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“Do you think you could? How much effort would it take to actually break someone’s arm?” I took a breath to smile at the photographer, imagining Huxley flailing in the lake and coated in algae, before I continued. “I think we’d be pretty evenly matched, probably. Maybe I’d break your arm first.”
Thankfully, the photographer called out to say we were done with the photos, interrupting whatever comeback Huxley had. He shrugged my arm off and stormed away, and I watched him go with the tiniest feeling of guilt. I shouldn’t have pushed him, not at my mum’s wedding.
With a sigh, I turned to my mum and David. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t helping the situation. He, uh, I shouldn’t let him get under my skin.”
David shook his head. “Huxley’s always been hot-headed and a troublemaker. I don’t blame you at all.”
Yeah, but I wasn’t faultless, was I? “Even so, I apologise.”
They both smiled at me, and David stepped forwards to clasp my shoulder. “Thank you, Cole. You have nothing to apologise for. I only wish Huxley could be a little more like you. I wish he’d give you a chance.”
Those words made me feel even worse. I had to leave. “Congratulations again. I’ll, uh, leave you to the rest of the photos.”
David hugged me, taking me by surprise. As he circled his arms around me, he leaned in, lowering his voice. “I don’t expect you to start calling me Dad, and I would never dream of taking the place of your own father. But I’d like for you to see me as a father figure. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve gained another son, and I only want what’s best for you.”
When he released me, my mum was dabbing at her eyes, smiling. “Thank you for being so good about everything, Cole. I’m very proud of you,” she whispered as I hugged her and kissed her cheek.
I needed a drink because, somehow, I’d managed to make myself look like a saint and for Huxley to look even worse, and that guilt was rearing its head again. Making my way back up to the hotel, I headed straight for the bar, ordering a shot of vodka and tipping it back.
“Another,” I said to the bartender, just as someone came up beside me.
“I’ll have the same.”
Huxley stood next to me. In the short time since I’d last seen him, he’d ditched his jacket, waistcoat, and tie, and now he was in his white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, exposing the tattoos that ran down one arm. His bleached hair was mussed up like he’d been running his hands through it, and as he drummed his fingertips on the bar, his black nails glinted at me. Fuck me, he looked hot.
It still didn’t negate the fact that I loathed him, though. It just meant that I had working eyes.
He shot me a sideways look that warned me not to mess with him, and I wasn’t planning to. All I wanted was to drink until I forgot he even existed.
When the bartender set our shots in front of us, I raised my glass. “Wanna toast?”
His dark brows lifted as his eyes met mine. “To what?”
I shrugged. “To forgetting that this day ever happened?”
“I’ll fucking drink to that,” he muttered, raising his own glass. At the same time, we tipped our shots to our lips and drank.
It was the second time today that we’d been in agreement, but I doubted it would ever happen again.
6
Yawning, I stepped outside the side entrance of Revolve, the club where I did shifts as a bartender. It was three in the morning now, and the only thing I wanted was to get back to the house and pass out in my bed.
I shoved my hand in my pocket, reaching for my phone to book an Uber. My fingers brushed against a crumpled slip of paper, and I pulled it out. The name “John” was printed in block capitals above a phone number. Maybe I should text him. He’d been cute, from what I could remember. As a gay man working in a gay club, I never had any shortage of numbers, plus I had quite a few suggestive messages on HookdLDN, the local hook-up app, but I took advantage of my opportunities less often than I suspected most people would.
As I pushed the paper back into my pocket, my phone began vibrating, making me jump a mile. My heart racing, I lifted it to see an unknown number, and I hit Answer straight away. As a rule, I didn’t answer unknown numbers, but if someone was calling me at three in the morning, I couldn’t take the risk of not answering in case it was important. My mum and David were off on their honeymoon, a month-long cruise, and if anything had happened to my mum…
“Hello?”
“Is that…” The voice at the other end paused. “Do you know a Mr. Huxley Granger?”
A shocked sound burst from my throat.Huxley? “Yes. He’s…he’s my stepbrother. What’s this—”
“Right. Are you able to get to Honeybourne Road? Mr. Granger has been in an accident. He’s quite shaken up. He asked us to call his stepbrother.”
Attempting to calm my accelerating heart rate, I tried to keep my voice steady. “Yeah. That would be me. Cole Clarke. Is he okay? What happened?”
“It’s probably best if you get here as quickly as possible. Someone will be available to answer your questions.”
