Rufus is right. It will be nice to go back there, even if we won’t have the whole place to ourselves this time.
“Great. We can arrive any time on Friday.”
“I’ll drive up straight after work,” I say.
“Excellent.” Rufus grins. “It’s going to be an amazing weekend.”
We chat with them as we eat. Then they return to the barbecue to get seconds.
“Having fun?” Kian asks.
I nod.
“We can leave whenever you want.”
I pull him onto my knee. He sits with his back pressed to my chest. I rest my chin on his shoulder.
“Does that mean you want to go?”
He chuckles. “Maybe not yet, but I don’t feel the need to stay into the evening.”
“Do you have any better ideas?”
He raises his hand and caresses my face. “I normally meet friends for a pub quiz on a Sunday evening.”
“Oh.”
“Do you want to come?”
My chest tightens. “To meet your friends?”
“Yes. They’ll love you forever if another phobia question comes up. Aria is desperate to beat Hell’s Dancers. They’re another regular team, and they’re really good. They win most weeks.”
“Huh.” I stroke my hand over Kian’s thigh.
“Well?” he asks. “Will you come?”
“I do have a competitive streak.”
“Is that a yes?”
I grin and kiss his cheek. “Yes. Let’s see if we can beat Hell’s Dancers.”
* * *
When we arrive at the pub, Kian leads me to a table where three women and two men sit chatting. They give me and then him questioning stares.
“Hey,” Kian says. “This is Jett, my boyfriend.” We discussed what he was going to introduce me as. “This is Aria, Nathan, Elouise, Olly, and Klara.” Kian points to each of his friends in turn.
After a round of ‘nice to meet yous’, Olly and Nathan go to the bar to get our drinks.
“So you’re dating Kian,” Aria says.
“Um, yes.” I fidget under her scrutiny.
“How do you know each other?”
“Aria,” Kian says. “He doesn’t need to be interrogated.”
