Cold Feet Read Free Page A

chin in his hand and his brow furrowed with concentration. He was chewing on his bottom lip and when he released it, it was red and flushed, wet with his spit. Ryan realised he was staring and dragged his attention back to the board just in time to see Sam finally move his bishop.
    Trying to clear his head of thoughts of Sam’s lips, Ryan noticed a threat to his queen and moved her quickly, taking an unprotected pawn.
    Sam didn’t stop to think about his move this time. He swooped in with a rook that seemed to come out of nowhere. Fuck . Ryan really hadn’t been paying attention.
    “Checkmate,” Sam said. “Told ya you were going down.”
    “Bollocks!” Ryan stared at the board, disgusted with himself for missing Sam’s sneak attack. “Nice move, though.”
    Sam sat back against his arm of the sofa and tucked his legs up, poking his sock-clad toes under Ryan’s thigh.
    “God, my feet are cold, even with the fire on,” Sam said. “I wonder if the snow stopped.”
    Ryan got up to open the curtains and peered out into the darkness. The sky was mostly clear, and as his eyes adjusted to the pale light from the moon, Ryan could see the grass outside, still only dusted with the slight sprinkle of sleety snow that had fallen earlier. “Yeah, it did.”
    Ryan yawned and stretched, lifting his arms high. Sam’s gaze dropped to his waist for a second. Ryan lowered his arms quickly as the cool air hit the strip of exposed skin there.
    “I might head up to bed,” he said. “Are you staying up for a bit?”
    “Nah. I’m tired too. And the fire’s burned down now. Not much point putting more wood on if I’m going to crash out soon.”
    As they made their way up the stairs, the temperature dropped sharply, and in the twin room they’d be sharing, their breath was visible.
    There was a small electric heater in the corner under the window.
    “Shall I put this on for a bit?” Sam asked, crouching down in front of it.
    “God, yes. It’s freezing.”
    Ryan started rummaging through his bag for something more comfortable to sleep in. He didn’t want to take too many layers off, but jeans were horrible to kip in, so he found some tracksuit bottoms instead. The rest of his clothes could stay on till he’d warmed up the bed a bit.
    “Crap. It doesn’t work,” Sam said.
    Ryan turned to see him crouching down, twisting the dial on the heater. “Let me try.”
    “Ryan, I know how to switch a bloody heater on. It’s not rocket science. You plug it in and turn it on. It’s fucked.”
    “Try a different socket?”
    They found another socket on the wall behind Sam’s bed, but the heater still remained obstinately silent and cold.
    “There might be one in the other bedroom too,” Sam said. “I’ll go and look.”
    But he came back empty handed. “I can’t find one.”
    “We’ll just have to use loads of blankets, then,” Ryan said. “I found some in the wardrobe earlier.”
    They each put a couple of blankets on top of the duvets, then took turns to use the equally freezing bathroom before turning the light off and climbing into bed.
    Sam’s teeth were chattering like castanets, but Ryan could hardly take the piss because he was shivering too. Only clenching his jaw stopped his teeth from making a racket like Sam’s.
    “If I die of hypothermia in the night, I’m coming back to haunt Jon,” Sam grumbled. “Him and his freezing cottage and stupid broken heater.”
    Ryan chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll live.” He’d put the covers over his head and was letting his breath warm the space under them. From the muffled sound of Sam’s voice, he was probably doing the same.
    “I wish I’d eaten more. A big dinner might have helped.”
    “Yeah.” Ryan was starting to feel sleepy now. The beer was taking its toll, and even though he was still cold, he could feel his consciousness starting to drift, so he ignored Sam’s mutterings and snuggled further into the covers.
    He must have dozed off for a while, but