“There was none there, either.”
“Where do you think they are? They should only have been five minutes behind us. Do you think they’re injured or…”
“I think they’re lost. Stop overthinking it.”
“But…”
“Sparks, you need to stop the fuck worrying about Izzy and Ryan. They’re adults. They can get themselves here.” His hand landed softly on my back, between my shoulder blades and a current jolted down my spine. “Let’s go sit down over there and wait for half an hour. Chill out.”
His touch had zapped any form of control right out of me, so I didn’t fight it, just went over to the large rocks that had been deposited there millions of years ago and were now used for walkers and hikers to sit on.
It took me a few breaths without his hand on my back to regain my words, not that I needed them straight away.
“I apologise for touching you, by the way.” His words were quiet. “I didn’t think.”
I looked at him, puzzled, before realising what he was referring to. “It’s fine. You don’t need to apologise.” It had only been a hand on my back. I was used to being touched – physios, coaches, teammates, enough to become desensitised.
He nodded. “I did. You don’t like me, so why would you want my hands on you.”
I frowned. Did I really dislike him? He irritated me, I didn’t care for the way he treated the woman in the club, but his ex, Jade, did sound like she’d just wanted the lifestyle rather than him. I’d done a bit of digging on her last night and she sounded just as he’d said – obsessed with her image. Her Instagram already had a photo of her in a restaurant with a caption that hinted she was on a date.
“You were right about your ex. She doesn’t seem very genuine.” I wasn’t going to admit to not disliking him. Not to him anyway.
Rowan half-laughed. “That’s one way to describe her.”
“Why were you with her?” I didn’t get it. I saw how my sister was with men and saw them fall for it. She wasn’t sincere, she wasn’t looking for love, just someone to provide an easy income. I didn’t understand the men who fell for it, why they couldn’t see they weren’t the centre of the universe that she made them out to be.
I saw Rowan swallow. “Having a steady girlfriend seemed like the right thing to do. I thought the press would leave me alone and being with someone would be good for my image.”
There was almost too much honesty in his words. “That’s not the right reason to be with someone.”
“I know that, Sparkles. Especially now. Didn’t exactly end well, did it?”
I didn’t know what to say to that. It hadn’t ended well, and I’d blamed it on him, when it probably wasn’t all his fault. Or even most of it.
“Why do you call meSparkles?” It had been bugging me since the first time he’d used the nickname.
His grin resumed. “Because you sparkle sunshine everywhere. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you frown at anything apart from me.”
I was frowning now. At him.
He could be right. I tended to keep smiling so no one knew what I was thinking; I just wasn’t always capable of doing that around him.
He made me want to growl.
“I don’t sparkle sunshine. You make me sound so annoying.” I looked away from him and in the direction where I figured Izzy and Ryan would come from.
There was still no sign. I was stuck with Rowan for longer.
“You do. You smile at everyone, even when they’re being annoying – apart from me. You look like you want to murder me.”
He almost looked upset.
“I don’t.” I did.
Rowan laughed. “Liar. But don’t feel bad. The feeling’s mutual.”
I was hurt knowing that he really didn’t like me. I tried to get along with most people, because life was too short not to.
