Adam exhaled, shifting closer to the huge pyramid of burning wood that smelled of juniper. On the other side of the bonfire, Emil left the water in the company of the redhead, who was most definitely a man. And a quite handsome one too, with long, straight hair and graceful limbs.
Nowak let out a gurgle of disgust. “Can you talk some sense into that bastard, Father? Because he isn’t listening to me,” he said, his voice lowering as he looked toward Emil and his friend.
“About what?” Adam asked.
“I don’t want him around my son. Yet whenever Radek’s here, Emil tries to wind himself around my boy like a viper. I’ve tried to persuade Radek that it’s not the right company for him, but he’s young, impressionable, and thinks he doesn’t need his father’s advice anymore. I don’t want my son ending up as an unemployed bum like that one over there.”
Adam’s head thudded with the sudden realization that Radek’s skin was scattered with freckles, like those of which Emil had spoken during his confession. Was he Emil’s secret lover? The same Emil lusted for so strongly even while he tried to woo Adam into his bed?
His tongue felt too big for his mouth and dry as a field that hadn’t seen rain in months when Emil pulled Radek closer, tickling him while the other man shouted something, trying to sneak his way out of the firm embrace.
And still, not a glance Adam’s way. Was it the cassock that put Emil off? Or did he just not matter when Radek was around?
“Father?” Mr. Nowak stared at him, his chin trembling in barely held-back anger.
The need to confront Emil about Radek’s presence was overwhelming in its nature, even though he had no claim to Emil’s time or his desires. It still stung to be so interchangeable with another man.
“I will talk to them,” Adam said, and it was the perfect excuse to leave Nowak, the pastor, and Mrs. Janina behind.
In the light of the fire, damp bodies disappeared under white tunics and dresses, but Adam paid no mind to the still-bare skin on show as he made his way through the joyous crowd, straight toward the thick tree where Emil stood next to Radek, whose skin was as appetizing as a loaf of bread straight out of the oven. But the hand-shaped brands on his back, which had healed miraculously within the week, were a mark of Adam’s touch, and the sense of anger over Emil spending time with someone else buzzed inside Adam’s chest—unwanted yet unmistakeably there.
When Emil spotted Adam, he didn’t seem uncomfortable or flustered and offered him a wide smile. It was the first time Adam had seen Emil wear white. After the dip in the water, Emil donned a pair of white linen pants and a matching tunic, hiding the piercing glinting on his left nipple. Despite their loose fit, Emil pulled the outfit off with the same ease he did the tight jeans.
“This is Adam, the new priest I was telling you about,” Emil said to Radek who introduced himself and held out his hand in greeting.
“Blessed be Jesus Christ.”
“Oh. Now and forever,” Adam said, feeling somewhat awkward about invading their conversation. It scared him how comfortable Emil seemed with Radek, his smile open, as if all the bad things that spoiled his days no longer mattered in that pretty boy’s presence. “Only good things, I hope,” he said stiffly, meeting Emil’s gaze as his heart galloped, fueled by a nervous voice at the back of his head that told him Radek already knew it all.
“Oh no,” Emil said and shook his head. “I told him all about you chastising me for fortune telling.”
Radek snorted. “To be honest, when Emil told me he was doing that, I thought it was stupid too. And speaking of you…” Radek crouched by his backpack and pulled out a crumpled gift bag. He handed it to Emil with an even bigger smile than before. “Happy birthday!”
Adam’s cheeks tingled. He had a gift of his own, purchased on a day trip to Sanok, where he also confessed his sins to a priest so old and gray he wouldn’t have recognized Adam if they met face-to-face, but he couldn’t offer it to Emil in public, because the closeness it implied might make people talk. He couldn’t afford to make enemies in a place where he was still a stranger.
Radek pulled on the rest of his white outfit but kept his gaze on Emil, his eyes glinting with excitement, as if he couldn’t wait to see Emil happy. And he’d gotten what he wanted when Emil pulled a book. Whisperer Women. Their Past and Present. Wow, that sounds really interesting,” Emil said, looking at Adam, whose feet sank into the ground when Emil showed him the front cover. “I might find out more about what my Grandmother was up to.”
It was the same book Adam had gotten. The same fucking one, and he’d thought it would make the perfect gift, one that didn’t imply intimacy, yet showed that Adam took care choosing the right present. He was now empty-handed because of Radek.
Radek rolled his eyes. “Yeah, my dad keeps telling me to stay away from ‘Whisperer spawn’. You should read my palm, he’d throw a fit.”
Adam was still wallowing in his misery about the book when this other knife got stuck into his back. “You still read palms?”
Emil patted Adam’s shoulder. “No, I don’t, Father. And I won’t.” He glanced at Radek. “Sorry, I promised. My fortune-telling days are over.”
Radek shrugged, but his golden-brown gaze settled on Adam for a fraction too long. Was he suspecting something? “Maybe it’s for the better. I’m trying to make Emil join me in Cracow and find some work there, but so far he keeps coming up with excuses not to,” he said and delivered a playful punch to Emil’s stomach, which in Adam’s eyes was the equivalent of flirting.
He’d had crushes on school friends or acquaintances. Once he’d even fantasized about one of Dad’s friends, but he had never before felt such intense jealousy. The wicked part of his mind showed him Radek falling into the bonfire behind, and Adam’s own face smiling as the red hair turned to flame. He was the epitome of the dog in the manger, who would guard the apples yet not eat them himself.
“They’re hardly excuses. I can’t just leave on a whim,” Emil said, but the fact that he wanted to, that he would move in with Radek in Cracow, and likely share a bed with him, had Adam on pins and needles.
Radek groaned. “Can’t Father Adam look after Jinx for a week? Do a good deed?”
“I know nothing about horses. In fact, I can’t even keep cacti alive, so maybe that wouldn’t be such a good idea,” Adam said with a laugh that sounded so fake he wondered whether he shouldn’t just leave Emil in peace with the man who was willing to give him everything Adam wasn’t.
“It’s okay, I’ll work something out,” Emil grumbled.
Radek groaned. “You always say that.”
Adam hated himself for relishing in their discord.
Mr. Nowak’s booming voice resonated in the air. “It’s now time for bonfire jumping! All those brave enough, line up over here!”
“Let’s go,” Radek said with a big grin on his freckled face, but Adam touched Emil’s arm before he could have followed his friend.
“I need to talk to you. Can we join you in a moment?”
Emil nodded at Radek. “See you in a sec.”
Had he winked, or was that just the flickering light from the fire playing tricks on Adam?