17. Lincoln
LINCOLN
Daniel Hoyton—unfortunately not an unwanted figment of my imagination, but real and alive and in my uncle’s lounge—was sprawled out on the sofa as if he had every right to be there. His gaze was fixed on the TV, where Zelda was currently paused. What the hell was happening here?
My gaze dragged up his body, pausing on his thighs as I took in the way his muscles were flexing in his dark jeans.
He wasn’t as relaxed as he was pretending to be.
I completed my perusal, not finding anything out of the ordinary.
Injured. That was obviously a lie. He looked like his usual infuriating self.
Tilting his head, he tugged his plush bottom lip between his teeth as he studied the screen intently. “So I’m supposed to be like the baddie in this game?”
Tilly, who was snuggled up on the sofa next to my most hated rival without a care in the world, nodded emphatically as she waved the Switch controller in the air. “Yep. That’s what Link says. Did you know that Link spells his name with a K because I asked him to, because of Link in Zelda?”
Daniel’s lips kicked up at the corners, and my heart beat faster. “I didn’t know that, no. So he thinks I’m like this Canon guy, huh?”
“Not Canon. Ganon.” She laughed, and I found my own lips lifting into an involuntary smile.
“Hmm. Ganon must be very handsome. And I bet he’s very clever and cunning, just like I am.”
“He always gets beaten in the end,” she informed him matter-of-factly, and I heard Mike snort from the wingback chair, out of my line of vision.
Daniel hummed, unconvinced, but he dropped the subject, his eyes flicking to the top corner of the screen. “Hey, I recognise those heart things. Your cousin has a tattoo—”
“Yeah. Heart containers,” she interrupted. “Can you do braids?”
Daniel blinked several times at the seemingly random change of subject, and I held my breath. If he—
“Can I do braids…” he repeated slowly before relaxing his shoulders into the ancient sofa. I gritted my teeth when he flashed her a bright grin, full of his usual egotistical confidence. “I happen to be an expert. Some have even called me the best in the Cotswolds.”
Tilly rolled her eyes, and I breathed out.
At least she wasn’t completely buying into his bullshit.
“Prove it. I want my hair like that, but Dad doesn’t know how to do them properly.
” Shooting him a challenging look, she jabbed her controller in the direction of the screen, where Princess Zelda was currently frozen.
“Uh…” His gaze darted towards where I knew Mike was sitting. “I can try, if your dad says it’s okay.”
“Go ahead.”
I could hear the rumble of amusement in my uncle’s tone. What fucked-up alternative reality was I living in? Had Mike forgotten that Daniel was a Hoyton? Had he forgotten our animosity? I took a step forward but stopped dead when Daniel spoke again, his voice softer than I’d ever heard it.
“Can you show me any close-up photos? I wanna make sure I’m doing it right.”
I rubbed at my chest, unable to look away as their heads bent over Tilly’s tablet, swiping through a series of photos. Eventually, Daniel raised his head, giving my cousin a decisive nod. “Alright. I think I’ve got it. Let’s try it.”
There was a creak, and I jumped back just in time before my uncle appeared in the doorway. He shot me a knowing look. “Been here a while?”
“I just got here,” I snapped back, and he snorted under his breath. Following him to the kitchen, I rounded on him as soon as we were out of earshot of the lounge. “What the hell is Daniel fucking Hoyton doing here?”
“Keep your voice down,” he cautioned. “I don’t know…yet. He claimed he was looking for you. Know anything about that?”
“No.”
“One thing I can tell you is that he had no idea this was my house. His face when he saw me standing there… I’ve never seen anyone go so ghostly white.”
My stomach twisted. “I have no idea why he’d be looking for me, unless he’s got another note to pass on.
You know we avoid each other outside of those situations, unless we’re forced into the same location by circumstances outside our control.
I heard he was injured, anyway, so I don’t know what he’s doing here.
How did he even get here? I didn’t see another car, so what did he do? Hitch a lift?”
“All good questions,” Mike mused, flipping the switch on the kettle to turn it on. “Tea?”
“Tea? Got anything stronger?”
“Not while Tilly’s up. You can have tea, water, or squash.”
“Tea, then,” I muttered. A sudden thought struck me, and I shoved at my uncle. “You fucking left Tilly in there on her own with him!”
“Why don’t you go and check on them,” he suggested calmly, and I growled under my breath, spinning on my heel and stalking back down the hallway to the lounge.
I burst through the doorway, angry words ready to spill from my lips.
Tilly was balanced on the footstool in front of Dan. He was carefully combing through her hair with a purple comb, separating out strands with his fingers, a look of intense concentration on his face that I’d only ever seen him employ on the ice.
I came to a sudden halt, sucking in a shaky breath as I forcibly pulled the words back.
His head shot up when I appeared in his peripheral vision, his bright blue eyes widening with shock when our gazes connected. The air seemed to grow close, like it did right before a thunderstorm, and I swiped my tongue across my dry lips, at a complete loss for words.
I couldn’t look away.
This had been a big, big mistake.
Tilly jerked upright, breaking the weird moment. “Link! I didn’t know you were here.” She smiled widely. “Your nemesis is giving me Zelda hair.”
“My name’s Dan,” Daniel said, visibly gathering himself. “Hello, Bell—Lincoln.”
“Hello, Daniel,” I returned, just as formally, and his lips twitched almost imperceptibly.
Tilly stared between us. “He’s much nicer than Ganon.”
Traitor.
“I am, aren’t I?” Daniel smirked, and I glared at him.
Mike appeared behind me, nudging me with his elbow. “Mind moving, mate? You’re taking up the doorway.”
“Sorry.” I stepped into the room, allowing Mike to enter with a tray with three mugs of tea balanced on it. He placed them down on the coffee table before sinking onto the wingback chair and then jerked his head towards the empty space on the sofa. Next to Daniel.
I turned my glare on him, taking up a position against the wall with my arms folded across my chest. I fought with myself for a moment before I gave in to the inevitable, watching Daniel braid my cousin’s hair.
He’d returned his full attention to her, but I knew he was fully aware of my presence because he was biting down hard on his lip, his body a tense line as he worked his fingers through Tilly’s hair.
There was also the fact that my uncle was watching him over the brim of his mug, making things doubly uncomfortable.
“When did you learn to plait hair?” Mike said. It was an innocuous question, but I recognised it as part of his interrogation tactics. Tactics he’d successfully used on me in the past.
Daniel carefully secured the first braid.
“Uh, I think I was eight or something.” I thought that was all he was going to say, but to both Mike’s and my surprise, he continued.
“It took a lot of YouTube tutorials, but I wanted to be able to do it for my mum. My dad used to do it for her sometimes, so I wanted her to be able to carry that on, y’know. ” He lifted one shoulder stiffly.
Fucking hell. I swallowed hard.
Mike glanced towards Tilly and seemed to come to the same conclusion I’d already drawn.
We couldn’t continue this line of conversation with my cousin in the room.
He pasted on a smile, giving Daniel a simple nod before returning to studying him as he continued working on the second braid.
This time, my uncle’s expression was thoughtful, and all I could do was hope that he wasn’t taken in by Daniel’s natural charm.
Charm that absolutely didn’t work on me.
In fact, it made me want to crawl out of my own skin.
When Daniel was finished, my tea had gone cold because I’d forgotten all about it, too busy trying to get my head around the fact that this was actually happening and wasn’t just an incredibly vivid hallucination. Mike rose from his chair, coming to stand next to me, dipping his head to my ear.
“Play nice while I get Tils to bed. No raised voices. I’ll be as quick as I can.”
“Don’t leave me here with him,” I hissed.
“Play. Nice.” He straightened up, clearing his throat. “Go on, Tils. Show us your hair.”
“Is it finished?” She glanced back at Daniel, and he nodded, bringing an instant smile to her face.
Jumping up from the stool, she bounded over to the mirror that hung over the mantle bracketing the squat stone fireplace.
“It’s perfect,” she breathed, her eyes wide as she twisted around, trying to see herself from all angles.
My gaze slid to Daniel, to find him already looking at me.
My stomach jolted.
“Play nice,” Mike reminded me in a low voice before crossing the room to Tilly. “Come on, Tils. Bedtime.”
“Dad…” she began.
“Now, please. Say goodnight to Link and Daniel. If you’re quick, we can finish the end of the episode we were watching yesterday.”
She sighed dramatically. “Okay, I suppose so.” Returning to Daniel, she surprised us all by throwing her arms around him. “Thank you for my hair. You’re definitely not a baddie like Ganon. I like you.”
He patted her back gently. “I like you too.” When she bounded over to me, I noticed his cheeks were flushed, and his eyes were wide and troubled. What was that all about?
“Night, Tils.” I leaned down to hug her. Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, I whispered, “Your hair looks pretty. Make sure your dad takes some photos, okay?”
She nodded, releasing her tight grip on me. “Dad, bring my tablet upstairs.”
“Say please.”
“Pleeease.”
“That’s better.” Mike grabbed the tablet from the sofa. “Race you upstairs.”
Tilly immediately raced out of the lounge, and Mike followed behind at a slower pace, shooting me a warning look as he did so.
Then I was left alone with my rival.
“What was that face for?” The words spilled from me unchecked.
Daniel lifted his head. “What face?”
“When Tilly thanked you. You looked…unhappy.”
“I wasn’t unhappy.”
It took me a few steps to cross the room to the sofa. I dropped down next to him. “Liar.”
His nostrils flared. “I’m not fucking lying. It wasn’t that. It was— Oh, fuck you. I don’t owe you an explanation. I don’t owe you anything. You pulled a knife on me, then you blocked me.”
Shit, there was actual hurt in his tone. I blew out a heavy breath. “Hoyton.”
“Don’t. This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come here.” He began to rise, and I panicked, knowing this could be the only chance for Mike and me to get some answers. Grabbing his wrist, I yanked him back down again, keeping a tight hold in case he decided to make a run for it.
“Hoyton.”
“Let. Fucking. Go of me.”
“Answer the question.”
“Fuck you.”
“Fuck you more.” He was so infuriating.
“Fine. It was the thing she said about me not being a baddie and saying she liked me.”
“What?” I stared at him. He shook his head stubbornly, tugging his lip between his teeth. Reaching out with my free hand, I curled it around his throat in warning. His skin was so warm beneath my palm, his Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed roughly. I tightened my grip. “Explain. Now.”
His eyes flashed with fire. “Let go. Or I’ll—”
When I dipped my head to his ear, I felt him shiver against me, and the throb of his pulse became faster, more insistent. “You wouldn’t dare to try anything. Not with Sergeant Bellingham right upstairs. Explain. Now.”
“Every second you threaten me or dare to lay your hands on me, the worse you’ll make life for future you,” he gritted out.
“So fuck you. And I thought you were supposed to be clever. Isn’t it obvious?
She said I wasn’t a baddie. I am. And she shouldn’t like me, because I’m bad fucking news. You, of all people, should know that.”
There was a dull ache in my chest. “I do know that.” The second the words came out, I regretted saying them.
He inhaled sharply, ripping himself away from me and springing to his feet. “Yeah, so I shouldn’t be here. Tell your uncle— Shit, I don’t know. Sorry for trespassing or whatever.” Turning on his heel, he strode towards the door.
He was almost out when I reached him, wrapping my arms around him from behind and trapping his own arms at his sides. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep the hold for long, I wasted no time in placing my mouth at his ear. “Stay.”
He stilled at my command. “Why?”
“Hmm…” My lips skimmed over his skin, and we both jumped at the unexpected contact.
Drawing back slightly, I rasped, “Because for one, my uncle won’t be happy if he comes down and finds out that I let you leave.
And let’s not forget the fact that you came looking for me for a reason. I still haven’t heard that reason.”
“Your cousin’s upstairs,” he reminded me, his fingers curving around my wrist. When had he managed to get his arms free?
“I can’t— Fucking hell, Bellingham. She shouldn’t be around me, and I can’t be around you without wanting to murder you.
” His thumb pressed into the fine bones on the underside of my wrist in warning.
Acting without thinking—which seemed to keep happening when Daniel Hoyton was concerned—I angled my head, taking his lobe between my teeth. He hissed when I bit down, his thumb pressing harder into my skin. I stifled my wince just in time.
Releasing his ear, I slid my hand up the hard lines of his chest, back to his throat. I gripped his jaw, angling his head to the side so I could meet his hateful gaze. “Your second point is very fucking mutual, Hoyton.”
“Yeah, so this is a lost cause. Let me go, and we can forget this ever happened. I’ll walk out of here, and you won’t have to see me again, like you wanted when you blocked me.”
“Did you miss me, baby?” My tone dripped with mockery, but at the word “baby,” he completely stopped breathing, his pupils growing huge as he stared at me in shock.
“Don’t fucking call me baby,” he snarled venomously, yanking his body away from mine. He twisted, shoving at my chest and sending me staggering backwards. Then he turned on his heel, stalking down the hallway to the front door, and this time, I let him go.