He studies me, then shakes his head. “Fine. But don’t text her.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You’re already reaching for your phone.”
I glare. “You just said to find out the truth.”
“Make her stew in her mess for a while.”
I drop the phone back on the table. Part of me afraid to hear the truth. What if she never really liked me? What if she’s still hung up on her ex? “Did you know she was married to someone called Richard?”
“No. Must have been before my time.”
“Well, yeah, it was about ten years ago. You’d’ve still been in nappies, mate.”
“We’re the same age, dickhead.”
I can’t help but chuckle at that, realisation hitting that when we were both out of college, doing our firefighter training, Ember was going through her divorce. I never felt like there was an age gap between us until now. “Maybe she’s right. She is too old for me.”
Phoenix huffs. “Bollocks, mate. That’s just what Fern said. What is it with older women thinking we’re not mature enough to hold down a relationship?”
“What else did Fern say?”
He shrugs. “Just that she didn’t want to hold me back. I mean, it’s not even like we were in a relationship, we just hooked up a few times.”
“I always wondered why you went with Fern and not her sister Lilly, she’s more our age.”
“Lilly was always off-limits. I mean, so was Fern, but she’d just got a divorce and she was…”
"Desperate?"
He laughs. “No. Mature. She taught me a thing or two at twenty-three, let me tell you.” He points the bottle at me. “Anyway, tonight is all about you, my friend.”
“I’m texting her.”
“Who, Fern?”
“Ember, you twit.”
Phoenix groans. “For fuck’s sake. You’re two beers deep. That’s like drunk texting 101.”
“I’m not drunk.” I fumble with my phone. The screen nearly slips out of my hand. “Tipsy, maybe.”
“Tipsy dragon is still dangerous. You’ll torch the whole thing with one wrong emoji.”
I smirk, thumbing the screen. “What emoji says ‘I miss you’ but not ‘I’m pathetic’?”
“The middle finger.”
I bark a laugh. “You’re a shit friend.”
“Better a shit friend than the mate who lets you send ‘I love you’ GIFs.”
I ignore him and start typing anyway.
You left me burning, pumpkin
Phoenix reads over my shoulder. “Delete that. You sound like a bloody rock ballad.”
