Dec holds my stare. “I want to talk.”
“Oh, well in that case, I will of course drop everything.” This could go really badly because he is pissing me off.
“You’re angry?”
Fucking hell! There are moments when his stupidity shocks me. “No shit, Sherlock.”
“Let me in.”
“No! My parents are in bed and we do not need to wake them to share this.”
He nods. “Yeah, your dad already hates me. So…”
I watch, aghast as I realise he is climbing the lower of the branches on the tree to the front of the house. He makes short work of the height until he is within a couple of feet of my open window.
“You might need to step back.”
My face is screwed up into a confused frown. “This is not an 80s movie.”
He laughs. “No. If it was, I’d have been blasting tunes from the ground before climbing up here. Cupcake, step back, please.”
I consider refusing but the chances are, him climbing back down the tree will make more noise than letting him in.
He lands with something of a thud a few seconds later. Getting to his full height he looks down at me and I can see now that he looks sad.
“I went to Mase’s and you weren’t there.”
“I came home.” Clearly my explanation is unnecessary as we are both standing in my bedroom.
Dec scans my room. “Your bedroom?”
“Yeah. Good job you got the right one.”
“Yeah…I hadn’t even considered that when I started throwing stones.”
“Liv told me you were here…at home. She’s great and somehow a pain in the arse at the same time.”
I smile, imagining the grief she may have given him.
He reaches for me and gently brushes his thumb over my cheek. “If you really want me to, I’ll leave, but I want to explain about Audrey.”
Part of me wants to tell him to go. To show him that I can be tough too. Someone who won’t take his shit indefinitely. Someone more like Liv, but then I am not Liv, I’m me, and he is here and ready to tell me what I want to know.
“You’d better come in properly then,” I whisper. The last thing I need to do is to wake my parents.
I close the window and indicate for him to take a seat at my dressing table while I sit on the edge of my bed.
“I have never slept with Audrey.” He laughs a little. “That is not a claim I ever imagined making. I was involved with her daughter, Amber.”
Looking across at Dec, I absolutely believe every word he says, and yet, it still doesn’t make sense for him to have lied about who Audrey is. He could have told me this, so there must be more.
“Involved?”
“Yes, seriously involved.”
“How seriously?” My heart is thumping against my chest as I consider all the possible responses I might get.
“Really seriously, like engaged serious.”
