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Hayden stirred and turned, and now, his hand was on Luke’s face. “I came because I had to know how you felt. What you wanted. I had to know if you felt the way I did. And you could never be a coward. Never.”
“I didn’t come out,” Luke said.
“Well, yeh, mate,” Hayden said, and he was laughing. “I think you did. How does it feel?”
Luke didn’t know what was going to happen. It could all be over. There’d be press, and the hell that was social media. He wouldn’t read it, but he’d know it was out there. There was his Racing team, too, and the whole thing to go through again. And there was no other answer.
“Awesome,” he said. “It feels awesome.”
CHAPTER 24
The Auld Enemy
Luke didn’t want to wake Hayden, as tired as he’d looked and as little sleep as they’d got, but what option did he have? It was past six-thirty, and he needed to be downstairs in twenty minutes. He couldn’t just sneak out without talking to him.
He settled for sitting on the edge of the bed and kissing Hayden’s forehead. A gentle awakening, he hoped.
Unfortunately, Hayden shot up like a cork, and his forehead banged hard into Luke’s nose. Hayden exclaimed and held his head, and Luke didn’t exclaim and held his nose. Bleeding a bit. That was awkward. He grabbed a couple of tissues, leaned forward, and pinched his nostrils shut, and Hayden said, “I broke your nose. Sorry. Sorry. What … ice. I should get you some ice.” He jumped out of bed and grabbed the ice bucket, which was interesting, as he was naked.
Luke said, still holding his nose, “You didn’t break it. A bit of blood, that’s all. You’ll make life exciting for me if you go out there like that, though. Imagine the chat on the bus.” He wanted to laugh, but it was hard to laugh with a bloody nose, so instead, he smiled. “You could tempt a few of them, too, because, bloody hell, but you’re good-looking.”
“Yeh, right,” Hayden said distractedly. “Where are my clothes? You’re bleeding so much.”
Luke put out the non-pinching hand and pulled Hayden down to sit on the bed beside him. “I’m used to it. How’s the head?”
“Oh.” Hayden felt it. “A bruise, maybe, that’s all.”
“This relationship has been pretty hard on you,” Luke said. “Physically.” And smiled some more.
“Ha,” Hayden said, but he’d lost the frantic look, at least. “Physically’s the least of it. You’re dressed already. How long do you have?”
“Fifteen minutes or so. I wanted to ask, though—” Luke hesitated, not wanting to put it out there, not wanting to ask for anything. This was already better than anything he’d ever had. What was he thinking, demanding more?
“What?” Hayden asked. Still naked. Still so bloody beautiful, and his heart …
“Not sure what your plans were,” Luke said cautiously. “When you came.”
“I think ‘plan’ may be generous,” Hayden said. “I just came.” He yawned. “Sorry, but if we’re going to have a deep and meaningful conversation, I need coffee.”
“Oh.” Luke got up and went into the bath and came out with a cup. “It’s not too bad.”
“Thanks.” Hayden took a long swallow. “So. What were we saying? Oh. Wait.” He got up, then came back with a wet facecloth and gently sponged Luke’s upper lip and chin. “How does it feel now?”
There was a lump in Luke’s throat. He cleared it as best he could. “If you were planning on being over here for a bit, we could get you a room in Edinburgh. No partners allowed in mine before the match, and I’ll be working, of course, but …”
Hayden said, “Oh. I’m … it’s Monday morning in New Zealand. At least I think it is. I need to go back anyway, because I didn’t clear this with anybody. I need to ring up soon, in fact. It was possibly impulsive. Or call it what it was. Mad.”
“Oh. Right. OK, then.” Luke glanced at his watch and tried not to feel disappointed. Or desolated.
“It would be harder if I were here anyway,” Hayden said, “because I’m thinking you may get some press.”
“Yeh,” Luke said. “I think that’s fair to say.” When did you get so soft? he asked himself. When did you start caring what strangers thought of you?
“But,” Hayden said, then stopped.
“What?” Luke asked.
“I’m trying to be brave,” Hayden said. “Braver, anyway.”
