Page 7 of Lord of the Lock

“And you knew my address….how, exactly?” I asked.

“Mum knows everyone who’s ever lived in this village. I mentioned your name and she guessed you were living in your grandparents place. ‘White house on Edward Street,’ she said. Just couldn’t remember the number.”

“And you brought flowers?”

“Yes…um…as a thank you for saving my arse in the pub. I’ll go now.”

Nathan took a step backward and I watched almost in slow motion as he fell backwards on the concrete step. My rugby reflexes took over. I threw the flowers into one hand and stepped forward to catch him with the other. He was light as a feather compared to the rugby blokes I’d had to keep stood up on the field. For a second, he recoiled from me like he was trying to get out of being saved. And then he managed to right himself with a little help, and took a tiny step back, still encircled in my one arm. Once I knew he wasn’t about to fall over again, I let go.

“Guess I should get more flowers,” he said with a shaky smile. “That’s twice you’ve saved me from a concussion.”

The espresso machine beeped again from the kitchen, like it was angry I’d forgotten the two cups waiting for me. “Coffee?” I asked him. “I…accidentally made two.”

Nathan’s eyes narrowed and he took a — much more careful — step back. “Why?”

“I have a proposition for you,” I started, but the words had the opposite effect of what I was expecting. Nathan shook his head silently and walked off into the night.

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Chapter Four - Nathan

My mum had been kind enough to let me have the box-sized spare room to sleep in and Dad’s old office for business. Dad had complained for hours, but on this one thing Mum had stood firm. And I was thankful she had, because there was so much to do it was insane.

In shutting down my old shop in Hiraeth, I’d lost out on some face-to-face business from big fans ofThrones of Bloodwho congregated in the village to watch its filming and for conventions, but for the most part my business was online. Which is why I spent every minute my father wasn’t demanding care holed up in the office keeping my business afloat by packing and sending online orders. The whole place was filled with nerdy memorabilia, and The Nerd Emporium had made a name for itself worldwide. I packed oneDoctor Whoorder destined for Canada and pasted the label on it as I hummed the theme tune to myself.

The problem with working alone in one room was the amount of time it gave me to think. And when my thoughts were going along the lines they were, it was dangerous to give me time to think.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I had spent so long controlling the automatic revulsion I had for bigger men in Hiraeth — and there were enough of them there — but being back in Pontycae had put me in a spin again, where people like Finn, who I could see had complete Golden Retriever Energy, were scary to me in the moment. I had no idea if he’d been inviting me in for just a coffee or for…more, but the fear of that in the moment had me running scared. Because he might want to take advantage. And there would be fuck all I could do about that if he did.

I heard the doorbell go off, and Mum answered it. Her voice was muffled as she spoke. Since my Dad had started being such a complete and utter twat, she didn’t get as many visitors as she used to. It was nice when she did.

I heard steps creaking up the stairs. Heavy steps, alongside Mum’s lighter ones. And then the bedroom door creaked open.

“Nathan, you’ve got a friend here to see you.” Mum said casually, and I felt my heart ratchet up a notch and my breathing escalated. Had he finally come to see me, to warn me? Was Lewis about to walk through that door and drag me back to where I’d come from?

Instead, another giant walked through the door. A big friendly giant with a small bouquet of flowers. Finn smiled at me hesitantly, and I smiled back in exactly the same way. I wanted to curse God and thank him at the same time. Because Finn was a big, gorgeous goof who’d rescued me from some not so nice people. And my logical brain knew that. But my instincts didn’t agree. Every time someone like him walked into a room in Pont, my instincts kicked into fight or flight. If I’d just met him a years ago…I’d have been instantly attracted to him. And he would’ve been a rugby player with a reputation for sleeping with anything that moved. So perhaps the universe was against me one way or another.

“I’ll leave you to it,” said Mum. She closed the door behind her and my heart rate kicked up a notch. I was locked in with him. I looked down at the package in my hands and controlled my breathing as I heard the springs in the sofa compress. I looked up, and Finn was sitting on the other end of the sofa, squeezing his massive body into the tiniest space imaginable.

“Sorry,” I muttered. It was embarrassing that he’d caught on to my fear so easily.

“No worries, Nathan. People think I’m stupid, but…if there’s something about me that freaks you out, I can keep my distance. I’ve worked out that much.”

“Distance involves bringing flowers to my house?”

“Distance is…yeah, this is pretty stupid,” Finn stood up.

“No, wait. Sorry. Sit down.” I clipped out the words. I kept my eyes trained on the polythene packaging in my hand as I sealed it and pasted an address over the seam, then looked back up. Finn was now perched on the arm, at the very extreme of the room. As far as he could get from me.

“So, why the flowers?” I asked. “And how did you find out where I live? Wait, that first one is probably the important one.”

“Same way you found me,” said Finn. “Little village, ask where the guy with the hot pink hair and his dad with one leg live. Someone’s bound to know.”

“Ah. And…”

“The flowers? They’re my apology. For saying you were my boyfriend the other day.”

“But I brought you flowers,” I said. “I was grateful for that.”

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