‘Is she happy now?’
‘We haven’t spoken in a while.’ His stiff shoulders told her he wasn’t up for sharing more. ‘Do you know much about invasive species?’ he asked her.
‘That’s a surprise turn in the conversation,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘I know about the types that grow around here.’
Nic reached down to his trainers and unlaced them. ‘Japanese knotweed, I’ll bet? It’s like my family was invaded by it. Dad started the creep with his behaviour. In that moment, where we were collectively vulnerable, the shoots grabbed each of us individually. I thought, if we left it long enough, and didn’t feed it, it might die away naturally. But it buried itself deeper and deeper into the foundations of our family life and almost choked us. I fear by letting my father back in I might be re-escalating its insidious creep.’ He turned to her. ‘I’m sorry, that doesn’t make any sense.’
Aria turned onto her side. ‘You need to go right down to the roots with knotweed…’ she told him, ‘…and make a barrier or it’ll overcome everything. You have to basically dig a trench around it to stop it spreading. And at the same time, cut back the canes, here and there, trimming the bad parts. Eventually the decent stuff wins through. Sorry, that doesn’t sound very easy, does it?’
Nic kicked off his shoes and silence fell between them. She knew him well enough to realise sharing had been a big deal and wondered if her answer had been unhelpful. As the sound of a strangled duck came from the bushes he leaped up. ‘What the hell?’
Familiar with the noise, Aria was a little embarrassed to brief him about its source. ‘It’s hump hour.’
‘What hour?’
‘You heard me right. Very occasionally he gets a little bit tired and overstimulated and needs some comfort. He’d prefer a human but he’s probably avoiding me because ofyou.’ She stood up, marched over to Tiger, and lifted him out of the bushes. The dog immediately began thrusting at her elbow.
‘He dry-humps your arm?’
‘Well, he tries.’ Tiger licked every inch of her hand, before trying to get himself off again. ‘Stop it. We have company.’ She put him down and he went straight back to the toy, pushing his appendage against it. She frowned. ‘He’ll try to shag anything that stays still. It’s lucky the real ducks steer clear.’ As if wanting to flex in front of the boys, Tiger carted the duck over to Nic and dropped it in front of him, before rubbing himself against his arm.
He withdrew it straight away. ‘Thank you but I’m not a sex toy.’
Aria giggled. ‘Is this the first time you’ve been objectified?’
Nic threw the duck towards the water. It landed with a splash. Realising he wasn’t going to get what he wanted from the male, Tiger ran after it, standing in the shallows.
‘The only dog on earth that won’t swim.’
‘I get you, buddy.’ Nic strolled over, picked the rubber duck out of the flotsam and gave it back. Tiger resumed the humping. ‘It’s firmly under his legs,’ he commented.
‘I don’t think it’s his legs we need to worry about,’ Aria replied as Tiger’s unfortunate bird made a desperate squeak.
‘God in heaven, it comes with sound. This is wildlife pornography.’ Nic reached down, grabbed the rubber duck from the shingle and threw it back into the woodland. Picking up the prompt, Tiger followed the toy into the bushes. In the moonlight, the silver carpet of lake looked like black magic.At this time all the imperfections of nature disappeared, leaving a uniform beauty.
Maybe Nic was affected too, as he knelt before her, eyes shining, face creased into a smile. ‘So, is it unique to the Wilson family, then?’ He put one hand tentatively on her bare thigh.
She laughed, giving permission for his advances. ‘Is what unique?’
‘Hump hour.’ He stroked her leg with his fingers, making her shiver. ‘Or is it a wider Lakeland tradition I don’t know about.’ Despite her reservations, it was delicious to feel his touch, and she put her hand over his, hurt and fury dissolving as the butterflies in her stomach beat their wings.
Nic’s features were arresting in the moonlight. On impulse, she ignored her doubts while he widened the area of his massage. ‘Is there a reason you ask?’
‘Well, for scientific purposes, I’m interested to see if the locals can go for a whole hour without actually…’
‘Finishing off…?’ Aria mirrored his Joker-style grin.
‘Exactly.’
She put her finger on her chin as though thinking as his stroking became more intense. ‘With a person you were attracted to, a whole hour could be…’
‘Difficult?’
‘If not impossible.’
‘How would it traditionally start?’ he asked, his fingers travelling further up her thigh and dipping under her shorts, where all the longing of recent days started to culminate in a pulse she couldn’t ignore.
‘Well, pretty much like that. But perhaps there needs to be less space between us to, you know, increase the friction?’
