You sound like an idiot,I want to say, but don’t. ‘Yeah, I see.’
I roll my eyes and walk away, flick on the kettle in the kitchen and leave Ben to re-create stories in his head about the woman I’m pretty sure I’m in love with.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Aurora
‘Good morning,’ I say to Sam as I wake to find him standing at the end of my hotel bed, pulling his jeans and T-shirt back on.
He gives me a winning smile. ‘Hey,’ he says. Draped over the end of the bed is his damp towel. ‘I took a shower.’
‘I see that.’ I stretch languidly in bed, letting all my muscle fibres loosen and release. I avoid making the noise I usually make, though, a sort of roar to greet the morning.
‘Last night was fun,’ Sam says.
‘It was.’ I sit up in bed, pulling the duvet up and burrowing in against the pillows. ‘This bed is comfy. Even comfier than mine at home, and I paid shedloads for mine.’
He laughs, buttoning up his jeans. ‘Can I get your number?’
I give him aYou’re not really going to call melook and Sam laughs. ‘What?’
‘You won’t call, but you can have it if you want it? You want my number clogging up your contacts?’
He gives me a look that says,What’s wrong with you?‘Yeah. I do.’
‘OK then,’ I say casually and he taps my number into his phone as I call it out to him. ‘Do I get yours?’
‘Do you want it?’ he asks.
‘I’m not sure. Would you give it if I asked for it, or is there a trust issue at play here?’
‘Hmm,’ he replies slowly and taps something into his phone.
I cut in with, ‘It’s OK, don’t worry. I get it. I—’
My phone dings with a message from an unknown number.This is my number. Use it wisely. Sam
I glance up at him and smile. Then I look back at my phone. I see about a hundred message notifications littering my screen from various friends and my mum. I’ll grab hold of them in a second, but for now I have Sam Charlton’s mobile number. And I will probably do nothing with it.
I look up at him triumphantly. ‘No wonder you get screwed over so much if you go handing your number out to every girl you sleep with.’
‘I don’t. Hand my number out, I mean. I confess I do sleep with people. Not a crime. I’m not ashamed. You can read about it all online, so there’s no point in me lying to you.’
‘So I should believe everything I read in the papers then?’
‘Yeah …’ he says slowly, ‘about that …’
‘About what?’ I ask, casting my eyes about for the coffee machine. I’m well overdue.
‘I need to show you something. It doesn’t look too bad, but I’ve been in this situation many times before, so I’ll tell you how to play it.’
‘How to play what?’ I enquire as Sam shows me pictures on his phone.
‘Oh, shit,’ I say. ‘That’s us!’
‘Yeah. That’s all they’ve got, but they clearly know you and I went upstairs last night, so keep an eye out for people with big cameras pointed at you—’
‘Oh no, no, no,’ I wail. ‘I’mthatgirl we all hate.’
