“All joking aside, I will miss seeing you every day,” I said. “Though I’m sure I’ll still see you plenty now you’re my best friend’s girlfriend.”
“Officially. It’s on Facebook and everything.” Becca brought her hands up and framed her face.
“You goon. Perhaps I’ll see you this weekend for drinks?”
“Sounds super. I’ll text you.” She waved at Rowan. “I’ll see you Monday, if not before.”
“Yeah, have a good weekend.”
Rowan and I watched Becca to her car. I turned and glanced up at the building for one last time.
“Onto greater things?”
“Undoubtedly.” Rowan pulled me in and kissed my temple. “Now, come on. I’m starving.”
“Yeah, okay.” I looked up at him with a soft smile. “Let’s go home.”
Epilogue
Rowan
“Max,” I called, glancing at my wristwatch. “We’re going to be late.”
“Yeah, coming now.” Came the reply from the bathroom. Max rushed into the living room, shooting me an apologetic smile that made my heart speed up. “Sorry, I lost track of time.”
“What’s new?” I teased.
He was looking great, as always. The new routine we were doing at the gym was already starting to show dividends. I eyed his torso through his shirt, suddenly wishing we hadn’t made plans after all.
“Come on, let’s go.” I cleared my throat, forcing my thoughts away from Max and his physique.
He shrugged on a jacket, and I held the door open for him before pulling it shut behind him. I tested the handle, checking it was locked up. We hadn’t been living in this new flat for long and I hadn’t yet slipped into that comfortable stage where everything was automatic. Max and I headed down the stairwell and out into the dark car park. I pressed the unlock button on my keys, my headlights cutting through the gloom and lighting our path.
“Brr, it’s fucking freezing,” Max muttered, rubbing his hands together.
“She’ll warm up soon enough,” I said, sliding behind the wheel. I pressed the ignition, silently delighting at the loud roar from the engine as it turned over and put my seatbelt on. Once Max was securely fastened in, I pulled off.
We drove most of the journey in comfortable silence. Max was staring out of the window, and I glanced over to him as frequently as I could without taking my attention from the road. The orange streetlights lit up his handsome face and I marvelled anew that someone so hot was mine. Traffic was relatively light, and we arrived at our destination quickly. I parked up at the far end of the car park.
“Are you ready for this?” I asked Max with a grin.
His face crumpled into a playful grimace. “I’m not sure ‘ready’ is the word, but let’s get on with it, hm?”
I chuckled and leaned across to kiss him. He sighed, softening against me in that way that drove me crazy. He opened his mouth to me eagerly and it took all my self-control to break away from him.
“Stop it, you’re not getting out of this,” I chided.
“Damn it. Alright, let’s go.” Max opened his car door. “Who’d have thought the day would come whereyou’dbe draggingmeto a party.”
I just laughed and got out, locking the car up behind us. We walked through an alleyway and out onto the bright, bustling street. Christmas lights were strung up all around, and groups of partygoers moved around between bar to bar, dressed in various fancy dress. I’d lost count of how many Santa’s I’d seen already.
We arrived at the bar quickly. I glanced up at the shimmering sign above: Glitterball. I fought a smile, thinking back on two years almost to the day, where this all began.
I followed Max inside. We took off our jackets and handed them over to a cloakroom host who gave us each a numbered card in return. As soon as we were in the bar area, Max leaned in to shout in my ear over the loud music.
“Do you know where they are?”
“No clue,” I replied. We shuffled our way through the heaving bar towards the booths near the back, scanning the crowds for familiar faces.
