“Oh, sorry,” he says quickly, but I wave him off.
“Hailey and me are much better off as friends, and Charlotte’s lovely. They’ve been together for almost five years now, and I couldn’t be happier for them.”
Gareth taps his thigh, forehead scrunching.
Dylan groans. “That’s his thinking face.”
“Fuck off,” Gareth mutters with a grin, and I laugh. “They’ve moved to Charnwell,” he says. “In the Peak District, right?”
“Yes. It’s supposed to be a beautiful area.” Although I’m not sure if that holds true for the middle of winter. I don’t want to get stuck out on some country lane in the snow. I shiver as I picture it.
“I’m pretty sure Sean Richmond was from around there.”
“Who?” Dylan asks, looking between us.
Gareth grins. “Vic had a massive crush on him when we were at uni.” Whereas Gareth had gone to the Royal Veterinary College, Hailey and I went to City, and our local pubs were a frequent haunt for other City students.
Like Sean Richmond.
“It’s true.” I sigh. “He had these big broad shoulders.” I use my hands to demonstrate their impressive width. “Thick blond hair.” That I’d spent many a night fantasising about running my hands through. “Eyes full of mischief, and the best fucking smile...” I sigh again, remembering the way even a smirk from him had sent my pulse racing. “Kissed like a demon, too.”
“That’s right!” Gareth eyes me curiously. “I forgot you had a bit of a thing.”
“A thing?” Dylan sits forward, thoroughly invested, which sucks for him because this isn’t an epic love story by any stretch of the imagination.
I finish off the last of my beer before setting it down on the coffee table. “When I finally plucked up enough courage to approach him, we spent a glorious three days getting to know each other better.” God, I never knew kissing could be so hot until Sean pressed me up against the cold brick wall of a dark alleyway that first night and kissed me like his life depended on it. Then I took him home and he showed me what else he could do with his mouth. It was the best weekend I’d ever had.
“And then what?” Dylan asks.
“Then he left with a promise to meet up with me on New Year’s Eve... but he never showed.” I shrug, surprised at the disappointment that still lingers after all these years. “I got a text from him three days later saying he was sorry, but he’d had a family emergency and he wasn’t coming back to London.”
“And that was it?” Dylan looks way too upset for a brief fling that led to nothing. Sean might’ve been the first, but definitely not the last.
“Yeah, basically. I mean I messaged him a few times, asking if he was okay, but eventually he stopped replying and life moved on.” I’m not about to tell them that I have a photo of him in a box at home that I used to get out every now and then and moon over. I shrug and try to act like it’s just one of those things, but Dylan’s eyes narrow.
He glances between me and Gareth again, gaze eventually settling back on me. “You still remember it after what... twenty years?”
I huff. “Nineteen.”
“Still, he obviously made an impression.”
Gareth shoots me a fond look and I know what he’s going to say. “Believe it or not, when I first met Vic, he was quiet and shy.”
Dylan scrunches his nose. “Really?”
I’ve come a long way from the naive teen who left a small village in North Notts and headed for London. “Let’s just say I had a pretty sheltered childhood, and it took me a while to get used to living somewhere so...” I wave a hand about. “Freeing.”
“Ahh.” Realisation dawns in Dylan’s eyes. “First major crush?”
“Yep.” Warmth creeps into my cheeks and I roll my eyes, because really? After all these years, the thought of him still makes me blush. “Anyway,” I say, having had enough of this topic of conversation. “It was years ago. I’ve never heard from him since, and he probably doesn’t even live there anymore.” Hailey never mentioned him and I’m pretty sure she would’ve done if she’d run into him. She’d been there for the weeks of moping after he stood me up.
“He might,” Gareth offers. “You moved back home.”
“Not quite.” I live about ten miles from where I grew up, so I probably deserve Gareth’s eye roll.
“Near enough.”
“Charnwell can’t be all that small if it’s got a thriving holiday park with luxury lodges. Even if he’s still there, the odds of me running into him for the four weeks I’m there have to be pretty slim.”
