Mark took a step forward and then seemed to think better of it. His mates had appeared, a little late to the party and clearly drunk, so now would’ve been a good time for him to retaliate.
He didn’t though. Instead he nodded at Alex and headed towards Tweedledee and Tweedledum and made a comment about heading over to Leeds. Zack would’ve quite happily paid the cab fare.
“Can’t believe I escaped this arse-end of a town,” he said. “And as for my ex-fiancée, you’re welcome to my sloppy seconds.”
Alex gripped Zack’s arms behind him before he could launch for the man.
“Go inside and check that Sorrell is okay,” Alex said quietly into his ear. “Then make sure we all have a good night.”
Zack nodded, still watching Mark as he exited the area, climbing into a black cab and on his way to being somewhere else’s problem.
“The guy was arseholed. Think about what we’re all like when we’ve had a few too many. Not much better than that,” Alex said, starting to release his grip. The dog was sitting next to them, watching the scene with boredom.
“Did Keren really call you?” Zack tried to distance himself from what had just happened and why.
“She did. She was worried Scott was about to get himself into trouble,” Alex said. “Don’t tell Scott that though. I don’t think he’d take too kindly to her sentiments.”
“Gotcha,” Zack said as Alex fully released him.
He strode into the bar, his eyes searching through the crowd for Sorrell. He saw her standing near their table with Gwensi, both of them looking far too serious for a Friday night.
“Sorrell,” he said as he drew close enough to be within her hearing range. “Have you got five minutes?”
He wasn’t sure what to expect as she turned to face him. Anger, maybe? Embarrassment?
“Has he gone?” she said, sipping at what looked like a Long Island Iced Tea.
“He’s gone. I’m sorry we got involved,” he said. Gwensi shot him a smile and shifted through the crowd towards Keren and Rayah, leaving them on their own.
She shrugged. “He wasn’t always like that. Just when he’d drank a few too many and was with his mates. Don’t judge me based on what he’s like.”
Zack shrugged. “Don’t judge me on how I reacted then. Fists don’t solve everything.”
“But they help sometimes,” she said. “Let me buy you a beer.”
Chapter 14
“Ilike him,” Gwensi said after more drinks than she should’ve been able to drink and still be standing. Sorrell had switched to water a couple of hours before, happy to let Gwensi keep up the Welsh side of the drinking battle. “He’s hot. And he’s decent. You should definitely sleep with him.”
Sorrell unlocked the door to the little cottage, letting Gwensi stumble through first.
“I’m going to get a glass of water. Or maybe wine. Then I’m going to go to bed so you can sneak him in and have hot noisy sex. Maybe not too noisy because I need to sleep. And be safe. I don’t want to be an auntie yet.” She leaned over and gave Sorrell a sloppy kiss on the side of her face.
Sorrell wiped it off without pretence of it being something else. “I think Zack is playing cards with Scott and Jake,” she said. “I’m going to head to bed. We’ll talk more in the morning.”
“Not me you should be talking with,” Gwensi said. “But then you shouldn’t be talking either.” She shot Sorrell a wicked grin and headed off, leaving Sorrell to wipe up.
Her phone vibrated as she locked the door. She pulled it out of her bag, half expecting an apologetic text from Mark.
Instead it was from Zack.
Do I still get my date?
She smiled and felt her chest heat up as if she’d just developed an internal heatwave.
Yes. For sure. Tuesday?
The dots on her screen continued for a good few minutes.
