Will.Will?Never in a million years would she ever have suspected he would kiss like that. Not that she’d thought about it. She hadn’t thought abouthim, not in that way (until the night before when for some reason she’d started thinking about little else).
She knew exactly why he’d kissed her. He was helping her. Because that was what friends did. If she’d known he was that good at kissing she would have suggested they do it sooner. And more often. As a hobby, obviously. Like enjoying a drink, or a movie. Not because it meant anything.
“Will! Becky!” Rosie’s voice drifted across to them. “I’ve been yelling, but you couldn’t hear me.”
Becky waited for Will to release her but for some reason he didn’t seem to be in a hurry.
“Sorry, Rosie. We were—preoccupied.” He was talking to her sister but still looking at Becky and she found she couldn’t look away.
He really did have the bluest eyes.
She swallowed. “That was—”
“Yes,” he said softly, brushing her cheek with the tips of his fingers. “It was.”
She kept telling herself that this was Will, just Will, but her heart rate wasn’t paying attention. There was a delicious squirmy feeling low in her belly which refused to die down.
“You’re surprisingly good at this—” she felt her cheeks go pink “—pretending I mean, obviously.”
There was a hint of laughter in his eyes. “Obviously.”
“But we have a plan.”
He hesitated. “We have a plan.”
“You two! I’ve been yelling and you didn’t even hear me.” Rosie arrived, breathless. “And I thought it was bad watching Jamie and Hayley slobbering all over each other, and now you two are doing it too?” She gave Becky a keen look and Becky wondered if the wordsbig fat liarwere tattooed on her forehead.
“You’ll have to forgive us—” Will kept his arm around Becky “—we’ve kept it a secret for so long it’s a relief to finally be able to be honest about our feelings.”
“Right—I—” Rosie gave a helpless shrug. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! And I’m sorry. I don’t know what made me say what I said. It’s been crazy lately and Declan and I—well, that doesn’t matter. I’m so happy for you, really. And I know you probably hate me for making you the focus of attention, but if it’s any consolation I embarrassed myself far more than you.” She gave Will a big hug and then did the same to Becky.
Becky felt Rosie’s hair brush her cheek and she felt her armssqueezing her tightly. Something swelled in her chest.She’d missed her sister. She’d missed her so badly.
They held each other and it took a moment for it to dawn on Becky that Rosie hadn’t finished her sentence.
She’d saidDeclan and I...
Was something wrong between the two of them? No, surely not. She’d never seen two people more wrapped up in each other than those two. But something must be wrong. Why else would Rosie be feeling so insecure about her relationship?
But Rosie wasn’t one to bottle up a problem. If she was worried, she would have talked to Becky before now surely?
She ignored the little voice in her head reminding her that she hadn’t exactly made herself accessible to her sister. She tried not to think about the number of times Rosie had invited her over and she’d refused.
Guilt shimmered through her.
She had no idea how she was going to handle this. She needed to sort things out with Will and fix things with her sister.
But this wasn’t the time.
“Forget it. No harm done. We should get back.” Her head was throbbing. She hated emotional chaos. “Will needs to get home and see his parents.”
“Oh, no need for that. They’re here.” Rosie adjusted her hat to stop her hair blowing across her face. “That’s what I came to tell you.”
“Here?” Becky’s stomach lurched. “You mean here at our house?”
“Yes.” Rosie linked arms with her as they headed back to the house. “Our mother called your mother, Will.”
“Right.” Will’s stride didn’t falter. “Of course she did.”
