‘Uh huh.’
‘Don’t forget, I know how much your brother and sister compete at life and how they’ve dragged you into doing the same thing to try and keep up with them.’
‘Wow, really going for the heart of the nuclear family angst there.’
I shrug again. ‘Okay. Feel free to ignore whatever I say. I’m just trying to put some outside perspective on it.’
‘Sure. Okay.’
He closes his eyes and tips his head back till it touches the head cushion behind him, then opens his eyes again and stares up into the dark night sky.
‘You know whatwouldhelp me right now?’ he says, still staring upwards into the vast inky blackness pricked with dots of light from the stars.
‘No. What?’
‘Knowing that you didn’t come as hard with your idiot ex as you used to with me.’ Tipping his head towards me, he looks me in the eye, then winks.
I let out a snort of laughter, which has bubbled up from the pit of my stomach. ‘You’re wild.’
He looks at me and grins. ‘Yeah. Pretty fucking wild still. Like an animal. I just don’t seem to be tameable.’
I let out another giggle. He smiles, then starts laughing too.
‘Look at the pair of us. What a couple of limes.’
‘Limes?’
‘Yeah. Green on the outside and bitter on the inside.’
The absurdity of this statement makes me laugh harder, and I’m suddenly caught in a kind of emotional hysteria. But I can feel it starting to tip into tears, so I squash it down quickly and pull myself together before it gets a hold on me. The very last thing I want to do right now is start bawling in front of Kit.
‘What exactly were you expecting to happen when you invited me to come here tonight?’ I blurt, still trying to recover myself.
He holds up both hands. ‘I had no expectations. I just wanted to keep talking to you.’
‘Uh huh.’
‘Seriously. Feel free to leave at any time if you’re not having fun.’
‘I am.’
‘What? Leaving?’
‘Having fun.’
‘Good.’
We grin at each other, until I feel my face getting hot and have to look away.
‘You know, Adrian was always jealous of you. He hated it if anyone even mentioned your name,’ I say, staring down into the bubbles in front of me.
‘Anyone? Or you?’
‘Anyone.’
‘Well, the feeling was mutual. The guy was a dickhead – still is by the sounds of it. I could never understand why you’d finish with someone asincredibleas me’ – his eyes twinkle with mirth – ‘and then get together with someone likehim.’ He pulls a face. ‘From the couple of times I was in his vicinity he seemed like the most boring fucking dude on the planet.’
I wrinkle my nose. ‘He’s not boring. He’s just not asspontaneousas you.’
