Jonny’s brain connected a couple of random pieces of information. “It’s not just my sex life you’re concerned with, is it?”
She looked down at the table. “I’m sorry.”
He tipped back his head and laughed, his mind almost taken off the hand that was one Rayah’s ass. “Do you need me to put a good word in for you with Will?”
“You can tell him that this was an arrangement. When he bought me a drink he made sure to check that you wouldn’t mind. He’s probably not interested…”
“He’d be daft not to be.”
“But you’re not.”
Now Jonny felt like a shit.
“But it wouldn’t matter if you were. The chemistry isn’t there. Just like it isn’t with Rayah and her date.”
He followed her gaze. Rayah was talking to her date and smiling, but he knew that smile: it was the one she used when she was trying to not look bored. The librarian was far more into her and he kept touching her and he got why, because she was and always had been as hot as fuck.
And that wasn’t the right line of thought.
Rayah Maynard was off limits.
She didn’t need to be saddled with a widower and three children.
Leeds was busy,as was every other city or town in the country, given that it was Mad Friday, the final Friday before Christmas and the night that most places of work decided to start celebrating just after lunch.
Jonny sat in a bar packed with mainly men who were at least twenty years older than him and were more interested in the cheap beer and horse racing results than any form of socialising. The rest of his party more than made up for it.
For some reason, they’d decided to go out dressed in tuxedos and bow ties, even though they started their bar crawl at just after midday and so far it had gotten them a fair few odd looks, a lot of laughs and more than one or two numbers passed their way. Given that he and Robyn were officially over, he knew he should’ve been feeling more excited at the prospect of taking someone back to the room he wasn’t sharing with anyone – unlike Zack and Scott who had decided to room together, although it was doubtful Scott would see the night out, given how much of an old woman he was behaving over Keren’s pregnancy.
Jonny got it though. Especially when Grace had been pregnant with Charlie, he’d been on pins and completely terrified. Worried about the baby, but even more fearful that something would happen to his wife and he wouldn’t be able to do anything. By the time she was pregnant with Sadie, they were both laid back about the whole thing and completely nonchalant. It was only after, just two months after Sadie had been born, that his worst fears were realised.
“Stop checking your fucking phone!” Zack practically knocked the phone out of Scott’s hands. “She’s fine. She has her friends with her. If there’s a problem Sorrell will get hold of me and I’ll come back with you. In a cab.”
“We should’ve just gone out in Severton.”
Zack shook his head. “This is probably the last night for a while that you can get completely plastered and have a horrendous hangover without having to clean up baby shit or get sicked on. Make the most of it.”
Scott grinned inanely at his phone. A picture of Keren – very pregnant – was on the screen. “I can’t wait for all that. Minus the hangover.”
Zack shook his head.
“It’ll happen to you soon enough.” Jonny was surprised that Sorrell wasn’t already knocked up.
Zack shrugged. “In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the sound of Scott snoring drunkenly rather than a baby yelling. Is Rayah looking after your three?”
“Or they could be looking after her.” Jonny resisted the urge to check his phone. The kids had broken up from school the day before, the final day of term was an in service day that teachers didn’t have to attend. Apparently they were making the time up in after school training instead or something, and there had been a thousand jokes he could’ve made about it to Rayah, but he valued his balls.
“Do you think she’ll look after more in the future.” Scott put down his phone and took a long swig of his pint. “I mean, this time next year for example, do you reckon she’ll have your three and our daughter.”
“You don’t know it’s a girl yet.” Zack nudged him.
“It’s a girl. Seriously, because this could be a bit unfair if she doesn’t look after her niece.” Scott stared at Jonny.
Jonny shrugged. “It’s up to her. I never expect her to say yes when I ask her to babysit. To be honest, I don’t usually have to ask.” He didn’t. Very occasionally he’d called her on a weekend night to ask her to help out in an emergency. She’d never said no. “And won’t she be the baby’s second cousin or something?”
“She’ll be her aunt. Just like Jake will be her uncle. Or he will, if he sorts himself out. For fuck’s sake, what is he doing?”
Scott’s attention was taken away by Jake performing some sort of magic trick that had a crowd of elderly afternoon drinkers mesmerised. It involved glasses of water and a ten-pound note.
