The Beautiful Escape [ZARRY]

23

Zayn served a withering look. "What a tactless thing to ask," he observed, resorting to disgust to disguise the extent of his dismay. 

Spontaneous and asking for trouble would have been closer to the mark in his estimation. No wonder Doniya wanted to keep him at home; if he was his brother he'd never let him out of his sight.

For the first time, Zayn noticed the distant birthmark, a kissy mole, as if not kissing him was not torturing enough. Wow. 

Out of the blue, a horrifying possibility occurred to Zayn. "Are you married?"

Unprepared for the tense, accusing query, Harry blinked, his jaw tightening. "That's not relevant."

Zayn's mouth hardened with contempt; that meant he was.

Not again! 

Zayn didn't know who he despised the most at that moment- the possibly married man in front of him or himself. "To me it is!" Zayn choked bitterly.

Harry gave an exasperated sigh; he could cope with a lot of things but he discovered- rather to his surprise- that being looked at as if he was some sort of moral criminal by those big brown eyes was not one of them.

"If it matters so much to you, I was, but I'm not now." He saw Zayn's hunched-up shoulders sump in relief. "Though why it should be so important to you I don't understand..."

And Zayn wasn't about to explain. Having an affair with a married man or woman- even if he hadn't known he was at the time- was not the sort of thing he felt like sharing.

"I'd introduce the subject of morals if I thought you'd understand."

"I don't see where morals come into it," Harry drawled. "You didn't do anything..."

"If I had... would you have...?" Cheeks flaming, he struck his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Oh God!" he wailed. "Me and my mouth...!" 

How to take an embarrassing situation and make it ten times worse in one easy-to-follow lesson!

Harry's eyes automatically moved to the object of his contempt. The muscles in his strong throat worked overtime. 

"Yes, I'd have kissed you back," he admitted throatily. The words seemed drawn from him against his will.

Zayn eyes widened. "You would...?" He saw Harry's lips twitch at the incredulity in his voice. "I knew that." A puzzled frown crinkled his smooth brow. "Then why didn't you...?"

Harry's bark of rueful laughter brought him back to his senses- and not before time. He stared at Zayn's flushed face for a couple of moments before replying.

"You don't kiss married men; I don't kiss guys young enough to be my... kid brother."

It was the very last explanation Zayn had expected to hear. "How unusual that you've got principles."

"It comes as much of a shock to me as it does to you," Harry assured Zayn drily. "It's cold out here." He spoke abruptly now as if the humour of the situation was wearing thin. "If you really can't stomach the idea of giving me a lift back I should be able to make alternative arrangements."

Zayn touched his arm; he didn't flinch but his rigidity didn't suggest relaxed and carefree- was it possible he was not entirely immune to the contact? This not unflattering possibility was heady stuff.

"How old exactly do you think I am?" Repressing a smug smile, Zayn worked his way towards his grand finale.