Chapter 17
Cyrraedd - Arrival
Rhys
Luce has done good. Fair do’s to her.
Holmfirth's an hour and a bit outside of Manchester. Not exactly close to the city, but it’s nearer to the venue than Cardiff, that’s for sure.
The house – a manor, really – more than makes up for the distance.
Georgian, set in a secluded valley with miles and miles of woodland around it.
No other signs of life. Peaceful, not that we have much time to enjoy any of it. But it’s perfect for keeping Cai safe.
And it’s fucking gorgeous. If he’s not careful, I’ll get used to this life of luxury. Demand it from every tour and trip away from Wales. His house is nice, a joy to stay in when I have to, but it’s not eight bedrooms, six bathrooms and two game rooms level of nice.
Even my bedroom – usually the roughest, smallest of the lot – is beautiful. Good job I cleared the air before Lucy started booking houses away from the original hotels. Being a nice guy pays off.
She’s put me on the ground floor, close to the front door – good girl.
Could fit my entire Cardiff flat in here.
Antique wardrobes take up the whole wall opposite my bed, but I’ve strewn the entire contents of my suitcase around the place.
A pair of boxers hangs from the corner of the TV, I lost my laptop under the hundred or so shirts I piled onto the desk, and my toiletries line the windowsill and the edge of the sink in my ensuite.
Much more like home that way. I sink into the super thick duvet to admire the mess I’ve made.
Perfect. Never gonna leave.
A million fluffy goose-down feathers support my head, and my eyelids grow heavy immediately.
Nope. No time for naps. I sit up, find the remote for the TV under the duvet and switch it on.
I flick through the channels, settling on a random sitcom rerun for noise.
Silence means more chance of falling asleep, and I’m fucking hungry.
Before I can consider where to go eat this evening, my sleep-addled brain drifts to that game of chess.
Who knew it could be such a turn-on. Could be who I was playing with, cos I didn’t get a stiffy with Cai as an opponent.
Got away with a lot more than I’d hoped, too.
Expected Luce to kick my foot away, sit up straighter so I couldn’t touch her.
Instead she played along, and when her foot stroked along mine? Fucking endgame.
If the entire coach wasn’t watching her attempt to decimate me, I might have slipped my foot a little higher. If we’d been alone, I would have moved to the other side of the booth, used my fingers to—
Fuck’s sake. I’m hard again. Rolling onto my stomach hurts, but at least I can bury my head in my pillow, hide from the fucking facts.
Where’s all of this coming from? There’s a thin line between love and hate.
Who the fuck knew that all those bad feelings I had for her were just hiding a mountain of something else.
She’s not the usual type I go for. Sure, I like them curvy, but they’re usually louder.
Extroverts. Not afraid to hog the dance floor or grab me for a snog.
They don’t have their heads buried in books, and their favourite hobby isn’t nagging me.
Maybe all this interest in her is coming out because I’ve met my match. Lucy doesn’t stand for my bullshit, meets me at my energy level – in a much more annoying way.
Nah, if it was that, I’d have fallen for Cai a long time ago. Although, there was a time in our early twenties when…
Those are not the memories I need filling my brain. Especially in my current state. When you’re stuck on a tiny bus with your best mate, stuff happens. I need my stiffy gone, not pressing at my fly, hard enough for it to fucking hurt.
There’s only one thing to do.
I shift onto my back, pulling at my buttons and zip.
My fingers tangle together, fumble, like the horniness has wiped away my basic abilities.
If I don’t get my cock out right this minute, it’ll explode and I’ll never be able to use it again.
I arch my spine, lift my hips to get my jeans and boxers down enough so they don’t get in the way.
I’ve not packed lube – why would I? – so I spit in my hand.
It’s gonna be quick, full of friction, maybe a little painful, but it’s what I need.
There’s no way I can carry on with all these distracting thoughts in my head and a cock that’ll need puncturing if it carries on this way.
At least I don’t need porn to get off. I melt into the duvet, thighs as wide as my jeans will allow, and bring up all the images of her sitting across from me.
The way certain moves squeezed her tits together, the way her eyes lit when she thought she got one over on me.
The drag of her lip through her teeth as she contemplated her next move.
I barely get the chance to wrap a finger around my dick when my phone pings across the room.
Ignore it. I close my eyes to focus on Luce’s know-it-all voice telling me that she does know how to play, that she can win if she puts her mind to it.
Cock finally in hand, one slightly dry stroke, then the ringtone I use for family strikes up it’s merry fucking tune.
Nope, there’s no way I can rub one out to the Welsh national anthem, no matter how patriotic I claim to be. Probably shouldn’t jerk off over the image of Lucy either. Could make things a load more awkward tomorrow.
Blood returns to the rest of my body. The phone’s still ringing, and I fall out of bed in my attempts to reach it with my jeans and boxers wrapped around my thighs.
The device is plugged into the one spare plug in the entire room, which I found hiding behind a vanity, and I curse when my tender cock collides with the corner of the unit.
I lean all the way to the left to snatch my phone.
Tad’s ringing. Seriously? He knows I’m in Manchester.
I can’t do anything to help him from here.
No way he’s ringing to check in on me, asking how the journey went.
He knew we were travelling today. I can just imagine the conversation.
Hello, Tad. The coach journey was boring until I flirted with my colleague and now you’ve gone and deflated my massive boner for her. Diolch for asking.
My thumb hovers over the green accept call button, but for once, I don’t answer straight away.
The last thing I want is for him to ruin my good mood.
It’s not like he’ll kick the tour off on the right foot.
He’s good at finding ways to drag me home to see to him.
Once, I flew from the US because he said he’d fallen and broken a hip.
When I got there, jet-lagged and fucking tamping, all he needed was a plug fixing.
It’s no wonder I don’t like speaking to him.
If it’s urgent, he’ll ring again, but nothing’s wrong with him. Guy’s been fit and healthy for seventy years of his life so far, and he’s not showing signs of slowing. I need to fall for his tricks less.
The call dials off and I stare at the screen for a moment until I’m sure he’s not gonna phone back. Then I check my messages.
I saw you flirting with Lucy on the bus earlier. I know what you’re up to.
I check all four corners of the room for security cameras.
Nothing. Just my sister being creepy. She loves a moan about the press and how they nose in her and Cai’s life, but here she is, snooping on me.
Although I prefer her here with us, where I can keep her safe, it’s gonna be grim if she’s watching every bloody thing I do.
I should ignore her, but that’s not how you treat little sisters. I yank my jeans and boxers up – only cos it feels weird texting her with my dick hanging out – then reply.
Keep your butt out of it. You and Cai up for dinner? Also, Tad called FYI
Beth
Did you answer him?
No
Good. Also, sori but we ordered thai. Big bros not on shift aren’t invited. Why don’t you see if Lucy’s free? Bet she’d love to explore the countryside with you. Have fun. Be safe.
Dick
I toss my phone on the bed. There’s no point in travelling with my best friend if he’s too busy shacking up to spend time with me.
Before he got properly famous, we’d visit the sights and get drunk.
Usually at the same time. But now it’s all Bethan.
Topaz. Bethan. Oh, and there was one tour of Brazil – he spent a full forty-eight hours with a showgirl called Camila, and I was left by myself.
Cai’s got no more time for little ol’ me.
Guess I should be glad he’s staying in and not putting himself in danger.
It’s what I wanted. Boring for me, though.
I’ve got two choices. Take over Bryn’s shift once he’s delivered their pizza, give him the night off; or see who else wants to go for food.
Don’t have to think of it for more than a second.
There’s no way I’m gonna stay in because Cai’s chosen to.
Bet Lucy’d be up for dinner.
I’m not mad about how quickly her name comes to the front of my head. I kinda wanna see what happens post chess-footsie. And not only in an I-was-horny-about-flirting-with-her kind of way.
She’s taking up a lot of brain space. And maybe, perhaps, it’s not just sex I’m interested in with her. I mean, she’s fucking pretty, for sure, but its her brain that excites me, not just her tits.
Dinner with her might help me work out if there’s potential there.
I’ve been a dick to her in the past. It’s gonna take a lot of grovelling, a lot more making things right with her.
Treating her to a meal can get me on a more romantic footing with her.
I’m 99.9 per cent sure she was flirting back with me on the bus.
We could do with some alone time for me to figure out my next steps with her.
Time to be a fucking man about this shit. Not a fucking teenager, hiding in his room and wanking over a girl being nice to him.