Page 177 of When The Night Falls

‘Yeah.’ I nodded. ‘I hope you’re right.’

He squeezed my hand before he let go. ‘I’ll leave you two alone. I need a shower.’

As he walked out, I cuddled up to William again, and we lay there caressing each other until our dinner arrived.

When we came into the dining room, Jason had already set the table.

‘Fancy a beer, anyone?’ he asked.

‘I’m good, thanks,’ I said.

William nodded. ‘I’ll have one, thanks.’

A brief while later, we were loading our plates with the flavourful dishes. Jason was the most eager; he seemed ravenous.

‘It’s been ages since I’ve had Indian,’ he said as he tore off a piece of naan. He soaked it in the dal makhani on his plate, added some rice, and then stuffed as much as he possibly could into his mouth. His cheeks were so big right then that he reminded me of a chipmunk.

‘What?’ he asked when William raised a brow at him. ‘I’m fucking starving.’

‘Good thing Mum isn’t here. She’d have paled if she saw your lack of table manners.’

Jason rolled his eyes. ‘Sorry, have I offended your grace with my peasant behaviour?’

William shook his head. ‘Close your damn mouth. I don’t need to see the food turning into porridge in it.’

Suddenly Jason stiffened, his eyes springing wide open. ‘Shit!’ Hunching over the table, he spat out his mouthful.

I grimaced with disgust. What the hell was he doing?

‘Oh my God!’ He stuck his tongue out and snatched his pint from the table. My lips parted as I watched him chug the whole glass. What was going on?

‘William!’ Jason charged up from his seat and tugged at his collar, and I noticed that his skin was becoming moist. His whole face was flushed. ‘That is not medium plus!’

William burst out laughing then.

‘What the hell did you do to my food?’ Jason dashed into the kitchen. ‘Cara! I’m eating your Greek yoghurt!’

I looked at William beside me. Tears leaked from his eyes as he shook with mirth, but he was laughing so intensely that he was barely making a sound anymore. The more I watched him, the more contagious his laughter became. Suddenly I was laughing my head off as well while Jason panicked in the kitchen.

‘I swear I’ll get you for this!’ Jason roared with anger, but that only made William laugh harder.

All of a sudden the doorbell rang.

‘Cara, are you expecting someone?’ Jason shouted, and I could hear that his mouth was full of the Greek yoghurt.

‘No,’ I said, though I couldn’t stop guffawing.

‘I-it’s me,’ William said then, wiping his cheeks. ‘I’m expecting someone.’

‘Then you can get the fucking door!’ Jason barked as he returned to the dining room. When he looked at his brother, his nostrils flared. His face was bright red.

William rose from his seat, his lips twitching while occasional bursts of laughter escaped his mouth.

When he came back to the dining room, he was carrying a new dish.

‘Here,’ he said and put it in front of Jason. ‘That should be medium plus.’

Jason cast him an irritated look. ‘You’re a fucking dick, do you know that? What a waste of precious food.’

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