Sweetest Touch (ManxMan)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ivan’s POV

The moment he had said the words I was relieved. I knew those words were what I wanted to hear. I felt comfort every time he touched me. I relished the feeling when he was looking at me. My heart skipped whenever my name fell from his lips. And he called my name many times a day.

“I love you so much I could cry,” he admitted as he squeezed me tight. I inhaled his masculine scent and returned his embrace. The incident this evening shook me quite hard, despite having gone through this before. And I welcomed Gavin’s comfort despite me denying verbally.

He shifted his legs and accidentally knocked us backwards where we fell onto the bed. “Sorry,” he mumbled and attempted to get up but I pulled him down, still wrapping my arms around him. My hands were actually shaking from doing that. Or might be from the incident before. I wasn’t sure.

But Gavin understood. He knew I might not meant it but he realized I needed him for now. So he stayed tangled in my arms with his hand cupping the back of my head and the other bind around my waist, pulling me closer to his heat.

I sighed softly and slowly sleep engulfed both of us.

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“Do you want to go somewhere?” Gavin’s voice snapped me out of my daydream. I turned to look at the driver. He raised his eyebrows in question. “Well, I don’t have work today,” I muttered. “What do you suggest?”

He pursed his lips, thinking and made an ‘mmm’ sound. “I guess since we haven’t had breakfast yet, why don’t we go get one?” he said, looking at me from the corner of his eyes. I nodded. I was actually starving.

Blake had told me that Clyde was taking him on a holiday a week ago. To be honest, I was sceptical and in disbelief when I found out Blake was dating Clyde. My fellow researchers all told me of his infamous reputation. However, I never saw Clyde justified what they were talking about. Clyde was glued to my brother, like a puppy following his master. It was just my prejudiced or what Gavin called ‘overprotection’ over my little brother.

People said Clyde flirted with anyone who flirted with him. All I saw was Clyde faithfully waited for Blake to finish his class outside the hall if he had no class, brought snacks and accompanied him on his photography trips.

People said Clyde would leave Blake after six months, tops. But they were still together even after over a year.

People said Clyde would be two-timing Blake. But nobody had ever seen him with anyone else except Blake. Those two were inseparable. I guessed he really did change for Blake. Or Blake helped him changed. I didn’t know. But I agreed they were good together.

I saw the changes in Blake. Despite the attack a year ago, he had become stronger because Clyde was there. He had no longer tried to keep himself in his room alone since Clyde would always find an excuse to get him out. And he had taken more pictures than before, with a lot of variety. Call me biased but I always found the photos he took to be captivating. And I had Clyde to thank for that because he never failed to remind Blake how wonderful his pictures were. Some even made it to top photos of some photography magazines.

“We’re here,” Gavin’s voice brought me back to reality. I looked out from the window and saw it was an upscale restaurant that opened at lunch time. “But it’s only 10. It’s not opened yet,” I said, but I got out of the car nonetheless. Gavin smiled sheepishly at me. “Actually, my family own this restaurant so I get to come and eat whenever I want to. And I want to treat you to something good,” he admitted.

I had suspected Gavin to come from a rich and influential family from seeing how he socialized and the way he carried himself. I even caught him several times being on the phone talking ‘business’. And his clothes. He had a way of making himself ‘tone down’ but I noticed he was wearing branded clothes. He never told me anything about himself and I wasn’t going to.

It wasn’t like we were dating or anything.

I followed him inside and it was gorgeous. The chandeliers were hanging above every table and the walls were stones and the floor was marble. It was as if the designer had Victorian era ideas in his mind. I had always had a thing with old vintage Victorian era. The tables were dark brown, clothed with white laces. The chairs were slim but modern styled so they were balanced. Underneath every table was a small round or square carpet to give the customers a private feeling.

“Over here,” Gavin had taken my hand in his and I wasn’t even aware of it. I was about to pull my hand away but then we came into a small patio overlooking the cliff behind the building. I gaped and just stared. The sea was right next to the cliff and I saw it even from this distance. “Wow…” I said, walking ahead of Gavin and leaned to the balcony.

“This is so beautiful,” I said. Gavin stood next to me and smiled. “I knew you’d like it,” he replied. Ever since I came to Croxton, Gavin was the one who took me to places. Blake was so busy occupied with Clyde who demanded his attention like 24/7, just like a spoiled brat.

I heard the door opened and saw a waiter came out, clad in tuxedo. I sat down at the table for two and he handed me the menu. Gavin didn’t even open his menu. “Espresso and turkey sandwich,” he said immediately. “Yes, Mr. Reeves,” replied the waiter and turned to me. I quickly scanned the menu. “Turkey sandwhich and light mocha, please,” I said to him. He nodded and excused himself with our menus.

“So, you’re a rich kid,” I stated, looking directly at him. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged, not breaking eye contact with me. I was always told that I had a hard glare on people I met. They would get uncomfortable with me looking at them, even thought that was how I looked at people. And it was one of the reasons why some people mistook my glare at something more, which got me in quite a number of troubles the past years.

“Not me. My parents are. I’m trying to do my own thing,” he said, pursing his lips as if he was serious about it. I thought it was true though, if this was his family’s restaurant, him taking earth science was a totally different approach. “Not to mention, my brother is doing the same thing. He’s in the marketing business,” he continued. I nodded. “Older?” I asked. He nodded.

Our breakfast arrived soon after and we enjoyed the meal while looking into the sea and talking about our research projects. My phone vibrated and I looked at it. “Oh,” I managed. “What’s wrong?” Gavin dropped his sandwich and leaned forward in concern.

“Our baby cousin is coming next month. He’s going to attend Croxton and he’s going to stay with us due to some problems,” I read the text my mom sent me. I replied inquiring about the date he was coming and pressed send.

Gavin nodded and continued to eat his sandwich. I noticed he was a fast eater. He gobbled down his food as if it was merely a pinch.

“You eat awfully slow,” he suddenly commented. I looked up to meet his blue eyes and I immediately looked at my sandwich. Not even half was eaten. I huffed. “I like to enjoy my food, thanks,”I replied and purposely ate more slowly this time. This caused him to snicker. “Do you have anything else to do today?” he asked, putting down his empty cup.

I shook my head after contemplating for a while. “I guess I’d just clean around the house,” I said. I noticed something flickered in his eyes. “What? You want to come help?”

He nodded eagerly. I thought Clyde was similar to a puppy following Blake around and here in front of me was another puppy. And they weren’t even brothers.

I rolled my eyes and he laughed at that. “Ok, fine. Come and help me out. You’re taller than me so you get to clean the high places,” I said. He smiled. “Sure thing.”

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