“No one’s mentioned anything to do with California, have they? Not even what a lovely place it is?”
“No.” Tal chuckled.
“Though I don’t think I care. It could sayMurder Suite. Come on in,victimsand I’d go in if there was somewhere to lie down and it was warm.”
Tal opened the door. “After you.”
“Just in case itistheMurder Suite?”
“Naturally.”
Corey sucked in a noisy breath as he entered. “Oh wow.”
The first thing he noticed was that there was only one bed, then that the room was huge. His bag and guitar were by the door. So was Tal’s case. Corey stepped inside, curling his toes into a thick-pile grey carpet.Ooh.It wasn’t just a room withonebed, there was a seating area with two over-sized easy chairs positioned either side of a large fake fire blazing behind glass. To the left was a tall Christmas tree, decorated with crystal teardrops, tiny fairies, opalescent snowflakes and white baubles, straight out of the pages of a posh magazine. To the right was a bookcase loaded with books and board games. Blue velvet curtains had already been drawn across three windows, which had been swagged along the top with garlands that matched the ones on the stairs.
And…just that one bed. Though it was king-size. They could both sleep in it and never even accidentally touch, which was good and bad. Corey padded to the bathroom.I’m desperate to take my jeans off.His legs had been rubbed raw by the wet material.He gulped when he saw the size of the bathroom, the way everything gleamed and shone.
Tal came up at his side.
“This is the most beautiful bathroom I’ve ever seen,” Corey whispered. “And we’re safe from knife attack. No shower curtain. We can see danger coming through the glass.” He turned and gave Tal a grin. “A showeranda bath? Two wash basins. Oh. Only one toilet. We can’t pee in tandem.” He let out a faint chuckle.
“Do you need…”
“I don’t need to pee.”Oh God, why did I say that?“But we could get warm at the same time. No reason for one of us to wait for the other to finish, right?”
When Tal didn’t say anything, Corey turned to look at him. His heart flipped again. Standing there in his bedraggled, but not soaked, three-piece suit, what Corey actually wanted to do was strip him of his clothes and…look after him, make him feel good, cuddle him, stroke that frown from his face and… But that wasn’t going to happen. He’d find himself thrown out of the room. He had to behave. The thought amused him. Not that he was incapable of behaving, but the idea that he’d be brave enough to make any move on a guy like this.
“I’ll take the shower, if that’s okay.” Corey wriggled out of his T-shirt with his back to Tal. “You have the bath.”
“Fine.”
Tal started the water running and Corey heard him leave the room.
Corey had a frustrating tussle to get the shower working—why were there so many levers and dials? —then an equallyannoying fight with his wet jeans and boxers which had to be peeled off his legs an inch at a time, but eventually, he won the battle. He left them on the floor and stepped under the water.
“Ow, ow, ow…”Fuck, it hurts!He put his hand over his mouth to smother his cries.Shit! That’s painful.
But then it didn’t hurt. Instead, it felt lovely. Corey tipped back his head, let the water flow over his face, then leaned forward so that it ran down his back. He squirted gel from a dispenser and rubbed it everywhere until his body became his again. Fingers and toes regained their colour and his shivers disappeared. He kept turning up the temperature of the water and when he began to sway with tiredness, he leaned against the tiles. He honestly thought he could have stayed in there all night. His only problem was keeping upright.
He was aware Tal was now in the bath because he’d heard him quietly moaning, but he couldn’t see him through the steamed-up glass. He was tempted to wipe a little circle clear but he resisted. Tal’s body was likely going through the same resurrection process as Corey’s. Painful pins and needles, before gradual reincarnation. Corey looked down and frowned. He was surprised he didn’t have bruises or red marks from his jeans. He had a moment ago. He couldn’t even feel any tender bumps on his forehead or the back of his head. Head wounds did tend to bleed a lot but he was surprised he couldn’t locate where he’d been hurt.
Apart from feeling…like death warmed up, he was surprising well, considering he and Tal could so easily have died. First in their cars when the truck hit them, secondly on the trek to this place. It was going to cripple him to pay his share. Maybe he could repay Tal in instalments because a place like this would cost hundreds of pounds a night. Corey had four hundred and twenty-three pounds in his bank account and had no idea how much Matilda would pay him for this week, or even if she would.
Unfortunately, he’d landed himself in this jobless, homeless mess. He could already guess Jim’s reaction if he asked to stay with them for a while. He’d probably make up some crap about wanting to say yes, but Debra wouldn’t like it. Well, it wouldn’t be crap because Debra definitely wouldn’t like it, but Jim used her as his excuse. A couple of days after Christmas and a few Sunday lunches over the year were as much as Corey ever hoped for. There was never an invite on his birthday because it happened to be Jim’s birthday too, which told Corey all he needed to know about priorities in his uncle’s life. It hurt, but he was used to it.
He filed the worry over where he’d live because it was something he couldn’t fix immediately, along with finding a job. Dealing with whatever situation he was in at that time was the way Corey operated. He’d sleep in a chair to save any embarrassment with potential misbehaviour from his dick. Sadly, as far as he was aware, he didn’t have the magical ability to turn a straight man into a gay one, which was a shame. If he wanted to stay in this room, he had to be good.
No looking, no touching. But silent lusting? Most definitely allowed.
Five
Wecould warm up at the same time.Tal’s stomach had lurched at Corey’s words. The thought of the two of them in the bath… He’d given Corey no reason to suspect he was gay, but he wouldn’t have made that suggestion otherwise. Would he?No, don’t be ridiculous.Tal didn’t hide his sexual orientation, but he wasn’t obviously out. Not purple nail varnish—out. Not fluffy pink hats with floppy bunny ears—out. Not hair that colour—out. People were far more likely to consider Tal slightly eccentric than anything else. He was certainly that, along with possessing other…quirks.
The idea of sharing a bath with Corey appealed far more than he’d imagined and that shocked him. Tal wasn’t a bath-sharing type of person, but… Heaven help him… there was definitely abut.Right before reality sank its teeth into him and crushed those few moments of wishful thinking.
Corey would shower while Tal used the bath.That’s what he’d meant.
Tal hadn’t expected Corey to start stripping there and then, but he had. Tempted as he was to keep watching, Tal had started the water running in the bath and left the room.
