God, why did he feel so guilty. It was what they’d all discussed before he moved in, Betty included. She was more than happy with the idea of someone coming in every day to help her with the cleaning or whatever else she needed, but now that Oliver was here, the thought of actively looking for someone felt as though he was abandoning her to strangers so he could go enjoy himself.
“Fuck,” Rob uttered, then Oliver found himself being pulled into a hug. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’m not upset.” It came out way too rough to be believable.
Rob snorted. “Liar.” He ruffled Oliver’s carefully styled hair, letting go at Oliver’s indignant squawk.
“I spent ages doing that, you arse.” He attempted to fix it but gave up when Rob turned him around to face his reflection in the window. It looked much better than it had before.
“You can thank me later.” Rob grinned, smugness radiating off him. “Now go have fun. I’ve got dancing to watch.”
His mock grimace had Oliver smiling all the way to Ed’s door.
After a slight hesitation, he went round the back, figuring Ed had set the precedent earlier. He’d noticed a couple of unfamiliar cars parked out front, so he guessed the others had already arrived. Clutching a bottle of wine in one hand, Oliver raised his fist to knock.
Before he got a chance, the door swung open, revealing a smiling Sarah standing there, glass of red wine in hand.
“I spied you from the living room,” she said, by way of explanation, then stepped back, ushering him inside. “Wow.” She gave him an appreciative look and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Ed’ll be hard put to keep his hands off you.”
Oliver laughed quietly, rocking back on his heels. “That’s the idea.”
Sarah took a sip of her wine, shrewd eyes never leaving Oliver’s.
He stood there and let her look, wondering if he measured up to her standards. He hoped so, considering how important family was to Ed.
After a moment she nodded, more to herself than Oliver, and her easy smile returned, putting him more at ease. “Come on, let me get you a drink.”
I guess I passed.
It turned out he was the last to arrive. Aiden, Cam, and Sarah’s husband, Ian, already sat at the kitchen Island watching Ed fetch something out of the oven.
It smelt heavenly.
“Hey.” Ed looked over as he set a Pyrex dish full of bubbling goodness on the hob, hands clad in pink flowery oven gloves. He laughed as he caught Oliver staring. “A present from my mum. She ordered two by accident.”
Oliver smirked as he set the bottle he’d brought on the worktop. “You don’t have to make excuses for your floral tastes.” His gaze dropped lower to the tight jeans Ed wore. Unused to seeing him dressed in something so... form-fitting, Oliver couldn’t take his eyes away from Ed’s arse. “I like it. Them,” he corrected quickly, heat rushing to his cheeks.
“Thank you.” The way Ed’s eyes darkened made Oliver think they weren’t talking about the gloves.
“Here, let me take that.” Sarah took the bottle from him and put it in the fridge. “You go sit down. Do you want a glass of what you brought, or there’s red, beer?”
Ed took the spare stool next to Aiden. “Um...” He glanced at the others drinking a mix of beer and wine. “A beer would be lovely, thanks.”
Conversation flowed easily as they moved to the table in the living room to eat. Oliver might not know them very well, but they accepted him into their group as though they’d known him forever. He felt comfortable, relaxed—the beer and now red wine had helped with that—and he was more than happy to sit back and listen to them tease and laugh with one another, stealing not-so-subtle glances at Ed.
And receiving equally unsubtle ones in return.
That was until Aiden asked a question that had him sitting up a little straighter, paying more attention than he had all night.
“How’s the house hunting going?”
Ed startled, obviously not expecting the question, which was interesting. “Slowly.”
“Has your mate given you a date he’d like you up there by?” Aiden reached over to pour himself more wine. Oliver shook his head when he offered to top up his glass, happy with the gentle buzz he had going on and far too interested in Ed’s answer.
Ed swallowed a sip of wine, gaze drifting over to Oliver. “Not exactly. He’s got another mate helping him for now.”
“Fair enough, but he must want a rough idea of when you aim on getting up there, right?” Aiden didn’t seem inclined to let this go.
