My brother loves anything baked or fried. It’s just as well he chooses to walk to his job as a car park attendant for the National Trust at Chapel Porth.
‘You forgot to close your front door,’ I point out.
He rolls his eyes at me dramatically, but returns to his front door and pulls it closed with a bang. Then he trudges back out through the gate and sets off down the path without so much as a backwards glance.
I’m just turning away when he calls over his shoulder: ‘See you in a bit, baby sis!’
Short, sharp and sweet, as always.
Those three words do a pretty good job of summing up my brother.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I’m on my way downstairs a few days later when I catch sight of Finn through the front door’s glass panels, hovering a few steps back on the road.
My heart skips a beat.
He rakes his hand through his hair as he stares down the hill, and then he glances at my front door and almost jumps out of his skin when our eyes meet through the glass.
I open the door, laughing.
‘You scared the shit out of me,’ he mutters, his palm pressed flat to his chest.
‘You weren’t expecting to see me at my own house?’ I ask with amusement, wondering if he’d been psyching himself up to ring the doorbell.
The thought of this gives me a burst of confidence.
‘No, I was, but— Never mind.’ He seems slightly flustered as he digs into the pocket of his ripped black jeans and pulls out his phone. ‘I made a start on your playlist. Figured I’d grab your number so I can send it to you.’
‘Oh, cool! Let me see?’
I slip my feet into my VEJAs and step outside, pulling the door closed behind me. My parents are out the back in the garden, but I’d still like to minimise the chances of Mumspying Finn. From what I now know, a face-to-face interaction could be awkward.
‘I can literally forward it to you right now,’ he says with a small smile as I lean against the rough stone wall and waggle my hands at him.
‘No, I’d have to go back inside to get Wi-Fi,’ I reply impatiently, hands still outstretched towards his phone.
A car comes up the road and he quickly steps forward to make room for it, his sudden nearness causing me to take a sharp breath.
‘I did want to play this one song to you in person,’ he admits, staring down at me as my earlier confidence is washed away by an unnerving skittishness.
‘It might be a bit noisy here,’ I murmur.
As if to prove my point, another car comes past, the sound of its engine combining with the rush of water in the stream running beneath the tiny bridge we’re standing on.
‘Come for a walk with me,’ he suggests tentatively.
It’s late afternoon and the day is overcast and windy, but the air is mild enough that I don’t regret not changing out of my denim shorts into jeans as we head down the hill towards the beach. My hands are buried deep in the kangaroo pocket of my navy hoodie and I feel strangely tongue-tied.
Finn breaks the silence with a violent yawn.
‘Gah, sorry,’ he apologises.
‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m shattered. A bit over sleeping on the sofa.’
‘Whose sofa?’ Has he been bouncing around between friends?
