Page 30 of Crying in the Rain

“Wow, it’s gorgeous!” Kris said. “That chrome is like a mirror. It must take a huge amount of work to keep it like that.”

“A couple of hours a week. I love it. Mind you…” He buffed a watermark off the bonnet with the inside of his sleeve. “If it wasn’t my dad’s, I’d trade it for an E-Type in a heartbeat.”

“That’s a Jaguar, isn’t it?” Kris asked.

“It’stheJaguar! My dad took me a trade show when I was fifteen—well, he took me to loads, but that was the one I remember vividly because there was a Series 1 E-Type on display, British Racing Green, green suede interior, absolutely stunning. I’ve wanted one ever since, but they’re far too expensive, and I don’t drive that much. As it is, this little beauty spends more time in the garage than on the road.” Although if he could stop boring Kris with car talk for thirty seconds, that might change. “Sorry! I get carried away.”

Kris shook his head, smiling. “Your enthusiasm is infectious. That friend I mentioned—Dan? He’s always been mad about cars, but not this sort. The showy new ones that look like they should be on a racetrack.”

“Supercars,” Ade said. Kris shrugged. “Like Ferraris and Lamborghinis?”

“Yes, that’s them.”

“I can see the appeal…”

“I can’t, but your car is different. It has personality.”

“By the gallon!” Ade said. “Anyway, thank you for convincingly feigning interest. Shall we go and eat?”

“Let’s do that, but for the record, I’m not faking it.”

Ade needed no further encouragement and chattered all the way to the restaurant—an unpretentious place with a soul kitchen vibe and multicultural menu, which, Kris explained when he squeezed a word in edgeways, was one of a handful of places he could trust not to cross-contaminate his meal withshellfish. Ade was more than happy with Kris’s choice, regardless of the reasons for it. He was enjoying the company and being somewhere Fergus wouldn’t think to look for him even if he were sober enough to do so.

They were seated at a table near the back and both accepted a glass of the waiter’s beer recommendation whilst they decided what food to order. Ade tried to ignore the seafood section of the menu, but his eyes were instantly drawn to the prawn Kashmiri. He loved sweet curries and seafood and would usually have gone for that by default, but the last thing he needed was his date going into anaphylactic shock.

“It’s fine, you know,” Kris assured him. “It’s only if I ingest it that it causes a severe reaction.”

“How much would you need to ingest?” Ade asked, chancing some rare optimism and thinking ahead.

“Not much. But the chefs here are super careful.”

“Say, for instance, if someone who’d eaten prawns was to…lick your face or something…”

“Well…” Kris bit his lip, fighting a smile. “If I knew they were planning to, I’d take antihistamines in advance, but I can’t say it’s a situation I’ve come across.”

Ade blushed. Flirting didn’t come as easy to him as it used to, but it was fun practising and not worrying that he’d be ridiculed or told he was an embarrassment.

“I’ll go with the chicken Kashmiri to be on the same side,” he said, meeting Kris’s gaze. “Leave my face-licking options open.”

Soon after that, the waiter returned and took their order, and then they were eating and chatting and laughing like old friends, and Ade knew he wanted more of this. So much more. But it would mean sending Fergus packing once and for all, and he’d never been strong enough, always letting him worm his way back in. Tonight was a glimpse of an alternative reality, of his life without Fergus in it. Whatever happened, wherever it went, he’d hold it in his heart for always.

12: Dessert

Kris

“Next time, I’mhaving one of these all to myself,” Ade grumbled playfully, withdrawing his spoon from the sundae glass.

Laughing, Kris scooped up the last of the chocolate sauce marbled with melted vanilla ice cream, of which Ade had eaten almost all, but Kris didn’t mind in the slightest. “You’re really not a fan of sharing dessert, are you?”

“I shared!” Ade protested. In a flash, he grabbed Kris’s wrist and, locking eyes with him, closed his mouth around the spoon and slowly pulled back, sucking it fully clean. It had exactly the intended effect, sending a rush of heat to Kris’s cheeks and other places.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were seducing me,” he said.

Ade smiled coyly. “It’s just flirting. There’s plenty of time for seduction on our next date. I hope that’s not assuming too much?”

“Definitely not. I’ve had a wonderful evening.” He didn’t want it to be over, but it was getting late, so reluctantly, the next time the waiter came their way, he asked for the bill. “How are you getting home? Or have you booked into a bed-and-breakfast?”

“No. I was going to call a taxi.”

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