‘No,’ Oliver said quickly, in what he desperately hoped was a casual tone, ‘just wondering where he is.’
‘Mhm,’ Imogen said, narrowing her eyes at him. Thankfully, at that moment, Maeve interrupted.
‘Oliver,’ she said, ‘let’s have a chat, okay?’
‘Uh—’ he started, his eyes darting to Eavie.
‘Come on,’ Maeve said impatiently, grabbing his hand and practically dragging him away from the kitchen. When he glanced back, Eavie was frowning at them.
Sorry, he mouthed in her direction.
Maeve settled onto a nearby couch, patting the spot beside her. She had a strange energy about her – it was clear she wanted something from him and wasn’t going to leave without it.
‘All right?’ he asked, not sitting.
‘I couldn’t spend another second without you telling me what’s going on. You look awful,’ she said. ‘Now sit, please.’
‘Gee, thanks,’ he said, sitting nonetheless.
She gave him a look. ‘I’ve never seen you stab toast quite that dramatically before. Something’s going on, and I’m the only person who’s willing to ask.’ She placed a hand on his shoulder, her eyes softening. ‘Talk to me.’
‘It’s—’ he started.
She cut him off. ‘It’snotabout Niall and Stella. Don’t start bullshitting with me.’
‘You know Niall was one of my mates,’ he said weakly. ‘This place is mad, and if you don’t have anyone to confide in, it’s impossible.’
‘So, confide away,’ Maeve said dismissively. ‘You have me, Jack, Eavie… you have Declan.’ She gave him a pointed look, as though waiting for him to contradict her on the last.
He looked down at his hands, folding them in his lap. ‘I don’t know what to say – maybe the pressure’s catching up to me.’
‘So what did you two row about, then?’ she asked matter-of-factly.
Oliver frowned at her. ‘Nothing… I guess we don’t get on as well as I thought.’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘Why would you say that?’
‘Because,’ Oliver said, barely able to get the words out, ‘none of this is real.’
Maeve shook her head. ‘You don’t believe that, I know you don’t. You know how I feel about you is real. How’s it any different?’
‘Of course it’s real with us,’ Oliver said, trying to find the words to make her understand. He felt a desperate urge to tell her everything, only tempered by the knowledge of the cameras lurking in the corner of his vision. ‘It’s different with Declan.’
‘Okay…’ Maeve said. ‘You know you can tell me anything, right?’
He glanced at the nearest camera and she inclined her head slightly. ‘Thanks, Maeve,’ he said with forced cheer, wrapping his arms around her.
‘If you evercantalk about it, I’m here,’ she murmured, just as Oliver saw Declan approaching in the corner of his vision.
He expected Declan to continue ignoring him, to have something to say to Maeve instead, but he didn’t. Declan looked directly at him, and Oliver’s throat went dry as he stared into bottomless blue eyes.
‘Hey,’ Declan said, voice low. ‘Paige wants to see you in the Love Shack.’ His tone was warning, and Oliver understood thatnothing good was coming. Still, he felt almost relieved having Declan beside him again.
‘Uh-huh,’ he managed. ‘Thanks for letting me know.’
‘Sure,’ Declan said gruffly, looking away.
When Oliver entered the Love Shack, Paige was reading notes off her clipboard. ‘Hey there.’ She smiled at him in a way that put him on edge. It was the sort of smile designed to make him comfortable, but he didn’t know how comfortable he should be with her at the moment.
