Page 116 of Kicks

Any shyness Billy had suddenly evaporated away. He had the potential of two friends here. As well as a wonderful boyfriend.

He returned all the hugs. The future was finally exciting.

TWENTY-SEVEN

EDDIE

A week later and Eddie found himself in a huge conference centre in Manchester. He was surrounded by stalls telling him how flexible bamboo could be in the construction industry or the benefits of concrete made with hemp.

“This might not have been my first choice,” Eddie said, taking Billy’s hand. “But it is interesting.”

Billy snuck a kiss on Eddie’s cheek. “Thank you for doing this. Just think, this time tomorrow we’ll be in Barcelona. I’ll make it up to you.”

“No, you won’t,” Eddie replied. “You’ll drag me around every Gaudibuilding.”

Billy chuckled. “I can go on my own.”

“Not a chance. We’re spending every waking minute together for the next seven days.”

“Sounds perfect.”

They wandered on through the vast hall.

“What time are we meeting Crystal?” Eddie asked.

He loved being awe. It hadn’t happened to him very often in his life. He was absolutely making the most of it.

“Six,” Billy replied. “I want to be in that deep bath in our room by nine.”

“You’ll get no argument from me.”

“Oh wow,” Billy said, pointing to a stand. “Aerated concrete.”

Eddie allowed himself to be dragged over. A smarmy man in a questionable mustard suit greeted them.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” he said, clapping his hands together. “How can I help you?”

Billy set about talking about insulation and fire resistance. Eddie zoned out. He swiped a few pens and packets of jellybeans for Crystal. He’d done enough shows like this to know the salesman would be grateful to him for depleting his stocks.

Under any other circumstances, he would be climbing the walls by now. Instead, he glanced over at Billy who was animatedly telling Mr Mustard Suit about a project he had that would really work with this wonder cement.

God, he must really be falling for this man. Just being near to him was enough for Eddie.

What the fuck is happening?

He caught Billy’s eye and winked. It was a wink with a lot of intention. Something that hadn’t been lost on poor Billy, who stumbled over his sentence.

Now this was more fun.

Eddie sidled up to him. He stood unnecessarily close. Billy carried on as best he could.

Eddie reached down and entwined his little finger with Billy’s.

“So maybe I’ll get in touch with you when I return from holiday,” Billy said, shooting Eddie a death stare.

“Ah, there’s a problem there,” Mr Mustard Suit replied.

“Oh?”