth too. Every time I see it, I keep thinking about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Kissing you.”
I swallowed, heart hammering in my chest as I gently reached out for him, the background sounds of Novel Tea fading away like someone had shut a door. “Kiss me then,” I said quietly.
Rupert’s jaw was warm to my touch, his lips soft as he brushed them against mine, the taste of tea and honey cake lingering on his mouth.