Page 26 of Amid Our Lines

It took a moment for Kojo to deflate. “I wasn’t even sure she’d want to see me. Felt a bit silly, you know?”

Whatever irritation Eric might have felt ebbed away. Kojo had met Kat in culinary school and they’d started dating soon after—Kat had a loud laugh coupled with a rare talent for keeping Kojo on his toes, and Eric liked her quite a bit. He’d never fully understood why they’d called it quits when their apprenticeships took Kat to Spain and Kojo to France.‘Just bad timing,’had been the extent of Kojo’s explanation.

“Did you forget,” Eric asked Kojo now, “that mocking your pain is literally part of my job description?”

Kojo’s expression lightened. “It’s mutual.”

“So.” Eric picked his toothbrush back up, shuffling a little closer to Kojo, careful not to get his socks caught on the floor. Even though he loved the vintage vibe of the old wooden planks, the gold mirror, and the tiled walls, he’d learned the hard way that the staff bathroom came with a certain risk of splinters. “Since you’re planning to spend our week off with her, I take it Kat does want to see you?”

“She does.” It was an unusually simple response for Kojo. His eyes were bright, though, and Eric grinned at him around his toothbrush.

“Well, good. Smart woman.” Brief, comfortable silence fell between them before Eric asked, “Why did you guys break up in the first place? I never really understood that.”

“Honestly?” Kojo’s mouth quirked. “I didn’t either. One minute,we were talking about how we’d both have to put all our energy into those apprenticeships, and the next, we’d somehow decided that a long-distance relationship would be a big distraction. Except I don’t think I ever really agreed that meant we should end things. But I also wasn’t going to beg.”

“So basically,” Eric said, “things ended because you didn’t speak up about how you wanted to keep going?”

Kojo took a moment to reply. “Possibly.”

“That’s pretty pathetic.”

“Thanks, mate.” Belying his flat tone, Kojo followed it up with a grin. “Anyway, guess that leaves you all alone with Adrian for the week. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“One, that leaves me with a scary range of options. Two, we’ll hardly be alone.”

They wouldn’t be. While the hotel would be closed to give everyone a break before Christmas week kickstarted the high season, Adrian’s parents would be around. Martin, on the other hand, would spend some of the week travelling with his boyfriend, and the two housekeepers were off to Portugal and Poland respectively, visiting their families. With two deadlines looming, Eric had opted to stay at the Gletscherhaus—but he’d expected Kojo to be right there with him.

That was fine, though. He didn’t need a chaperone.

It was still fine when Kojo left early the next morning. Breakfast was just Eric, Adrian, and Adrian’s parents, the downstairs area quiet for once rather than buzzing with the energy of guests in skiwear and hiking boots, eager to get out for the day. In the time that he’d been here, Eric had come to appreciate Adrian’s parents as warm and easygoing—Sarah was quick to flash the same blinding smile as her son, and Markus had a sense of humour so dry that it could start a dust storm. They didn’t treat Eric like temporary hired help either, rather included him in the conversation as though he belonged, sticking their noses into his business with friendly curiosity.

That made it impossible to begrudge them for asking the kind of questions Eric’s parents would hardly dare to voice for fear of treading on his toes. Was music a fundamental part of his identity?Was London where he still saw himself five years from now? Why was he single?

“You arenotobliged to answer,” Adrian informed Eric after that last question. Their feet bumped under the table, and Eric was fairly certain it wasn’t an accident because—what had Kojo called it? A game of romantic chicken. Yeah, that.

But really, if Adrian thought it was funny to prove that Eric couldn’t resist him? Eric wasn’t going to blink first.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind.” Eric refilled his cup of coffee, then held up the pot to check whether anyone else wanted a top-up. “Just seems like every time I try, I end up getting hurt. Kojo claims I’m drawn to emotionally unavailable people.”

“Emotionally unavailable?” Adrian pushed his cup closer so Eric could fill it up.

“Like they haven’t figured out their”—Eric glanced at Adrian’s parents—“stuff. My second relationship, well, she wanted to travel the world, and I didn’t. My third and last, the guy had been in love with his brother’s best friend for ages and I couldn’t really compete with that.”

Eric chose to omit that, following the breakup, he’d been treated to multiple instances of speculative headlines that paired Lucas’s and Max’s smiling faces. To add insult to injury, he’d also had journalists contact him about old pictures of Lucas and himself, eager to learn if the breakup theme of the award-winning album he’d co-written was connected to Lucas.

Fun times.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, honey.” Sarah reached across the table to squeeze Eric’s arm. “It does sound like you could use someone a little more … settled.”

“Mum.” Adrian’s tone was a strange blend of amused and long-suffering.

Sarah smiled. “Yes, sweetie?”

“Stop it, please.” While said with affection, there was a serious edge to it. Eric looked from son to mother and back—and only then did he get it. Whoa, wait. When Markus had asked about Eric’s ties toLondon, followed by Sarah inquiring about his relationship history… Were they trying to find a match for their son? Huh. Eric wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Adrian told him later, when they were carrying cardboard boxes of Christmas decorations up from the basement. “They mean well, but they seem to be under the mistaken impression that my life is incomplete without a guy to hold my hand.”

“That’s sort of sweet.”

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