The engine purred to life, tyres whispering as Warren pulled out of the school grounds. For a while, neither of them spoke. Rain drummed onto the windscreen, the wipers working in rhythm. Streetlamps cutting golden streaks across the car interior, flashing over Jude’s face in soft pulses.
Then Jude cleared his throat. “So… how come you were still at school? Most of the staff are usually halfway through a pint by now.”
Warren glanced sideways, lips twitching. “Truth?”
“Preferably.”
“I got lost.”
Jude frowned, turning to face him more fully. “Lost?”
Warren winced, playing it casual. “Yeah. My cousin, the one I live with, she’s, uh… entertaining tonight.”
“Entertaining?”
“Loudly.” Warren grimaced. “Didn’t fancy walking in on something that’d scar me for life. So I figured I’d take a drive. Get to know Worthbridge a bit. Take in the sights.”
“And the storm scuppered your grand tour?”
“Exactly. So I circled back to the only place I know how to get home from without Google Maps.” He glanced over, testing howthe lie was landing. He smiled to offset the treachery. “Then I saw you. Wrestling a stack of soggy paper like your life depended on them.”
Jude huffed a laugh, breath fogging the window. “They sort of do.”
“Good job I swung by then.”
“Although, sounds more like I was your hero tonight.”
“You are.” Warren winked. “Though I’d say less knight in shining armour, more teacher in a tragically soaked blazer.”
Jude snorted. “Rude.”
“True.”
A smile lingered between them for a moment, and Warren couldn’t help it. He looked again. At Jude. Rain-slicked, tired, still laughing despite whatever weight he was dragging behind him. Still trying to play it light.
This is not the job I signed up for.
He wasn’t used to making nice with… nice.
Jude pointed out the window. “Take the next left. Ashworth Lane. I can walk the rest.”
Warren arched a brow. “Jude, it’s pissing down. Let me drop you at the door.”
“I don’t want to drag you out of your way.”
“You’re not. Like I said, I’m actively avoiding home. And I swear down, I won’t tell Year Ten where you live so they can egg your windows over that generous B-minus on their World War Two coursework.”
“Year Ten don’t do coursework.”
“No?” Warren blinked. “Shit. Why didn’t I take History?”
“Because you’re clearly an idiot.”
“Ah, but an idiot who knows a cracking rock formation when he sees one.”
Jude snorted, laughter breaking through, and Warren turned them onto Ashworth Lane. He already knew exactly which housewas Jude’s. The end cottage. And he knew exactly where the CCTV cameras pointed. And where they didn’t. But he slowed anyway, playing dumb, waiting for Jude to give it up himself. But as they crept closer, Jude’s body language shifted. Subtle, but Warren clocked it immediately. The way he straightened. How his eyes locked onto the front room. Lights on. Curtains drawn.
“Which one?” Warren tapped his thumbs on the wheel, slowing to a crawl.
