Page 28 of Light Up
Louis growled and Tal ignored him.
~~~
Corey woke with a start, then closed his eyes again. It was morning. He slowly let his fingers drift across the bed, but he was on his own.Damn it.He swallowed his disappointment. So you might as well go down, cock!
They’d both been exhausted last night and Corey hadn’t been looking to start anything when he’d slid his hand over Tal’s waist. He’d just wanted to hold him, be close to him, bealivewith him. When Tal had caught hold of his fingers and not let go, Corey had to fight not to cry.
He made Corey feel safe. It was something he wasn’t used to. Sleeping together last night had been awesome. But where was he now? Anxiety surged. A sharp pain sprang up in his head but as he was on the point of yelping, it disappeared again. Corey sighed into the mattress. Had Tal changed his mind and gone, along with the snow?Leaving me with the bill?No, he wouldn’t do that. Maybe he’d slipped out for breakfast.
Well, lying in bed wouldn’t get him any answers. He turned over and saw Tal sitting by the fire reading a book. Corey’s heart did a little skip of joy that he was still there.
“Morning,” Corey said as brightly as he could. “Sleep okay?”
“Yes.”
Corey waited to be asked too. But Tal didn’t say anything. Corey had wondered if he was on the spectrum. There was just something about him… His manner of speaking. Not always smiling when smiled at. Seeming rude but not meaning to be rude. The lack of eye contact. Not wanting to be touched. The lining up of his toothbrush and stuff. Corey’s schoolfriend Josh had been autistic. Corey hadn’t liked the way the other kids had teased Josh, so he’d tried to defend him though sometimes that had pissed Josh off.I can fight my own battles!After Josh had said that, Corey was more careful about intervening.
Then Josh had suggested to Corey that he was probably on the spectrum too. He’d not thought so at the time. Still didn’t, but ADHD sort of fit. Corey didn’t do well at having to keep still, in or out of school. He ricocheted around like one of those super-bouncy balls, had a tendency to overshare at the wrong moment and was hard to shut up once he started talking. But when hedidfocus on something, he was super-focused.
“Do you feel all right?” Corey asked. “No after-effects from the crash? Are you covered in bruises?”Like me to kiss them better?
“I’m fine.”
Now Corey’s cock was no longer going to embarrass him, he flung back the duvet and looked at his body. Not a mark in sight. That was…amazing. His bag sat by the door with a pile of clothes at the side. Corey rolled out of bed and walked over, his hand clutching the waist of the boxers to keep them up.
His things had not only been washed and dried, but also ironed. They’d even resurrected his jacket and dried his trainers.
“Wow, they’ve sorted everything,” Corey said. “Did they save your shoes?”
“Yes.”
“My trainers look like new.”
“Hmm.”
Corey picked out clothes and slunk into the bathroom, his confidence further dented. All he needed was a few kind words, a smile, a glance of interest…something. Even if Tal did have autism…
There had been no overnight miracle. So that was that. The embrace in bed meant nothing. Tal had come to his senses and didn’t want anything more to do with him. They’d both be on their way once the road was clear and would never see each other again. Complete opposites. Different lives. Rich man, poor man. Man with a home and a job. An idiot with neither. They could still be civil while they were together. Well, Corey could. Tal was kind of abrupt, but Corey got it. He’d give him the benefit of the doubt.
Corey came back into the bedroom to see Tal standing by one of the windows, looking all long and lean and lovely, his trim backside nicely filling out his trousers. Corey wished he was as tall. He wasn’t short but he looked it next to Tal who had to be six three or four. Corey was five ten and half, if he stretched. A lot. He’d put on the jeans the hotel had washed and one of his favourite grey T-shirts. There was a graphic of a sperm on the front and beneath it the wordsThis is a very early picture of me. He was interested to see Tal’s reaction. Though he appeared to be too fascinated by what he could see through the window to turn and look at him.
When he reached Tal’s side, Corey realised why the room was so bright and why Tal was staring.
“Oh,” Corey whispered.
The snow hadn’t gone. There was even more of it. All trace of colour had disappeared from the world outside. Everything was blanketed in white, even the trees. It was hard to make out where the ground stopped and the sky started. He’d never seensnow this deep before. The lane they’d walked up looked like a white river, its smooth winding path delineated by higher levels of snow at the sides. No way were they leaving here yet.
“Did we accidentally take a wrong turn and walk to Switzerland?” Corey asked.
Tal laughed. “It appears so.” He looked at him then, took in the T-shirt and chuckled.
“You passed the test,” Corey said.
“Did I?”
“You’re amused by my T-shirt. I nearly wore my other one. It saysI do bad things and I do them very well.”
Tal’s eyes darkened as he stared at him. “Do you?”
