Page 78 of Read My Lips

I rediscovered my glare. “Yeah, fine. And I’m⁠—”

“Disadvantageously turned on?” He glinted, ego fully stoked.

“Don’t think that’s a word.”

Casual as anything, he pulled the knot on the waistband of his trousers, and the skulking leopards and primly sitting foxes slid down his unfairly magnificent thighs.

“It’s a word.”

Oh, fuck me, the man knew how to be direct.

“Leave the coffee. Join me in the shower instead.”

Not one inch of me wanted to argue with that plan.

The hot water ran out some time after Simon left me to suds myself clean. I stayed under the spray until my skin rose up in sandpaper bumps and I’d cooled myself off. Apparently that was long enough for him to be fashion-magazine perfect.

“Your flatmate’s messaging you.” Simon caught my eye in the reflection of his bedroom mirror.

He adjusted his tie, smoothing the front of his waistcoat before he handed me my phone.

Thumbing down the lock screen, I winced.

Matt

Should I be calling the cops and sticking up missing posters?

“I should probably head.” I’d told Matt I’d be back last night.

“Or, you could stay?” Simon wheedled, sliding his arm round my chilly hips, pulling me against him. My resolve to be a good flatmate melted. He angled my phone, selfie-style, and clicked a shot.

“Unlock it for me?”

I hesitated, then did it anyway, pulse spiking as he thumbed a line of text. Last time someone commandeered my phone while I was partly clothed, it had been Luke asking Simon for a threesome.

“What are you⁠—?”

“Here.”

Simon had titled the photo Proof of Life. And it sat in my messages to Matt, waiting for me to hit send.

In the picture, Simon looked loved up. Fuck me, so did I. And I didn’t want to start lying to my flatmate. The whole internet might think we were together, but I needed one person in the world who’d commiserate with me about the headfuck I’d walked myself into.

If Matt thought I’d been shagging Simon without telling him for the best part of a year, he was not going to be that person.

I hit delete, and tapped out a new reply.

Ben

Don’t panic, mate. Back soon.

Simon rolled his eyes. “Would his head implode seeing you with another man?”

“Piss off. He knows I’m bi.”

“Good.” Simon nodded, handing me my t-shirt, and I realised he’d folded all my clothes into a neat pile on the chair in the corner. “Now, whatever happened to my coffee?”

“There’s this place I wanted to show you,” Simon said, leading me out the front door after coffee and toast. “We didn’t get nearly enough pictures yesterday. Wasn’t that the point of following me home?” He kept looking across at me instead of paying attention to where he was walking.