‘Adam was about to leave,’ I said, my face flaming.
Sam fixed him with a stare. ‘Great. I hope it worked. Nice to see you.’ Then he bundled Adam out of the living room and into the hall and left me standing alone. I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to clear my mind.
The door slammed shut and then Sam was back in the room.
‘I knew I should never have agreed to this,’ he said, and when I opened my eyes he was standing right in front of me, his face serious.
‘Nothing happened Sam. I promise.’
‘Only because I came back when I did.’ He turned and threw himself on the sofa. ‘God Erin, what are youdoing?’
Anger flared through me then. ‘I’m notdoinganything. I’m helping an old friend who’s struggling, and you can choose whether to believe me or not, but nothing happened. Yes, I feel drawn to him, but I didn’t let anything happen because – well, because of Greg. Because it would have been wrong.’ I sat down next to him, suddenly exhausted, and he swivelled to face me and took my hands.
‘I’m sorry E. I didn’t mean to shout at you. I just worry about you. You know that.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s not you I don’t trust, it’s him. Adam. He broke your heart once, and I just don’t want him to waltz back in here, destroy your life and then fuck off again. I can’t let it happen. I won’t let it happen.’
I studied our hands which were lying between us, Sam’s nails more manicured than mine, and felt a tear drip down my cheek.
‘Thank you Sam,’ I whispered.
He wiped the tear away with the back of his finger and planted a kiss on my cheek. ‘Don’t be daft. I’ve always got your back. You know that. Rose too.’ He grinned. ‘Speaking of Rose, she’s going to be furious when I tell her what she’s missed today.’
And despite myself, I couldn’t help but laugh at my stupid, loyal, wonderful friend.
23
THEN
No Doubt: ‘Don’t Speak’
‘What time is he arriving?’ Greg said, trying his hardest to keep the disdain out of his voice.
‘About three,’ Erin replied, trying just as hard not to notice it.
Greg gave a small nod and looked back at the textbooks spread out across the library table. He wasn’t really taking any of it in and he was pretty sure Erin wasn’t either, despite her insistence that coming to study was the best thing to take her mind off the news she’d just heard.
Greg gathered his things together and shoved them into his rucksack. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’
Erin looked up at him. ‘Where to?’
Greg shrugged. ‘No idea. Just somewhere else.’
Erin picked up the book she’d been staring at for the past half an hour and followed her friend out of the library and onto the street, ducking through the door he held open for her. They stood outside on the pavement for a moment, deciding where to go.
‘Pub?’
‘Pub,’ Erin agreed, and hooked her arm through Greg’s. The local was only a couple of minutes away and they walked there in silence, but as they reached the entrance Greg stopped dead. ‘What’s wrong?’
Greg looked serious.
‘I just—’ He shuffled his feet. ‘Come here you,’ he said, and before she knew what was coming he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. Her cheek pressed against his chest and she felt herself relax as he held her there, safe in the cocoon of his body. She didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but when he released her she instantly missed the comfort of him, and didn’t move away. She looked up and realised there were tears in her eyes.
‘It’s shit, what’s happening to your mum, Erin,’ he said. ‘Utterly shit. I know you don’t want to talk about it any more and that’s fine and I’ll respect that, but I’ll always be here to listen if you change your mind, you know that, right?’
Erin nodded, feeling a single tear slip down her face. She let it drip onto her chest, a dark spot blooming out across the dark green fabric.
‘Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
Greg smiled sadly. If only she knew how many times he’d imagined being the most important person in her life. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he’d always take second place to Adam, the arsehole boyfriend who really only cared about himself. He shook the thought away. He had Erin to himself for another three hours before Adam got here, and he wasn’t about to waste a single second of it thinking about him.
