Page 60 of Sparring Partners
“Luca?” He felt for Luca’s hand, but Luca grabbed it away as he stopped and span around.
“What got into you, Adrian? Why did you react like that, rejecting the suggestion out of hand without any thought? Nobody was expecting you to jump up and rush off and pack a case. I understand you’re busy with the farm, that you’ve got contracts to fulfil — the hotel being one of them — but like Alex said, we’re all busy. At the very least, your reaction was rude. And embarrassing. You embarrassed me and yourself. Just a long weekend, that was all. God knows, I can do with a break and I thought you could too.”
Luca swung away and strode off, every step taking him further from Adrian. He was disappearing into the shadows, and soon he would fade altogether. Adrian raced after him. Grabbing Luca’s arm, he pulled him to a stop.
“I’m sorry. You’re right, I was rude. Embarrassing you, let alone myself, was the last thing I wanted to do. But I can’t just up and leave at a?—”
“Nobody was asking you to, and you’d have known that if you’d just listened and thought it over rather than jumping down everybody’s throat.”
Adrian pushed his fingers through his hair. Autumn was always a busy time, but his instinctive reaction to the suggestion had nothing to do with the farm.
“Why did you react like that? It—it was too much. I don’t get it.”
The last streaks of the light were almost gone, replaced by a bright moon. The cool moonlight danced across Luca, illuminating his confusion and upset. The anger, at least, was gone, but it was replaced by something a thousand times worse, and a million times more painful: disappointment.
“I… because…” How stupid was he going to sound? How ridiculous? But it wasn’t stupid, not to him, and it wasn’t ridiculous. Because it couldn’t be. He licked his dry lips, and gulped down the lump in his throat. “When you went to get more wine, Alex told me about the two of you, from years back?—”
“What?” The word dripped with incredulity. “That was all years ago. You just said it yourself. It wasyears back. Half a lifetime ago, if not more. For fuck’s sake, Adrian. Alex is my friend. No, he’s more than that. He’s like the brother I never had — and a good one, somebody I know for sure I can always rely upon.”
Silence, as sharp and heavy as an axe, sliced between them.
“I shouldn’t have said that, the brother remark. I’m sorry.”
“It was no more than I deserved.”
“No… Look, I think maybe it’s best you go back to the farm tonight.”
The weariness in Luca’s voice twisted hard in Adrian’s heart, making him gasp for breath.
“No. Please, let me come back. Let me explain properly.”
“You’ve got an early start in the morning, and so have I.”
“But—”
“Not tonight, okay.”
Luca turned, the night swallowing him up as the sound of his footsteps faded and disappeared.
Adrian stared into the darkness as a breeze wrapped itself around him, making him shiver with more than the cold of the coming winter.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
Luca stared at his laptop screen. He’d been staring at it for what seemed like hours, his attention constantly drifting as he went over and over the events of the day before. A day that had begun perfectly, with slow, sensual wake up sex before things got more frantic in the shower. Working with Adrian at the festival, sniggering like two kids at the suggestive shaped vegetables, to taking time to enjoy the day together, hand in hand. Feeling like he was part of a solid couple once again. Until Adrian had bared his teeth and snarled, and it had all tumbled down.
He saved the spreadsheet and powered down the laptop, slamming the top closed. It was Sunday and he hadn’t been due to work, but waking up alone in the cottage, feeling the cold and empty space beside him, where else did he have to go?
Arrival at The New House, he’d toured the hotel, finding fault with everything, his staff quailing under his caustic criticism when there hadn’t been anything to find criticism with. His last stop had been the kitchen. Rhonda hadn’t hidden her initial surprise, but one look at his face and she’d had breakfast plated up for him which he’d had taken to his office. He looked over at the coffee table in front of the sofa. Three hours later it was still there, cold and congealed.
“For god’s sake, Adrian.” He massaged his temples, trying to obliterate the headache three painkillers hadn’t touched.
The knock on his office door was firm, and Luca swore under his breath. Trouble, because what else could it be on a Sunday morning? He closed his eyes for a moment, inhaling deep, before calling for whoever it was to come in.
Adrian hesitated in the doorway. His characteristic confidence, so often tinged with a touch of arrogance, was nowhere to be seen. In a faded navy sweatshirt, worn jeans, and scuffed steel toed boots, he looked every inch the hardworking farmer he was. Luca stomped down on the spike of want that speared him, just as he clenched his fists to stop himself from brushing away the smear of dirt on Adrian’s cheekbone.
Closing the door, Adrian shuffled from foot to foot. Since when did Adrian shuffle? Luca said nothing, waiting for Adrian to fill in the silence.
Adrian’s hand found the back of his neck. “I tried to call you earlier, but the calls went to voicemail.”
