Frisky Business (34 page)

‘Yes, but it’s supposed to be fun. You’re not meant to “escape” from a stag party.’

‘I don’t know,’ Danny said. ‘I’ve been to a few stag parties that I wouldn’t have minded escaping from.’

‘So how did you find your way home? Did the others even know you were going?’

‘I told Ethan I was going to make a break for it whenever I got the chance. But I haven’t been able to contact him since. They don’t have any mobiles – because they wouldn’t survive a crash, you see.’

‘They’ll probably be worried about you.’

Kit shrugged nonchalantly. ‘That’ll teach them to leave me to fend for myself out in the middle of nowhere.’

‘So, did you orienteer your way back?’

‘Like
hell I did! They gave us a lesson about navigating by the sun or some shit, but I had no idea what they were talking about. I just figured there’s nowhere in Ireland that’s
that
far from civilisation. So I took off and I just kept walking until I found a road. Then I hitched a lift to the nearest town – well, it wasn’t so much a town as a pub. From there, it was just another hitched lift, a bus, a train, a tram and a cab home,’ he finished, looking very pleased with himself.

‘Christ! How long have you been travelling?’ Danny asked, wide-eyed.

‘Since around dawn this morning when I left the actually quite impressive little shelter that Tank and Ethan had built.’

‘You must be exhausted!’ Romy said.

‘You’d think. But actually I feel quite buzzed. I think I must be having an adrenaline rush. I’ve heard people who survive disasters often react this way. It’s the sheer joy of being alive!’

‘But you didn’t survive a disaster,’ Romy pointed out. ‘You survived one night of a stag weekend. It’s quite common.’

‘You’re just in denial because you don’t want to face up to the very real danger I was in.’ Kit divided the remainder of the wine between their three glasses. ‘Another one?’ he asked, waving the bottle.

‘In the rack in the kitchen,’ Romy told him.

Kit went to the kitchen and came back with another bottle. ‘You survived Hannah’s hen in one piece I see,’ he said to Romy as he opened it.

‘Yes, it was fun. Well,
I
thought it was. Some of the girls there would have liked to escape too.’

‘That pair are a match made in heaven,’ Kit said, shaking his head.

‘Luke was a big hit with the girls.’

‘That’s my boy.’ Kit grinned. ‘So what did you do – zip-wiring, water-boarding?’

‘Well
, not water-boarding,’ Romy said, laughing.

‘No?’

‘Er, no.’

‘Water-boarding isn’t an adventure activity,’ Danny said. ‘It’s a form of torture.’

‘Same thing, isn’t it?’ Kit said, shrugging.

Romy was glad she’d over-ordered as Kit wolfed down everything in sight and continued eating long after she and Danny had finished, forking up every last grain of rice and crumb of naan. ‘You must have been starving,’ she commented.

‘I was. We had to
forage
for food,’ he said disgustedly. ‘Not very realistic, if you ask me. I mean if a plane really crashed there’d be bound to be some airplane meals lying around, wouldn’t there? They could have left us some tubes of Pringles at the very least.’ He pushed his plate away with a sigh of satisfaction.

‘We were going to watch a DVD before you came,’ Romy said. ‘Do you want to watch it with us?’

‘I feel like going out and celebrating,’ Kit said. ‘I’m alive! Let’s go out and get plastered.’

‘I can’t,’ Romy said, glancing towards the bedroom.

‘Oh yeah, little Whatsisface. Well, we could bring him with us!’

Romy fixed him with a glare.

‘Only joking!’ Kit added hastily when he saw her stony expression.

‘Anyway, I’m wiped out,’ she said, yawning and sinking back against the sofa.

‘How about you?’ Kit asked Danny. ‘Will you come and drink to my survival with me?’

‘Well …’ Danny looked at Romy.

‘Go if you want to,’ she said. ‘Really, I’m ready for bed. All that water-boarding takes it out of a girl.’

‘Okay
, then,’ Danny said to Kit.

‘Have fun you two,’ Romy said as they got up to go. ‘And Kit, send Ethan or Tank a text to let them know where you are. I know they don’t have their phones, but at least they’ll see it as soon as they get them back.’

‘Will do.’

‘So, Romy tells me you’re gay,’ Kit said conversationally to Danny as they walked down the steps.

Danny gave a small smile. ‘Well, I haven’t got the bumper stickers printed up yet, but, yep, it’s true.’

‘God, sorry! Bloody stupid thing to say.’

Danny laughed. ‘It’s fine.’

‘So where are we going?’ Kit said when they got to the gate. Is there a decent pub around here? I know I’m high on life, but I don’t think I’m up to going into town.’

‘There’s a good pub in the village. It’s not far.’

‘Great! Unless you want to go into town? I mean I don’t mind if you want to go to one of … your places.’

‘We are allowed mix with the heteros, you know,’ Danny said, laughing.

‘I know, God, I didn’t mean—’

‘Hey, relax,’ Danny said. ‘I’m just messing with you. Thanks for the offer, but I really fancy a quiet drink. Had a bit of a wild night last night.’

‘Great! Lead the way. I just hope it has dim lighting. I still have bits of countryside stuck to me. I probably smell too – just to warn you.’

‘You’re definitely in no state to go to a gay pub, then,’ Danny said. ‘We have much higher standards.’

‘True. There’s no way I could go to a gay bar wearing this stupid
jacket.’ Though Kit had to admit that right now he was damn glad of the stupid jacket. It was bloody freezing! The icy air bit into his face and made his eyes water, and he began to regret leaving the cosy warmth of Romy’s flat. He’d had enough of the outdoors in the past twenty-four hours to last him a lifetime.

‘So, I hear you’ve just broken up with someone,’ he said as they walked.

‘Er, yeah.’ Danny glanced across at him warily. ‘Are all your conversations like this?’

Kit sighed. ‘Sorry, I’m an idiot. Honestly – Romy will tell you. Just tell me to mind my own business.’

‘No, it’s okay. But I think maybe we should walk a bit faster. If this is your idea of small talk, I’m going to need a drink quick.’

The pub was warm and sufficiently dark to satisfy Kit, and they found a free sofa in a cosy corner by an open fire. Kit had been surprised that Danny had agreed to come out with him. He’d got the impression he didn’t like him very much, and Danny’s behaviour now as they sat over a couple of beers was doing nothing to make him think he was wrong. He was so quiet, and it was all Kit could do to drag a few words out of him. Why the hell had he come if he was just going to sit there being so cool and detached, observing Kit from behind his inscrutable façade like he was some kind of science project? The adrenaline high that had got Kit here in the first place had gone, and he felt fed up. God, they should have stayed at Romy’s! He was starting to sweat, and it was nothing to do with the roaring fire. He was doing all the talking, either talking about himself or trying to draw Danny out with questions
to which he got monosyllabic answers. He still knew next to nothing about Danny, other than that he was a landscape gardener and loved his job.

‘So, you’re an uncle now!’ he said heartily, trying another tack.

‘Yeah,’ Danny said with a fond smile. ‘And a godfather.’

‘Oh, you’re Whatsisface’s godfather? That’s great!’

‘Luke.’

‘Luke, exactly.’ Brilliant! He could probably expect to find a horse’s head in his bed any day now, just because he couldn’t remember the kid’s name. He cast around desperately for another topic of conversation. ‘I was sorry to hear about your father,’ he said.

Danny just nodded in acknowledgement. ‘It hit Romy really hard. I mean it did us all, but she was …’ he didn’t finish the thought. ‘Having Luke seemed to help her get over it.’

More than two sentences – that was progress! ‘She seems to be a great mother.’

Danny drained his glass and stood, and Kit knocked his back too, grateful that this awkward evening was coming to an end. It had been a stupid idea and he just wanted to go home.

‘Same again?’ Danny asked, and Kit looked up at him in astonishment.
Dear God! Surely he doesn’t think we’re having a good time?

‘Well, it’s getting late … we should probably go.’ Then it occurred to him that Danny felt he should buy a drink because Kit had got the first lot. ‘You can get me one another time,’ he said.

‘Just one more,’ Danny persisted, with such an appealing look that Kit couldn’t say no, even as his heart sank at the prospect of prolonging this agony. Though why Danny would want
to sit here any longer with someone he didn’t like and couldn’t be bothered to talk to was beyond him.

He watched Danny up at the bar, smiling shyly as the barmaid flirted with him. Poor thing, he thought, she didn’t realise she was wasting her time.

Danny returned with the drinks and they both sipped their beers in silence. ‘You must find it a big change moving back here after living in New York,’ Danny said eventually.

‘You can say that again,’ Kit said with a wry smile. ‘Not what I would have chosen. Still, it’s not all bad. I was lucky to bump into Romy again.’

‘Yeah. She’s a good person to know.’

Was that a dig? Kit wondered. He wasn’t sure. He decided to confront it anyway. ‘Look, I know you think I’m taking advantage of her, but I’m really not. At least I don’t mean to.’

‘I’m sure you’re not.’ Danny smiled. ‘Romy kind of invites it – she can’t help herself. Anyway, it makes her happy. She likes to help people out, fix things … it’s just the way she is.’

As he spoke about his sister, warming to his theme, it struck Kit that Danny wasn’t aloof or unfriendly, he was just shy. He looked so like Romy, he thought as he watched him, his face warmed by the alcohol and the flickering firelight. The same thick dark hair, the same big brown eyes framed by long sooty lashes, the same sallow skin. No wonder the barmaid had been trying to chat him up. He was very cute. ‘Have you ever been to New York?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, I went there last year for the first time with Paul – my ex.’ A shadow passed across Danny’s face momentarily, but he quickly replaced it with a smile. ‘It’s a fantastic city! I’d love to go back.’

‘Pity I didn’t know you then. I could have shown you around. So how long were you with Paul?’

‘A
couple of years. I met him at the Chelsea Flower Show. I had a show garden there. It won silver.’

‘Well done,’ Kit interjected.

‘Thanks. Anyway, I met him there and he was from Dublin, so we got talking, and we went out for dinner together. Then when we got home, he hired me to do his garden.’

‘But he didn’t just want you to mow his lawn,’ Kit drawled.

‘Something like that.’

Danny loosened up with the second drink, and the conversation began to flow. His whole face lit up when he told Kit about the garden he had designed and made for Paul, his enthusiasm for his work evident. ‘Sorry, this must be really boring for you,’ he said finally. ‘You’re probably not a garden person.’

‘No, it’s interesting – though I haven’t a clue about gardens myself. Couldn’t tell a tulip from a turnip. So what happened with Paul?’