Page 53 of The Fete of Summer

“I can safely say I have never seen the movie.”

“There’s a bit where the aliens can just ping a person into the sky, rip them from the earth and whip them straight up into space. I wish that would happen to me right now.”

“Really? I’ll put that on my list of movies to definitely never watch. What do you want to do, Nate?”

Nathan took a deep calming breath and pushed a hand through his hair. The moment had passed despite the undercurrent of his dark thoughts and still feeling nauseous.

“Let’s do this thing.”

“Good man,” said Jaymes, starting up the engine.

They travelled silently for the next ten minutes, and Nathan simply breathed. If anything, he felt embarrassed about his meltdown, and found starting a conversation again tricky. Did Jaymes think less of him because of his show of weakness? Eventually, he found some common ground.

“His name’s Billy,” said Nathan.

“Sorry?”

“The kid with cerebral palsy. Jemma Corrigan’s boy, Polly’s colleague. He goes to St Joseph’s. Absolutely lovely kid. Played in the school football team against us. Has a bit of trouble balancing and staying upright all the time, but the lad has so much enthusiasm and the most infectious laugh.”

Without saying a word, Jaymes reached across and placed a hand on Nathan’s upper thigh. Nathan sniffed once and looked at Jaymes’ grinning face as he concentrated on driving. And right then, his heart gave a tug. Something awakened in him as though he had just witnessed the most spectacular sunrise. As inconvenient as the emotion might be considering the finite time they had left, he realised something unquestionable in that brief, blindingly obvious moment.

He had fallen in love with Jaymes.

Chapter Fifteen

Cotswolds

They located the property late afternoon a few miles outside Kemble. The cottage turned out to be more of a barn conversion. Gallagher had confessed to the building being their project, a future holiday home, and a work in progress. In its favour, the place had running water and electricity, a modern kitchen and bathroom—but no heating except for an open fire in the living room. Only the shower had a recently installed and operational water heater. Nathan took their bags upstairs and Jaymes trailed behind. Only the largest of the three bedrooms had been decorated, comprising a simple pine chest of drawers and a double bed with a storage chest at the foot. Nathan found bedding and tossed the items onto the mattress.

“Give me a hand sorting this out so you can lie down,” he said to Jaymes, who had come up behind him, pressing his warm body against him and wrapping his arms around Nathan’s waist. “I’m going to try out that shower, then light a fire downstairs before heading to the food store.”

“We can try lighting a fire later. And let’s eat at that local pub tonight.”

“I really need to wash, Jaymes. My body reeks.”

Jaymes sighed before reluctantly pulling away. “You smell great to me. But go and shower. I’ll come and join you in a moment.”

As Nathan stood in the tub under the constant flow of hot water, letting the day’s travel fatigue wash off him, he heard the shower curtain being pulled back and turned to see a gloriously naked Jaymes. Ever since their first night of passion—a short time ago really—Nathan’s heart sped up on seeing Jaymes naked, his thick thighs and defined chest, and cock already at half-mast.

“As an environmentalist, I’m committed to conserving water.”

Within seconds, they clung to each other, seeking out each other’s tongues. When Jaymes’ right hand stroked down Nathan’s back, stopping at the cleft between his buttocks, he pulled his mouth away to get Nathan’s attention.

“Without ruining the moment, I want you to know that I have a full medical every year. The last was just before I came to Crumbington. A condition of my medical health insurance.”

“I take it you’re all good?”

“Fit as a butcher’s dog,” said Jaymes, smoothing a thumb across Nathan’s bottom lip. “Health checks come with the territory in my line of work, I'm afraid.”

“I’m not criticising,” said Nathan, kissing Jaymes’ hand. “I’d be the last person on the planet to do that. For as long as I can remember, my father sent me for medical check-ups twice a year. After what happened to my mother, he wanted to make sure I remained cancer-free. My last one was in January. And I, too, am in good shape.”

“You most certainly are.”

“In which case, can we consider ditching the condoms?”

“Are you sure?”

“We’re both clean. Or we can start on PrEP when we get back.”

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