I wasn’t hiding.
I wasn’t waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I was just...me.
And he liked me anyway.
Maybe even because of it.
And for the first time in years, the future didn’t feel like a blank page.
It felt like a story we were writing together.
I’m not sure I know what love is; I’ve never really felt it.But to me...
This could be.
Love.
The train wheels squealedand clanked as we pulled to a stop; the sudden lurch snapped me out of my thoughts.
Exiting the platform, we stood outside the train station, scanning up and down the road toward the car park.
I heard Robbie’s car before I saw it.
When he’d said he owned a sports car, I didn’t know what I was expecting — but it definitely wasn’t the cutest little German coupe rolling toward us like it had just strutted out of a 90s advert.
“Wow.No way.”Gavin frowned.
“No way!Why?”
“Mate, that’s a Mark One Audi TT.And it barely seats two people.There’s no way we’re all fitting in that.”
Robbie pulled up beside us and lowered the window, all sunshine and smiles, like he didn’t have a care in the world.Gavin, on the other hand, looked like he’d just witnessed a crime.
“Can I give you a lift?”Robbie called out.
“Not unless you’re strapping Ashton to the roof,” Gavin muttered.
Wait.What?
I stared at my soon-to-be ex-best friend.“Why amIgetting strapped to the roof and not you?”
“Because you’re smaller than me,” he said, completely unapologetic.“And I’m a guest.So, you should give me your seat.”
“But I’m a guest too.So...who gets the seat now?”
“Flip a coin?”Gavin was already digging in his pocket when Robbie stepped out of the car.
“You two are being ridiculous,” Robbie said, pointing inside.“It has a back seat.”
Technically true.
If you were the size of a hobbit.
“Found one!”Gavin announced triumphantly, holding up a coin.“Heads or tails?”
Robbie was barely holding back an eye-roll as we bickered.
