‘Of course I will.’
The look she gives tells me she doesn’t believe it. ‘You could come to Mum’s. She never minds feeding a stray.’
I throw a cushion at her. ‘I’m not a sad old dog. I’ll be fine. Go.’
She leaves with a furrow of her brow, locking the door behind her. And I relax back into the cushions, letting stress roll off my shoulders. Everything’s been so tight in the past few weeks, the anxiety of not knowing who’s after me mingling with the intensity of emotions that Heart Eyes has brought up.
Closing my eyes, I lay my head back and enjoy the peace.
For about twenty minutes.
There can be too much peace sometimes.
Grabbing my phone, I send a message to Heart Eyes.
Ellie’s gone for the weekend. Do you want to come by? You can stay until Sunday.
I put the phone face down on the sofa and bite my bottom lip. I want him to come. But what if he says no? Rejection stings.
When my phone buzzes, I snatch it up, but it’s not him. It’s Darren.
God, I’ve almost forgotten Darren. That thought makes my stomach churn. I’ve been ghosted enough in the past to know it’s a dick move.
But another notification comes through before I can text back.
On my way.
He arrives a little after seven, all tall and brooding on my doorstep. Still masked, but those eyes are warm in the yellow light from my living room.
‘Hi,’ I say.
‘Hi.’
I lead him into the room, his scarred hand cold from the night air. We sit on the sofa. He takes one end while I tuck myself into the other.
‘It’s odd to be sitting out here with you,’ I say.
‘Odd?’
‘Not that you’re odd, just that we don’t need to hide away in my room.’
He tilts his head a touch, and I can almost imagine him smiling. ‘You look beautiful tonight.’
My cheeks flush.
I pull my sleeves over my hands and search forsomething to say. ‘Ask me something.Anything. We should get to know more about each other than things that haunt us and how to make each other moan.’
He toys with the edge of a cushion, pinching the hem between two finger tips. ‘I loved making you moan.’
‘I’m not complaining. Maybe later I’ll let you take another crack at it.’
‘Darling, I think you might need to rethink thatlet.’
The way he says it has me clenching my thighs.
‘What do you want to do?’ he asks. ‘After you’re done with university.’
‘My Mum and Dad want me to go into finance, given that it’s the family business.’
