Under the Northern Lights, page 10
“Suppose that’s a start,” Oskar states, and I have to look down at my plate of food to hide the smile on my face because that would give the entire game away. I know that I should be thankful, because if it weren’t for their meddling, then I would never have come clean to Dalton. But still I can’t wait to get home and tell him what Oskar and the others did and then discuss what we’re going to do about it.
Chapter 14 – Dalton
Waking up with Luke wrapped in my arms felt amazing, and I’m so glad I followed my heart and let him into my bed. But when he rubbed his ass into my dick, it took all the self-control I had to not take it further. I had to remember that up until yesterday, kissing a man was new to him. It did take me aback that he was already so willing to want to explore sex, considering how nervous he’d been to tell me he was bi in the first place. So, regardless of if it were torture or not, I was going to make sure to take my time. I also wanted to go on another date with him, and I already had an idea in mind.
A knock on the office door pulls me from my thoughts of Luke and my date idea. Looking up, I see Oskar standing in the doorway, appearing a little guilty.
“Hey,” I say over to him. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, but I want to apologise for bailing on you last night. Luke said you were lucky enough to see some lights.”
“Yeah, we got lucky,” I confirm. “But no one else turned up, either.”
I watch Oskar open his mouth to say something, but before he gets a chance, I hear my name being called from behind him. “Sorry, duty calls,” I say as I rush past him. “Catch up later.” And for a split second, I wonder what that was all about... I’ll just have to find him later.
Later never arrives. I’m called to handle a few issues with some guests before getting stuck in the office dealing with correspondence, and before I know it, the day is over and Oskar will have finished a long time ago. I could go over to his place and check that everything is okay, but at the moment, all I want to do is get back to my man.
This thought has me stopping in my tracks. At what point did I suddenly start thinking of Luke as my man? We hadn’t even confirmed if we are a couple or not. We’ve only been on one date, and that was unofficial. But I know I want to be with him, and I think he feels the same. This is a conversation we are going to have to have, and the only way that is going to happen is if I get home and hope that he’s still awake.
Getting back to the apartment, I open the front door and can hear the voices coming from the living room. I wonder for a second if we have company, but they aren’t voices I recognise and I realise that Luke is watching something on the tv.
“Dalton?” Luke shouts over.
“Who else could it be?” I deadpan back to him.
“I have no idea,” Luke replies, and I can hear him laughing to himself.
Taking off my boots and hanging up my coat I walk over to the living area to see Luke sitting on the couch so that his back is to the front door. On hearing me behind him, Luke tilts his head back to look at me, and my god he looks adorable. Before Luke has the chance to say anything to me I lean down and give him a kiss.
“Hi,” I say when I break the kiss.
“Hey,” Luke replies, giving me a smile.
“You didn’t have to wait up for me,” I tell him as I walk over to the kitchen to try and find some food.
“I made you a plate of food,” Luke says. “It’s in the fridge.”
“You didn’t have to,” I tell him but not having to make something is such a relief. Opening the fridge, I see the plate of chicken, potatoes, and some carrots. It’s a simple meal and one that Luke makes often, but I don’t mind, especially when it means I don’t have to cook. Putting the plate in the microwave for a few minutes, I take my meal over to the dining table and sit down. The sound from the TV goes quiet, and when I look, I see that Luke has paused whatever he’s watching and making his way over to join me.
“Don’t stop watching on my account,” I tell him.
“I’ve seen it before,” Luke replies, and instead of pulling out the chair next to me like we did this morning, he pulls out the one opposite me and sits down.
“So, I’ve been thinking,” I start before taking a bite of my food. “I know we called yesterday’s trip a date, but I want to ask you out officially, and I have an idea.”
“Okay,” Luke replies.
“So, I might have gone and checked your rota and seen that next weekend you have the weekend off. I’ve managed to change my rota so I’m off that weekend, too, so I thought that maybe we could go to the Svalbard Museum and then out for food,” I tell him.
“A week?” Luke questions but then adds, “You’ll be off the whole weekend, too?”
“Yeah,” I confirm and wonder where his thinking is going when I remember what I said to him this morning: that I had no intention of doing anything until we were both off together. I instantly know where his mind is going. “Trouble,” I mutter.
“Sounds perfect,” Luke finally says, giving me a smile.
“Great.” I pause to take another bite of food, then look up to see Luke staring at me. “So how was work?”
“Work was busy but interesting,” Luke replies cryptically before continuing. “When I went for lunch, I bumped into Oskar.”
“Oh, Oskar came to see me,” I tell Luke, interrupting him. “He was acting a little strange.”
“Well, if you’d let me finish my story,” Luke chides, but not in a nasty way, “you will understand why.”
“Sorry,” I say and deliberately take a bite of food so my mouth is full, meaning I won’t disturb him again.
“As I was saying,” Luke says, giving me a smile, “I bumped into Oskar at lunch, and he asked how last night went. I told him that everything went well, but then he asked how we got on with just the two of us.”
Swallowing my food, I ask, “How did he know it was just us two? He told me in the afternoon he wasn’t coming.”
“That was my thought, too, so I called him on it. You’re not going to believe it, but last night, Oskar and the others organised for it to be just us on the tour,” Luke tells me, leaning forward onto the table.
“You’re kidding. How?” I ask.
“Nope, not kidding, and I have no idea how he did it; he never told me how. Just that everyone was in on it,” Luke continues.
Thinking back over the conversation with Oskar, I realise he came up with the suggestion after he asked how things were going with Luke. Had he picked up something then and wanted to confirm what he thought? After that, it was Oskar who told me about all the arrangements, what time and where to meet, et cetera... and all along it had been a ploy to get me and Luke together alone.
“I’m not sure if I should be annoyed or thankful,” I eventually tell Luke.
“Thankful?” Luke questions.
“Well, yeah. If Oskar hadn’t done that, you would never have come clean to me, and we wouldn’t be going out on a date,” I explain “But anyway, what did Oskar say when you told him what happened with us?”
I’m guessing Oskar is probably giving himself a huge pat on the back at organising this and getting us together. We’re probably not going to hear the end of it for weeks.
“I didn’t tell him,” Luke says. “I was going to, but when he told me what he did, I changed my mind.”
Changed his mind? He didn’t want to tell people what was going on? Which is a complete turnaround from what he was saying yesterday and even this morning. Why would he suddenly decide not to say anything? I’m just about to ask him why, but Luke carries on talking.
“I wanted to come home and tell you what had gone on and see what you wanted to do. Oskar knows that we cleared the air but not what happened. So, do you want to have some fun?” Luke asks.
“Let’s have some fun,” I concur.
The following day, I’m sat in the staff room, hoping that mine and Luke’s plan works. After he told me what Oskar did, we spent about twenty minutes coming up with our plan, and now it’s time to put that plan into action. Just had to keep my fingers crossed that Oskar would be coming in soon for some food. And so I wait and... nothing. My break is almost over when Oskar finally appears.
“Hey, Dalton,” Oskar says, plate in hand and making a beeline straight for me.
“Hey, Oskar. Sorry about being called away yesterday,” I reply, hoping that by mentioning yesterday he’ll be reminded that he didn’t tell me what was bothering him.
“No problems. Can I sit?” Oskar asks as he points to the chair opposite me.
“Yeah, but my break is almost over,” I tell him, though the lack of time might actually work to my advantage.
“Well, that sucks,” Oskar replies, which works straight into my hand.
“It does,” I confirm. “In fact, I was going to try and find you. I wanted to know if you wanted to get a drink after work, considering you weren’t able to join us the other night.” And I keep my fingers crossed that he says yes.
“Oh, yeah, that would be cool. We haven’t done that in ages,” Oskar replies. “Will Luke be joining us?”
“Not sure,” I lie, because Luke will definitely be joining us.
“He told me that you two had sort of cleared the air,” Oskar says.
“We did,” I confirm, and wait for Oskar to come clean.
“Dalton. Look,” Oskar finally mumbles, staring at his plate of food, “I have to tell you that there was no group meeting. I organised the whole thing after talking to the others so that you and Luke could talk.”
“I know,” I say, and Oskar’s head snaps up to look at me “Luke told me.” Then I make a big thing of looking at my watch. “My break is over. We can talk about it later over a beer. Want to meet at KB at about six?” I’ve organised for Luke to get there at about quarter past six for the final part of our plan.
“Perfect,” Oskar states.
“See you later, then,” I say, and as I leave the room, I pull out my mobile and text Luke that our plan is a go.
Dead on six, I watch as Oskar walks into KB looking around for me, so I stand slightly, call his name, and wave so Oskar can see me. He waves back and gestures to the bar to let me know he’s getting a drink. The pub is a little busier than normal, and it’s nice to hear the hum of voices, but it will also make it harder for me to see Luke when he comes in. I watch as Oskar carefully meanders through the crowd to join me at my table, and thankfully, he sits down opposite me. I wonder if he is going to ask about Luke?
“Busy in here tonight,” Oskar says, looking around the pub.
“It is for a weeknight,” I say, and I’m trying to keep my focus on Oskar and the conversation, but I keep glancing at the door, hoping to see Luke.
“So, you’re not mad at me for the other night?” Oskar asks. “It’s just with us all working so closely together, I didn’t want any bad blood or whatever.”
It’s at this moment I see Luke walk through the door and his timing couldn’t be more perfect. Standing slightly, I call Luke’s name and wave, mirroring the action I did to get Oskar’s attention and Luke comes striding over.
“Oskar,” Luke says and then looks over to me before he engages the final part of our plan. Luke leans down and kisses me, leans back up, and says, “Hi.”
The look on Oskar’s face is priceless. “No, I’m definitely not mad at you Oskar,” I say, finally answering his question. Oskar looks from me to Luke, then back to me and realises that he’s been had.
“Bastards,” he mutters, and all three of us burst out laughing.
Chapter 15 – Luke
We had decided not to wind Oskar up too much, but his face last week had been priceless. After we’d finished laughing and I’d gotten a beer, he’d demanded to know what happened. The pair of us explained... well, okay, I told Oskar I was bi and had been too frightened to tell Dalton and how I had been attracted to him from the second I’d met him.
It had taken all of five minutes for the news to get around to the others at the hotel, and everyone had been really supportive of us. Some did ask if it was strange living together and dating, but oddly, it felt natural. Even though Dalton had said William would be fine with us dating, I was still worried, and the way the others talked in the hotel, I knew it wouldn’t take long for the news to reach William’s ear, and I’d been right.
When I had got into work on Wednesday, I was summoned to William’s office, and my heart had been in my throat. Walking into his office, William had been sat behind his desk, and I’d never seen him look so stern. I had no idea what he was going to say to me. In all our other interactions, he’d been lovely. So, I’d just sat there and waited for whatever was coming. But then his face broke into a huge smile, and he said that he’d heard there was something going on with Dalton. William had asked if I was still happy staying at the apartment or did he need to find me alternative accommodations. The relief had been instant.
After that, the talk about me and Dalton became old news, and life continued on as it had before. We stole time together when we could due to the alternating shifts, and we even went back to our own beds. Well, there were one or two nights that I tried to push my luck and snuck into Dalton’s bed, but true to his word, all he’d done was hold me all night. But God, I wanted more, and finally, tonight, I was planning to get it.
I know that Dalton thought I was rushing things; he couldn’t quite understand how I could go from never kissing a guy to wanting sex, and I had tried to explain it, but I couldn’t really convey my thinking or even my emotions. From the second Dalton didn’t dismiss me like the others, accepted me completely, I knew that he would look after me. Dalton would make all my first times amazing, and I had spent too long hiding. I wanted to feel.
All week I've been preparing for tonight’s date, thinking about what Dalton said that first time we stayed in bed together, that he would only do something with me when we had the following day off. Well, as far I’m concerned, that was this weekend, and I only had a few hours to get Dalton to see that.
If I was anywhere other than Longyearbyen, I would be agonising over what I was going to wear, but considering it was still minus seventeen outside, I was going for some thermal leggings with my jeans. My plan was to then wear my thermal top with a t-shirt over it. With my coat on, I would be fine walking to the museum but then have less layers for walking around. I would, of course, be taking my red hat — I think it might be Dalton’s favourite, so I’m going to hide it in my hand behind my back.
Finally, I was ready. Walking out of my bedroom, I head straight to the living area and see Dalton sitting on the couch, feet resting on the coffee table. From my angle, he looks to be dressed almost identically to me, and my brain just thinks that’s a lot of layers to peel off of him later.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Definitely,” Dalton says looking me up and down “Please tell me you are wearing your red hat.”
“Of course,” I say, pulling my hand forward and showing my hat.
“You know,” Dalton starts getting to his feet and coming over to me “that damn hat of yours was one of the first things I noticed. The next was your eyes.” As he locks lips with me, I try to deepen the kiss, but Dalton takes a step back. “Trouble, now come on.”
Five minutes later, we’re making our way to the Svalbard Museum. It’s at the bottom of the town and won’t take us long to get there, especially as we’ll take a shortcut that will take us through a field that a lot of locals use. It’s not the best footpath, due to some recent snowfall, but it will save at least a twenty-minute walk around.
“Have you been here before?” I ask Dalton as we enter the field.
“Honestly, I haven’t,” Dalton replies, and he’s just about to say something else when I see him stumble. I try to reach out and grab him, but I’m already grabbing at thin air. Dalton falls forward onto the fresh snow.
“Dalton!” I holler, and I rush over to help him up. “You, okay?” I seriously thought that when he got up, there would be blood gushing from his nose — he went down that hard — but when I look, there’s nothing. As I look down at the area where he fell, I can’t help but start laughing. There in the snow is the perfect imprint of Dalton, right down to the zip on his jacket.
“I’m glad you find me falling so funny,” Dalton grumps, standing up.
“Look,” I say, pointing to the image in the snow, and the moment he sees it, he starts laughing with me. “We are going to have to come back and see if that’s here tomorrow.”
Dalton brushes the snow off his jacket and holds out his hand to me. “Come on.”
Reaching out, I grasp hold of his hand, and I wish I wasn’t wearing gloves. We walk the rest of the way to the museum hand in hand. I want to say it was a romantic gesture, and it might have been, but I think the real reason was a touch of security that if he slipped again, I’d be able to catch him this time.
