“You kissed?” Lucy asks, sounding hopeful.
“No! Barely. And it was nearly two weeks ago, so calm down.”
“I heard it got pretty hot and heavy. Lowell said he had to jack off in the car after he left. Had your tits out and all in the bathroom.”
“Fuck!” Megan exclaims.
“Ell!” I shout, my stomach knotting at that snippet of information. “You’re winding it up and making it worse.”
“What? I’m just saying what he said.” He has a stupid look on his face, telling me he knows exactly what he’s doing.
“Yeah, Nina, Mason doesn’t hold out on his boys.” Lucy glares at me over the top of the bags.
I take a deep inhale and blow it out through my nose, knowing I need to explain. “He got all over the top about Joey.”
“Shock.” Elliot sniggers.
“He gothimselfall worked up, I didn’t do a thing. Thenhe stayed to bathe Ellis. Your mum turned up, Luce, she thought Mason was getting handsy with me.”
“No!” she says, shocked.
“Yep. I told Mason to bathe Ellis to get him out of the situation so I could explain, and then he ended up in the bath with him. He had to dry his clothes, so he stayed for dinner.”
“You’re getting back together!” Lucy smiles.
“What? No!”
“When and where did the kiss happen?” Megan asks, not missing a thing.
“What does it matter?” Elliot snorts.
“It matters,” Lucy tells him.
“In the laundry room.”
The girls laugh in the back, and I roll my eyes at Elliot. “Thanks, asshole.”
“You’re welcome, Pix.” He taps the steering wheel, looking over at me while the girls buzz around in the back. “He seems much happier.”
“It doesn’t mean anything, Ell. We’re both confused and so much has happened.”
“Exactly. You have been through a lot. In my time, the best relationships always do.”
“Nina, I’d advise against taking relationship advice from London’s most notorious manwhore.” Lucy laughs, falling back into her seat.
I look at her then Elliot, noticing his jaw clenched and face red. “You didn’t seem to mind this morning, babe? Hmm? Whilst you were grinding your ass on my semi.”
I direct my wide eyes to Luce who has now sunk down in the seat and is hidden by the bags.
Elliot huffs, shaking his head as he looks into the rearview mirror. “Touché, Luce. Tou-fucking-ché.”
Lowerwick is lit up when we arrive, looking every bit the grand estate that it is. I’ve been coming here for the last year and when I arrive, it feels a little bit like home.
“This place always reminds me of Christmas. Can you imagine living in a house like this?” Megan voices, climbing from the car.
“It’s not a house, it’s a mansion,” Lucy says, piling up garment bags on Elliot’s outstretched arms.
Inside, Scarlet has an array of cocktails laid out for us to try. We pretend it’s research for the ball but we all know it’s not.
