“Is that so bad?”
Gus said nothing, but his raised eyebrows said everything.
A toneless laugh bubbled out of me. “Piss offwith that look, bro. How come it’s okay for you to go out but not me? It’s not the fifties. If you’re allowed to get laid, so am I.”
“I didn’t say you weren’tallowed.Jesus. Give me some credit.”
“Why should I, when you’re not giving me any? You don’t need to verbalise everything for me to know what you’re thinking.”
“And you don’t need to be staying out all night without at leastletting me know you’re okay,” Gus snapped. “What do you think went through my mind when I came home and you weren’t here? Fuck’s sake, your phone was on the table... I thought you’d been abducted or some shit.”
“In Rushmere?”
“Mia.”
The conversation we’d had before he’d gone out forced its way back into my Luke-centric brain, and I relented, kissing his cheek as I brushed past himon my way to the stairs. “Okay, okay, I get your point. And I’m sorry. I forgot my phone, and I didn’t think you’d be home before me. Next time, I’ll text.”
“Next time?” Gus’s eyebrows shot up again. “So this wasn’t a one-off?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Who is it?”
“No one you know.”
“Liar. Unless you drove into Buckingham, I know everyone in this town.”
Damn it. “Doyou really need to know?”
“No, but it would stop me worrying if I knew you weren’t shagging some dick bag.”
Irritated, I spun to face him again. “How do I knowyou’renot doing that every time you waltz out of here with a smile on your face?”
“I’m generally not smiling till I get in, but whatever.”
I blew out a breath. This conversation was going nowhere. “Look, who I’m sleepingwith is none of your business, but I can promise you it’s not some idiot, okay? I’m done with arseholes.”
“You’d better be, I—”
“I am,” I cut in before Gus could get all ragey about my virtue. “Now go to bed.”
“Where are you going?”
“To shower, then take my deliveries.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“To the shower? Fuck off, Gus.”
“You fuck off. There’s no point going to bednow, so I might as well help you in the shop till Luke gets up. Stop being a bitch.”
In his own way, he was as stubborn as I was. I gave him the finger and trudged to the bathroom. It was going to be a long day.
