Corey looked across to see Tal staring at him.
“What would you like?” Tal asked.
Apart from poached eggs? You, on your knees with your hands behind your back and me fucking your mouth with my dick. And—Stop it!Corey was grateful for the long tablecloth that hid the instant bulge in his jeans, though his next thought put paid to that particular issue. Tal was going to leave here and forget him. Corey was nothing to him and never would be. Why was he torturing himself with what wasn’t going to happen?
“Corey?”
Corey blinked. “Poached eggs on white toast and black coffee, please.”
Tal ordered Eggs Benedict. The coffee came quickly, brought by Jefferson.
“How are you both?” the grey-haired manager asked.
“Fine, thank you,” Tal said.
“Thank you for having our clothes cleaned,” Corey said. “I’ve never had my underwear ironed before. Please tell whoever did it they went above and beyond.”
Tal laughed into his fist.
Jefferson smiled. “I’ll be sure to pass on your thanks. I managed to speak to the police first thing this morning. They’re not yet able to reach the site of the accident. When they do, they’ll provide a case number for your insurance companies.”
“Is there any mobile reception?” Tal asked. “I tried earlier but had no luck.”
Corey felt a pang of jealousy that Tal had anyone to call.
“No, sorry. If you need to call someone, come to the office and use the landline. Until the roads are open, you’re welcome to stay here. Your room is available as long as you need it. We havea number of fun activities planned over the next few days. I hope you’ll make the most of your time with us while you recover from your awful experience. Do enjoy your breakfast.”
He walked to another table with the coffee. Corey was impressed he was serving. Matilda never stirred her arse even when the restaurant was packed. She just moaned at them to work more quickly. Corey would definitely ask if there were any job vacancies, but he’d do that without Tal listening in.
“You should call your friends while there’s still a landline working,” Corey said. “Tell them you’ve been delayed.”
Tal was reading the menu. He’d already ordered so what was he doing?
“Maybe they’ve not been able to make it to Cowdley either,” Corey pressed. “Because of the snow. They’ll be wondering why you’ve not been in touch.”
“There’s no rush.”
Corey opened his mouth to point out it was just common courtesy but Tal spoke first.
“Just as long as I’m out of here before they start playing Bingo.”
“Some people like Bingo,” Corey said quietly.
He met Tal’s gaze and didn’t look away. Tal averted his eyes. Corey took a small amount of pleasure in that. He didn’t like people being snide.Hedidn’t particularly want to play Bingo but there was no need to say so around others who might. Though to be fair, he doubted anyone in this room was a Bingo fan. Most looked the sort of people who readThe Telegraph, shopped at Waitrose, always watchedandtrusted the BBC news and did Wordle every day.
Tal might not be intofun activitiesbut Corey was interested to know what they were. He could think of several fun things he’d like to do, though all of them involved Tal. Top of the list was making him watch his mouth.God, as if I’d dare.
“I wasn’t overheard, was I?” Tal asked quietly.
He sounded worried. That was unexpected. “No, but you might have been.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
Corey was nowhere near figuring this guy out. One moment he thought Tal didn’t care what others thought, the next, like now, it seemed that he did.
“One or two of the Bingo numbers might be fun,” Corey said. “Favourite of mine?”
Tal looked at him blankly so he hadn’t got it.Ugh.
