I jolt as I realise I’m still staring at him.
But he’s still staring at me too.
My eyes dart away, travelling only as far as his holey black jumper. Up close, I can see that he’s wearing a grey T-shirt underneath.
He hooks his fingers through a couple of the holes, noticing they have my attention.
‘You look as though a moth’s been at you,’ I remark.
He glances down. ‘Oh no. I was just Jimmied.’
‘Jimmied?’
‘Jimmy, my nephew. He’s a year old and got his hands on my jumper. To be fair, it already had a couple of holes in it, but he decided toenlargethem. I went with the look.’
He gives the word ‘enlarge’ a deliberately American drawl, but his accent still mostly sounds as though he’s from around here.
He looks up from his jumper and grins at me and my stomach flip-tumbles.
Dan appears in the doorway.
‘What’s going on here then?’ he asks suspiciously.
‘Nothing. Just talking,’ Finn replies.
‘Great place to have a chat. Hey, Liv,’ Dan says, ‘how’s it going? First I’ve seen of you this summer.’
‘I’ve just come back from Italy,’ I reply.
‘Nice. Holiday?’
‘No, I was on a sculpture course.’
‘Oh, cool. How was it?’
‘Great place to have a chat, mate,’ Finn interjects drily. ‘Why don’t you do what you came here to do and we’ll see you outside?’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ Dan says, moving away from the doorway and gesturing for me to exit.
I’m intensely aware of Finn walking right behind me as we make our way into the main room. His bandmates call to him from the other end of the bar, where Chas is lining up shots. A few girls are there too, including Sophie and Claire.
Finn saunters straight past me as I join my friends.
‘Anything to tell?’ Rach asks with a smirk.
‘Nope,’ I reply, but as I turn to see Finn hook his arm around Tarek’s neck, he glances my way and our eyes lock.
His lips tilt up at the corners into a half-smile and I stare back at him for a couple of seconds until my quickening heart rate becomes too much of a distraction and I have to avert my gaze. I reach for my drink, feeling shaky as I take a sip.
So maybe I’m rethinking my priorities for this summer.
CHAPTER THREE
‘I thought it’d be hours before we saw you!’ Mum exclaims the next morning when I wander into the kitchen at seven forty-five.
‘So did I,’ I reply ruefully, accepting her offer of a hug.
I’d fully intended to catch up on some sleep, but as I was drifting in and out of consciousness, my mind latched on to my encounter with Finn and after that I was wide awake.
