“Took you lot long enough!”
Frank walks through the patio doors. His hair is even more incredible than it was at the market. Piles of frizzy blond curls sit on his head like whipped frosting. He grins at me, but his gaze lingers on Huan.
“Anyone a bowler?” he asks. “They’re trying to get a game in the back but everyone’s too rat-arsed to get it down the pitch.”
“You have bowling lanes outside?” I stand on my toes and peer out the glass doors. “It’s been a while since I went bowling, but I wasn’t too bad in middle school.”
Everyone but Huan starts laughing. Loudly.
“What?”
“Thisis why I invited them,” Will tells Frank, and wipes his eyes. “I knew it’d be good fun.” He turns to me. “Frank was talking about cricket.”
I stare blankly.
“Only Will’s favorite sport of all time,” Frank says.
To my shock, Dev steps forward. “Do you need someone good? I’ve played before, but not much.”
“Nah, mate, everyone out there is half in the bag already. If you’re facing the right direction, you’ll be fine,” Will says.
“Please”—Frank motions to Dev—“get outside before he starts talking about the national team.”
“Do you mind?” Dev glances from Huan to me.
I shake my head and Huan replies, “Go ahead. I’ll... have a look around.”
Frank grabs a few bottles on the counter and waves them in Huan’s direction. “I make a mean gin and tonic.”
Dev heads out, Huan drifts toward Frank and the alcohol, and suddenly Will and I are alone.
“It looks like your mates are sorted. Why don’t we get a drink too?” He points to three spigots built into the onyx counter. “I prefer the drafts to the bottles.”
I nod, dumbfounded. He has this in hiskitchen? “That’s, um, impressive.”
“Thanks.” He juts his thumb toward the backyard, where the cricket game has started. “None of those wankers care. You know, I was thinking of investing in a brewery. I spent my last holiday in Germany touring some there. Fascinating stuff. Just have to convince my father.” He turns and smiles at me. “Sorry. You’ll learn to avoid certain subjects with me or I’ll never stop talking. Frank walks away when I get on a run.”
“I like listening to you talk.”
“The same here. Your accent is adorable.”
I blush.Myaccent?
He pours two beers, one dark and one light, and passes me the lighter one, grinning excitedly. “A mild ale.”
I hate beer, but I’d try sewer water if he handed it to me with such excitement. I take a big drink and have to stop myself fromspitting it out on his shoes. The nastiness is overpowering.
He raises his eyebrows. “I see you’re not much of a beer drinker. No matter, I’ll win you over eventually.”
I’m suddenly liking beer a lot more. “It’s only that, you know, I’m not twenty-one yet, so I haven’t had many opportunities.”
“I didn’t take you for someone to follow the rules, Elle.”
It’s hard to speak when he’s so close to me. “Right. Definitely not.”
Someone shouts and Will peeks out the window at the cricket game. “It should be quieter on the veranda.”
He takes my hand and leads me through a massive living and dining room to an enclosed patio. Enormous hydrangea bushes with melon-sized white blooms surround us. I want to spend the next hour inspecting the gardens that encircle his house—there’s something particularly charming about an English garden—but I have a feeling that’s not how he wants to spend time at his party.
