Jo gazed fully at Amelia, appreciating what she was saying. “Maybe not, but I feel like I should. It’s just been a lot to handle lately. That night with you at Satin just tipped everything over the edge.”
Amelia closed her hand around Jo’s and squeezed gently. “Friday is just to talk. To…figure out where we go from here. That’s all.”
“Thank you. I need that.”
“Me too.” Amelia stepped back. “I think it could be good for us.”
As they stood there, both clearly unsure of how to end it and how to walk away, Jo felt it again. That magnetic pull, the one that always intensified around Amelia. The same one that had her hand between her thighs while they whispered filth down the phone to one another just a few nights ago. The same one that had her teasing Amelia over text about photographing her in lace.
And now here they were, face to face, surrounded by shoppers and buses and the wind…and the intensity of it all still crackled between them.
Jo let out a steady breath and relaxed her shoulders. “I should go.”
“Okay.” Amelia leaned in and hugged her with one arm. “Text me when you’re home?”
“I will.” Jo nodded, already turning away before she said or did something she couldn’t take back. “See you Friday.”
Jo rushed off down the high street, not once looking back for fear of seeing something she couldn’t handle. Perhaps Amelia smiling at her, or chasing after her, or just those sultry eyes and that smile begging her to stay and keep talking.
Still, as she continued on, she felt Amelia’s eyes on her all the way down the street.
Ada was already curledup on Jo’s couch by the time Jo had finished making tea. It hadn’t taken much convincing to get her over there, just a single text telling her she needed to talk. Ada’s reply had come not even a minute later, threatening not to show unless Jo had chocolate Hobnobs in for her. But that was Ada. Always finding humour in those moments when Jo felt as though she was falling apart. Jo set two cups down and sat beside her, sighing heavily.
“Are you going to tell me what’s happened?” Ada glanced over, concern written all over her face. “Or do I have to interrogate you?”
Jo wrung her hands in her lap. “I bumped into her.”
Ada didn’t need to ask who. The conversation always revolved around the same woman lately. “Oh, shit! How bad was it?”
“It wasn’t bad. Not really.” Jo reached for her cup and cradled it in her hands. “It was a shock, though. I didn’t know how I’d feel the first time we saw one another again, but Amelia was…lovely. As always.”
“So, you spoke to her then? Like, you had an actual conversation?”
“Yeah, we spoke. Once I’d got my head around how fucking good she looked and managed to pull myself together, anyway.”
Ada nodded slowly, sensing the weight behind Jo’s words. “And?”
“And I could barely make eye contact with her.”
“Oh, Jo.” Ada sat forward and took her hand. “I know it probably doesn’t help at all, but it was bound to feel weird when you saw her again.”
“I kept seeing her in that robe,” Jo whispered. “Every time she spoke, I kept remembering her voice on the phone the other night…”
Ada winced and handed her a biscuit. “Eat. You’re spiralling.”
Jo took it and laughed. “Sorry. Spiralling seems to be what I’m good at lately.”
“Don’t be sorry. That’s a normal reaction when you’ve essentially had the most erotic phone call of your life with your ex’s mum.”
Jo groaned and buried her face in her hands. “God, don’t say it like that.”
“I’m just stating facts.” Ada sighed. “However you look at it, thatiswhat happened, babe.”
Ada was right, Jo knew she was, but it didn’t help at all when she reminded Jo of who Amelia had always been to her. Yes, she was a friend, and she was a confidant, but first and foremost, she was Callum’s mum. It didn’t matter which way you flipped it; that wasexactlywho she was. Jo peeked through her fingers. “It’s all such a mess.”
“Is it, though?”
Jo brought her hand away from her face and glared at Ada.
