Love Worth Pursuing by Max Hudson

Author:Max Hudson [Hudson, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-09-28T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Walking into the bakery with his laptop case, Steve felt a bit less excited to work than usual. All the wind had been taken out of his sails. He knew he had to keep working, at least a bit, to prove he wasn’t just spending his time slacking off. But even thinking about work was reminding him of the night.

As he set up, Euan all but rushed to the back, putting on the coffee maker. “You don’t have to do work right away,” he said.

Steve watched Euan bustling about, flinching whenever he accidentally touched something with the sore part of his hand. “Neither do you. But I think we both need to keep a routine after last night.”

“I guess so,” Euan agreed. “It’s just I’d wish you could have a break. You need it, for your mental health.”

Euan came out with their coffees and two huge slices of cake.

“I’ll pass on the cake today,” Steve said, already feeling queasy.

Euan, not dissuaded, started eating his own one. “I always feel so hungry after a night out drinking,” he said with a full mouth. “You’d think with all those calories I would be less hungry, but I just want to eat like I’m still growing. Which I might be, but not the kind of growth I want.”

Steve laughed. “What are you talking about? You look great.”

“Really? I used to be a bit more, well, shredded,” Euan replied, already almost done with his slice of cake and eyeing up the second one.

“You look good like this,” Steve insisted, his cheeks flushing a bit.

“In that case,” Euan said, pushing the last forkful of cake into his mouth and taking Steve’s abandoned slice.

Steve settled back into the chair and stared at his screen. Euan was right about needing a break, of course. But having a break would mean letting Alex know how much it had affected him. Which would mean leaving Euan even sooner. He didn’t want that.

He had to go sooner or later, but this possibility of a sudden separation felt wrong.

Receiving a password reset from Alex on his personal email, Steve logged into the cloud and opened a file, ready to note down anything he could remember about the clubs. It felt a bit wrong, considering what had happened later, but if he was going to persuade Alex that the club visits had been worthwhile, he needed something to show for it.

There was a click as the front door unlocked, and the bell rang. A burly man marched into the shop. He was only about five foot six, but built like an old-time strongman. He was glaring at Euan.

“Not opening today either? You think I wouldn’t notice?” he asked.

Euan sliced another chunk of cake with the edge of his fork. “I’m going to need a few days off, Dad, my hand got hurt.”

“What’s the excuse for the other days?” Euan’s father asked, walking up to the table.

Though smaller than Euan and shorter than both of them, there was something imposing about his presence.

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