Page 14 of Ice & Sweet

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

André

By the time Luke and I made it down to breakfast on Sunday morning, it was nearly ten, as we hadn’t gotten to sleep until nearly two and then had immediately gotten distracted as soon as we woke up.

Every time I looked at Luke, I felt a rush of need thrumming through me, my desire burning hotter than any flame. It seemed to be getting stronger with every kiss and every touch too, and no matter how many times I came, nothing seemed to quench my rampant horniness.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so many orgasms in one weekend, which was the most scathing indictment of my sex life I could imagine.

“Is it me or did it snow again?” Luke asked, peering out the window of the dining room as we were seated. We’d decided while we were getting dressed that we wouldn’t deny we were trying something if people asked, but we weren’t going to rub it in people’s faces either. But sitting together at breakfast wasn’t going to raise any suspicions.

“It looks like it,” I said with a frown as I stared out at the gardens, which had gone from dusted to practically invisible under a thick layer of sparkling white. I could barely see any of the box hedging surrounding the little rose garden, which had been straight in front of us yesterday and now just looked like a random assortment of barely visible shapes. “I hope it’s not as bad out front. Otherwise getting the car out will be a nightmare.”

“Oh God, the motorway is going to be hell,” Luke muttered. “We’re going to spend the whole day sitting in traffic and moving six inches in three hours.” He pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and put it on the table, flicking his maps app open and zooming in. “Fuck, it’s chaos already. Look at that band of red. And it looks like half of it is closed.”

I followed his finger, my frown deepening as I took in just how much of the route back to London was already highlighted in red, which meant severe delays at the very least. It was the last thing I wanted after such a wonderful weekend.

Maybe… maybe it would be better to wait rather than rushing back. And maybe, I could convince Luke to stay too.

I was pretty sure the hotel would have a room available.

“Do you have to go back today?” I asked as a member of staff walked over to us to take our order since the breakfast here was from a set menu rather than a buffet. There seemed to be fewer staff around than there had been the previous morning, and I assumed it was because of the amount of snow that had been dumped on Swallow Hill overnight.

“I mean, I should. I have orders to work on for collection on Tuesday and Wednesday.” He looked out the window again, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “It’s the week before Christmas too, so we’re fully booked and I feel bad not being there.”

“Is it just you? Or do you have help?”

“I have help—Tomaz and Serenity. They help with things like admin, deliveries, baking, and basic decorating—like filling or crumb coating and doing things like cupcakes and cake pops. It just means I can focus on the big projects and more complex decorating tasks.”

“I bet they could absolutely make a start without you,” I said, sliding my hand over the table and interlacing my fingers with his. “You shouldn’t drive back if it’s not safe.”

Luke nodded and shot me the tiniest smile. “What about you? Don’t you have rehearsals?”

“Yeah, but I can text the director today and let him know I might not be able to make it. He already knew I was coming to the wedding anyway, so hopefully it won’t be too much of a surprise, especially if they’ve got snow in London too.”

“You feel bad for missing it, though.”

“I… I’m trying not to. I can’t tell you not to drive and then think about doing it myself.”

Luke chuckled softly. “Seriously? That doesn’t sound right. I mean, from everything you’ve said, work is your life.”

“I know, but if I actually want to live my life, I do have to be alive first.”

“Point taken.” He squeezed my hand. “So, we’ll stay here?”

“Yeah, I’m sure they’ll be able to find us a room,” I said, leaning across the table and lowering my voice. “And I’m sure we can find things to keep ourselves amused.”

Luke smirked and opened his mouth to add something hopefully delicious, but as he did a member of staff appeared carrying our drinks and no sooner had she set them down than two familiar faces strolled towards us.

“Good morning,” Austin said as he stopped in front of us. He had his arm around Kane’s waist, and the pair of them were practically glowing. They looked exhausted, though, and I wondered if they’d slept. Knowing them, probably not. “Sleep well?”

“Yes, thanks,” Luke said with a teasing grin as he looked between them. “How about you? Get much rest?”

“Enough,” Kane said. He quickly added, “So apparently a lot of the roads around Swallow Hill are all blocked because of the snow, and the police are asking people to stay put if possible.”

“Yeah, we were talking about that,” I said. “The motorway already looks like hell, so we’re going to see if we can stay another night.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Austin said. “We can cover your rooms as an apology for the inconvenience.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Luke protested.

“Tough, it’s already done. Anyone from the wedding who extends will be billed to us.”

“Asshole,” Luke said fondly. “Did you, er, talk to them about rooms already?”

“No,” Kane said. “We wanted to talk to the guests first. Why?” He looked between us, a sly smile spreading across his face. He looked far too smug. “Is there a problem with your rooms?”

“No, babe, of course not,” Luke said. “It’s just we won’t need two rooms. André and I can share. Save you some money.”

“How generous of you,” Austin said with a teasing wink. “Very charitable.”

“I know. We’re just trying to make your lives easier.”

“It wouldn’t have anything to do with you sneaking off together during the reception, would it?” Austin asked as he grabbed a chair from a nearby empty table and sat down next to Luke, looking between us with all the glee of someone desperate for gossip. “Oh please, don’t try and deny it. We’re the kings of sneaking off to fuck in toilets. We made it into an art form.” He gestured between himself and Kane, who was watching his new husband with amusement.

“Aren’t you two supposed to be having some romantic, newlywed breakfast together?” I asked, sipping my tea as I tried to think of a way to politely get rid of them. “Sitting naked in your room and feeding each other strawberries or something.”

“If only,” Kane said, pulling up another empty chair and sitting down next to me, turning our table for two into a rather crowded table for four. “We came down to say goodbye to people and then realised nobody would be going anywhere because of the snow. So now we’re playing host instead.” He looked around for a member of staff. “I hope we can get some breakfast, though, because I’m starving. And some tea too.”

“Breakfast sounds perfect,” Austin said. “What did you two order?”

“I’m getting eggs Benedict, and Luke’s getting smoked salmon and scrambled eggs.”

“That sounds good,” Kane said, his face brightening as the same staff member who’d brought our drinks appeared with two menus for them and asked if we wanted to move to a bigger table.

“No, we’ll be fine here,” Austin said as he ordered some drinks for him and Kane. “Keeps it cosy.”

“And because you want to be nosy,” Luke said pointedly as our waitress walked away.

“That too, although I don’t know if I need to be nosy since you two basically already answered my fucking question.” He smirked. “I can’t believe you snuck out of our wedding to fuck in the toilets. I mean, it’s fucking on brand for us, I guess, but I can’t believe we didn’t think of it first.”

“I knew you two would be good together,” Kane said with an air of self-satisfaction that should have sounded smug but he looked so bloody happy I couldn’t bring myself to think of him as a bastard.

“Don’t start,” Luke said, glaring at his ex-fake boyfriend over the table. “This is nothing to do with you.”

“It’s a little to do with me, babe. It’s my wedding weekend.”

“You know what I meant! You’re not getting involved. This is just…” Luke trailed off and reached for his coffee. “Whatever André and I do or do not do is none of your business. And no, you can’t make comments.”

“But you used to make comments about my relationship with Austin all the time,” Kane said with a raised eyebrow over the top of his breakfast menu.

“Yeah, because you two used to make one dumbass decision after the next! And you both refused to admit it was anything more than just sex, even though it was clear as fucking day that you two liked each other. Kanan, I love you, but it took you two ten fucking years to get your act together, so you’re not allowed to say jack shit about anyone else’s relationship.”

“How about we talk about something else?” I asked. The last thing I wanted was for Kane and Austin to start trying to dissect my hook-up with Luke, and I didn’t want anyone bickering either. I’d always been Underground Dreaming’s peacemaker because I hated conflict and so often these arguments just felt petty. “Like how amazing your wedding was! And how beautiful the cake looked.”

“Fuck, the cake!” Austin groaned, a happy hum rumbling through his chest. The sound alone made Luke turn pink. “It was fucking amazing. Best fucking cake I’ve ever had! And we have leftovers, so I’m going to be hoarding that shit and eating it for every single meal.”

“You’re welcome,” Luke said. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“Liked is the wrong word. Fucking adored!”

“Well, if you ever want another one, just let me know.”

“Done!”

“His birthday’s in June,” Kane said with a fond smile at his husband. “I’ll hit you up in the new year to put it in your diary.”

“Best husband ever,” Austin said, leaning across the table to kiss Kane softly.

“I try.”

The waitress arrived again with Luke’s and my food and took Kane and Austin’s order, and the four of us began discussing the wedding, rehashing all the details and sharing our favourite moments. Various guests dropped by to say hi in passing, and a few more began trickling in for breakfast, taking up the tables nearest to us.

It almost felt like the party was still going, only in a more hungover way. There were definitely a few delicate heads, including Toby, who practically crawled into a seat at a nearby table with Dai and Haru while looking like death warmed up. And when I softly called his name to check he was actually alive, not just a zombie, he looked at me with puffy dark eyes and a sallow expression which made him look like a corpse.

The most chipper person was Austin’s friend Theo, who appeared in a red tartan dress and red patent leather shoes, bouncing around as if I hadn’t watched him down a line of six shots off the bar along with the variety of cocktails I’d seen him holding throughout the night. He was either still drunk or had the steel-lined stomach of an eighteen-year-old hitting freshers week.

He was the one Luke had said was hard to talk to because he’d seen Theo in so many films with Austin, so I watched his face as Theo chatted to Austin and Kane, and sure enough there was the tiniest blush on his cheeks. I wondered what he was thinking about.

I’d have to ask.

And if it was something fun, maybe suggest a re-enactment.

After all we had a whole day and a hotel room to ourselves.

We might as well get some use out of it.