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He didn’t care. He pushed the button for the lift, shoved George inside, pressed the button for 5, and stepped out again, telling Freddie, “Between the two of you, you should be able to read a room number.”
The doors closed on Freddie’s astonished face.
CHAPTER 23
Stand Your Ground
Why was Hayden’s bedroom so noisy? And so bright? He needed to get up, turn out the lights, and turn off the telly, but he couldn’t open his eyes. He’d just …
“Hayden.” Oh. There was somebody here. Also, he was cold. He grabbed for the duvet to pull it up, but couldn’t find it.
“Hayden.”
His eyelids struggled to open and finally made it. When they did, he blinked. This didn’t make sense. It was bright, and loud, and somebody’s impossibly broad body was in front of him, blocking the view.
Somebody wearing an elegant beige-and-brown wool scarf with a geometric pattern. A Fendi scarf.
He woke up.
Luke had been so tired, his legs had felt encased in concrete. Now, he couldn’t feel them at all. He knew he was smiling, even though he couldn’t feel his face either, and he was reaching down for Hayden, pulling him to his feet.
He was aware that a few of the boys were straggling out of the bar. The part of his brain that had been in charge for thirty-three years tried to say, Let go of him fast. Why are you touching him? You’re saying hello to a mate, that’s all. Stand back.
His body wasn’t listening, because Hayden was blinking, then saying, “I realize this is unexpected. Should have asked if you wanted me here, probably. Oh, well, I didn’t. Apparently, I’m impulsive. Or desperate, though I’m trying not to go with that. I just—”
Luke kissed him. His arms around Hayden like they’d never let go, and Hayden’s around him like this was what he’d hoped for and hadn’t dared to think was possible.
Or maybe that was Luke.
The voice came from behind him. English, and slightly drunk. “Oh, shit.” And another one. “That’s never the Skip. What the hell?”
He didn’t pay any attention, because he couldn’t care. He was laughing, then kissing Hayden again, because he was everything he’d wanted to see for two months now. He was the morning light coming through the window and the swallows returning in the spring. He was hope, he was joy, and he was holding Luke like he needed him just as much.
“Let’s go,” Luke said. “My room.”
“I have a … suite,” Hayden said, still blinking, still so good-looking, he made Luke’s hands feel clumsy. “I had to get a suite. They wouldn’t let me sit here otherwise.”
“I have to be on the bus at seven,” Luke said. “My room.”
Three of the boys were waiting for the lift. Luke was holding Hayden’s hand, and he didn’t drop it. He said, “My partner. Hayden Allen. Came over to surprise me.” No choice anymore, and still, the huge black moth that was his secret flapped its leathery wings in alarm.
“Oh,” Trevor Martin said, then glanced at Henry Osandu. Henry, the explosive blindside flanker and enforcer, had been playing with Luke for six seasons now. The third bloke, Oscar Findley, didn’t say anything, just stared.
Henry pressed the button for 5, and the lift doors closed. “Hi,” he said to Hayden. “Henry.” And put out his hand.
Hayden dropped Luke’s hand to shake Henry’s and said, his voice a little unsteady, a little giddy, “This probably comes as a surprise.”
“Well, yeah,” Henry said, and grinned. “A bit. He’s so bloody ugly, I just figured he couldn’t get a girl. Didn’t realize he wasn’t looking for one.”
The lift stopped and the doors opened. Henry put out a big hand to hold them open and asked Luke, “Do we keep this on the DL? Or what?”
Luke took a breath. Still time to back away, the black moth hissed in his ear, its claws clutching at his skin. Don’t be stupid.
“Not a secret,” Luke said. “I’ll tell the boys myself, on the bus.”
Henry said, “Right, then.” He turned to walk down the hall with the others, then turned and came back. The others came with him, because Henry had some mana. “Far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t change anything. You’ve been a follow-me skipper from the start, because nobody picked you for your speeches, and I don’t see why I should stop following you now. No business of mine who you sleep with.”
“But—” Oscar said.
