But it wasJessy. She was just so easy to talk to. So easy to reveal things to.
I knew, deep down, I could trust her.
She was still worrying her lip. ‘So, you – you what, switched places?’
I nodded.
‘Why would you do that?’ Her shock was palpable. ‘Why would you agree?’ she said in an undertone. ‘Ross once asked me to – and I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t switch.’
For some reason, I felt a little … defensive. The mention of her ex threw me off-kilter. ‘He’s my friend. I would do anything for my boys.’ They were the only family I had. ‘I just … It would have wrecked him, being torn up on the internet and in the papers like that. And he already has points on his licence,’ I explained. ‘To be clear, he didn’t ask. It wasn’t like that. I just kind of stepped in and decided for him.’
The laughter and chatter of the birthday group continued around us as Jessy examined me, a mix of emotions swirling in her eyes.
Curiosity, and something else I didn’t recognize.
‘You just did it for him?’ she said as Laura passed a plate of dumplings around the table. Neither of us took any – too engrossed in our own world. ‘Accepted the DUI? Isn’t that a criminal record?’ Concern was evident in her voice, a concern I definitely shouldn’t have been so glad to hear.
‘A warning and public penance, as I had an otherwise clean record. Nothing I wouldn’t do again, for a friend.’
After a second, her lips lifted into a smile. ‘You’re a good man, Patrick.’
My stomach swooped and for a moment I was speechless.‘I … I would do a lot. For the people I care about, I’d do anything.’
Jessy looked at me, her freckles sun-kissed and her lips so inviting, and there was warmth in her eyes that felt all for me and no one else.
The moment stretched.
We were so close, surrounded by people but somehow completely alone. Lost in our own bubble. It felt private. Intimate. Ours.
‘Right, Patrick, your vote.’
And the bubble burst.
I blinked. Anna was grinning at me, and when I glanced back at Jessy, she had already turned to chat with Laura.
‘Patrick?’ Anna called my name again. ‘Your vote is needed – is it or is it not weird that Toby still doesn’t know how to do his own laundry?’
‘I know how to –’
‘Then why are all my undies pink now, you dimwit?’ Anna turned back around to lightly smack her housemate’s arm.
Apparently Anna didn’t need my vote too badly, because she continued berating her housemate for some time. Which was perfect for me.
Not just because I didn’t have a particularly good insight to share – I hadn’t done my own washing in some time – but because Jessy had placed a hand on my thigh, and all coherent thought was driven away.
Save one.
‘So have you two fucked yet?’
SIXTEEN
The adventure isn’t you, the adventure isn’t us, the adventure is me …
–from ‘Adventure’, by These Exiles
‘I MEAN … IT’S THE right name. It was definitely the Phoenix Hotel,’ I told my sister, a little uncertainly. ‘But this can’t be where Patrick wanted to meet me … can it?
We were in a part of the city I’d never actually been in before. Now I was here, I knew why. Everyone walking about looked as though they got daily blow-dries to match their pearls – and not the cheap kind I’d bought a few years ago, but the real deal. The place was jammed with fancy cars without proper number plates, and boutiques without prices, and a patisserie that sold cakes that cost more than my rent.
