Page 25 of The Shadows Beyond
Cinn snorted. “Do they go together?”
“They do indeed, actually.”
After popping a mint into his mouth, then offering another one to Julien, Cinn kicked the ground with the heel of his boot and looked at his shoes. “Anyway. I have a bank account for you. If it’s still alright to transfer that money.”
“Certainly,” said Julien. “Have you got all the details?”
Cinn rummaged around in his back pocket to produce a small slip of crumpled paper. “This is actually my mate Bradley’s bank account. Tyler is staying with him.”
“And how much am I transferring him, exactly?”
At this, Cinn did look up to meet his eye, steadying himself, and Julien found himself instantly lost in the depths of his determined gaze. He couldn’t deny it: there was something about Cinn’s face that entranced him. Perhaps it was the fusion of two elements in Cinn’s countenance: boyish innocence paired with a quiet maturity that seemed to surpass his years.
“Ten thousand. Pounds. Or whatever that is in francs, or however it works.” An angry red flush dotted Cinn’s cheeks and his jaw clenched.
Julien almost laughed at the display. He constructed his best deep-in-thought face. “Hmm. I will see what I can do. Move some things around and such.”
In actuality, the amount was no bother to him whatsoever. He’d expected it to be triple that, at least, if this Tyler fellow was that deep in trouble.
“It needs to be soon,” Cinn said, frowning deeply, and Julien felt a sliver of remorse for toying with him. An oddly large sliver.
“I promise I’ll sort it all out by the end of the day.” Then Julien watched Cinn closely as he continued, “Your boyfriend is very lucky to have you.”
Cinn’s body tensed, a deep frown etching into his forehead. “What makes you call him that?”
“Something in the way you say his name.”
Cinn’s gaze returned to the ground. He pulled his beanie lower down over his head. “He’s not my boyfriend. Not anymore, at least.” Emotion clouded his voice.
Julien basked in the glory of being right. Of course, he was rarely wrong when it came to these things.
“We haven’t been together in a long, long time. I—” Cinn cut himself off, eyeing Julien warily.
Julien remained expectantly silent, his sole focus on Cinn.
“I… told him I couldn’t be with him until he got himself clean. And five years later, here we still are.”
“Really? I’d have imagined you’d have been quite the incentive.”
Julien’s attempt at flirtation crashed and burned, evident by the way Cinn’s frosty face shot him a glare that could rival an arctic chill. “It doesn’t work like that. You can love someone with everything you’ve got, every last inch of you, and it can still not be enough. Sometimes it’s not something they can control.” The atmosphere around them shifted, an awkward tension taking hold. “Don’t judge someone without even meeting them, alright? Tyler’s had it tough. Way worse than me.”
Julien threw up his hands, conceding with a theatrical gesture of surrender, although he harboured a subtle disagreement about self-control—years of practising self-discipline in various ways wouldn’t let him. “Absolutely,” he replied in his best honeyed voice. And then, to rectify the situation. “I’ll say it again. YourTyleris very lucky to have a friend like you. Even from a thousand miles away, you’re still desperately trying to help.”
Cinn shrugged. “He’d do the same for me.”
Julien wasn’t convinced. “Anyway, you don’t need to worry so much about homophobia and such when you’re at Auri, but be more wary about what you say or do in town. Those folks aren’t quite as accepting.”
Cinn’s eyebrow quirked up. “Don’t worry, I’m not planning on shagging anyone in the middle of the town square.”
Julien threw back his head and laughed, enjoying the way his whole body shook. It had been a while since he’d laughed this hard. Without breaking eye contact, he said, “Exhibitionism not your style? Shame. You’d be quite the sight.”
Cinn’s light-olive cheeks were already rosy, but now theyburned.
So fun to play with. Too fun.
Julien waited for Cinn to look away, to ease his embarrassment. But he didn’t. He didn’t smile, only stared back at Julien. Was he waiting for him to make the next move? Waiting for him to break eye contact first? Well, if he was playing that game, he was in for a surprise. Julien easily—lazily even—gazed into Cinn’s gorgeously golden eyes, framed by thick, dark lashes.
One eyelash had shed and nestled itself in the crinkle of Cinn’s right eye.
