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He nods, acquiescing.
Rae climbs the slope up to the headland with me in silence, where I discover I was wrong. It isn’t Luke Lawson who’s come to collect Teo. I mean, yeah, Luke is there in the school minibus, but he isn’t alone. Rowan and his builder boyfriend are here too.
Liam is an ex-soldier who has brought reinforcements. All Royal Engineers, he tells me. His crew are rebuilding experts. Putting up tents and setting up an outdoor dance floor are nothing compared to rebuilding bridges and airstrips.
All of that is more than enough assistance, but Stefan also arrives, and he’s brought his mother, who is armed with samples of her baking and a question for Finn.
“How many tiers do you want on your wedding cake, love?”
That’s when Finn finally buckles, and I can’t blame the man for that reaction. I’m a bit teary myself.
“Oh, come here, love,” Stefan’s mum says. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
I know she’s an awesome cuddler. She’s given me plenty, so I understand why Finn’s voice is muffled. “You know you’re allinvited tomorrow, right? All of you. We wouldn’t even have a wedding without you.”
I walk Rae to the minibus.
He’s shadowed, the vehicle blocking the view of an amazing sunset, but that’s okay. I get another great view the minute that Rae meets my eyes. His are tired and yet still dancing. “You know Finn was talking about you, right? That he and Willow would have fuck all to look forward to if you hadn’t made that phone call?”
I’d turn to point out everyone else who has pulled through to make a party possible if Rae didn’t catch hold of my wrist. And if his close contact in a shower room wasn’t a clue along with that slow slide down my body when he got down from the gate, this rub of his thumb over a skipping pulse point is a signal visible from the moon.
I give him one of my own by letting him do it, and by curling a hand around his neck. No idea if that’s to stop him from moving away or to pull him closer. All I know is that his grip shifts, and I let him cradle my hand, then I watch him lift it.
No one has ever studied me this closely—my wrist and palm and fingers—and if there was ever a moment for those fuckers to shake, this would be it.
I’m rock steady. Not frozen, exactly, but I guess this is what happens when touch-starved kindling meets a lit match. I’ve been tense for hours now, ever since saying goodbye to little Adam and then chasing a bride through the woods. That tension releases, every single nerve under the skin he touches flaring to life where he makes contact, and it’s a lot.
It’s also nowhere near enough.
I don’t know who moves first.
I lean down as he surges up, and we’re kissing, a clash of teeth and lips that quickly softens, all while I’m aware that more cars are approaching.
Headlights dance like Rae’s eyes do when he pulls back. Those cars pass, and we’re alone, out of sight and shadowed again, and you better believe that when he pushes me against the side of the minibus, I let him.
“Gonna be my plus-one, Hayden?”
I must nod.
He grins and kisses me again. His body is a hard and wiry length that feels as tensely wound as I do.
I want to feel all that tautness loosen.
Be the reason for it.
Only he’s gone.
“Yeah, I’m over here, Luke,” he calls out, answering a question that I missed while blood rushed in my ears like waves rush against the base of the cliffs, crashing like my heart does when Rae looks back, his smile a bright flash painted gold by the sunset, and…
I can’t wait for tomorrow.
6
HAYDEN
I make it back to the stables after midnight. Maybe it would have made more sense to sleep on the farm, and I almost did until the solar lamps illuminated something that I guessed might make up for something Willow and Finn already paid a florist for and have no more cash left to repurchase. Now swathes of gorse blossom decorate the chapel doorway, a dark green and golden surprise that I hope starts her wedding day with a smile.
By the time I finally let myself into the stables, all the lights are out, the door to my housemate’s bedroom closed.
