‘That would be great,’ Ben says sincerely.
We’re walking past a pub when I hear my name being shouted.
‘Oi! Lily!’
I whip around to see Josh sitting at one of the crowded tables out on the pavement. Damn, he’s good-looking. Shame he knows it.
‘What are you doing here?’ he asks.
He’s with a group of five other guys and girls, all of whom regard me with curiosity.
I hold up the bags in my hands. ‘Shopping. I just bumped into Ben.’
‘Sit down. Have a beer.’
I glance at Ben waiting on the pavement a few feet away.
‘Hey, Ben,’ Josh calls half-heartedly.
‘Alright?’ Ben responds in an equally lacklustre fashion.
I look back at Josh. ‘Ben was about to give me a lift home.’
‘I’ll give you a lift home,’ he says. There’s a half-empty glass of beer on the table in front of him. I don’t know how long he’s been here, how long he’s planning to stay, or if he intends to keep on drinking, but after another night in on my own yesterday, I don’t want to turn down what might be my last invitation.
‘Do you mind if I stay?’ I ask Ben.
‘Of course not,’ he replies, taking a step backwards. ‘See you on Monday?’
‘Cool,’ I reply.
‘Bye, Ben.’ Josh waves slightly too enthusiastically.
‘See ya.’
My heart dips slightly as I watch Ben walking away. I feel bad about ditching my only friend for a better offer. But oh, he won’t care. And as Josh flashes me a sexy grin and beckons me to the table, all thoughts of Ben fly right out of my mind.
Chapter 4
One of Josh’s mates stands up and goes off in search of another chair. Josh indicates the now-free one next to him. I squeeze past the drinkers at another table to get to it and realise I’m nervous.
‘There might be one inside,’ the guy still searching for a chair says.
‘Can you get Lily a drink while you’re at it?’ Josh calls after him. Then, to me: ‘What do you want?’
‘Oh, um, may I have a cider, please?’ I wonder how hot they are on underage drinking over here. ‘Thanks!’ I call.
‘No worries,’ comes the good-natured reply.
‘Guys, this is Lily,’ Josh says to the people around the table. ‘My new – what are you? Stepsister? Half-sister?’
One of the girls sniggers.
‘Housemate,’ I reply.
‘That’ll do.’
‘Lou, Alex, Tiff, Brian.’ He points to each of his friends. ‘And the bloke who’s gone to get you a drink is Shane,’ he adds.
