‘I have no idea what I’m doing, honestly,’ he went on. ‘But it seems weird to let it just sit half finished for ever.’
He shrugged, and I wondered whether Noah’s words from the other night had got to him.
‘I have his notebooks and YouTube on my side,’ he added. ‘And so much glue as well.’
He picked at his shirt, which he’d apparently been using for excess glue storage.
‘I think it’s a sweet idea,’ I said gently. ‘He’d love the thought of you playing it.’
Finn chuckled. ‘I think it depends what I play on it. Although this one’s going to be perfect for ballads. Love songs.’
‘Your specialty,’ I said with a laugh. ‘Anything to make the girls come running.’
‘I can’t help that,’ he teased. ‘It’s just how I was made.’
He set a clamp in place, then came over to join me on the couch, planting himself at the other end, but facing me. We were angled towards each other, our legs stretched out and overlapping – his legs were so much longer than mine. And strong, too, from being in a constant state of movement.
He glanced up, catching me watching him. I dropped my gaze, my cheeks hot.
Time to change the subject.
‘Ugh, I need to paint my toenails,’ I said, glancing down at the chipped polish. They’d started off bright and sparkly a week or so ago, but the ocean water and beachside strolls had taken their toll.
‘What a wild coincidence. I need to paint mine, too.’ He nudged me with his foot. ‘Go on, go grab your kit – we’ll have a makeover session.’
‘But I’m so tipsy,’ I whined, burrowing in between the brown corduroy cushions and the Pendleton blanket. (This was definitely the boys’ room of the house.) The thought of standing up horrified me. And I’d just made myself comfortable on the couch.
‘Here, let me. It’s in your room, right?’ Frowning, he held out his hand. Magic glimmered at his fingertips, and the air seemed to fold. There was a cracking sound, and a bottle of glittery purple nail polish appeared in his palm.
He examined the lid, then passed the bottle to me. ‘I think it hit the door on the way in. But it’s superficial damage. We don’t need to exchange insurance details or anything.’
There came the warning sound of bare feet stomping across the floorboards, then Tiff popped her head around the door.Her hair was damp, and she was in one of Rosie’s silk dressing gowns. Damien’s face was up on her phone screen, as per usual. ‘What was that cracking noise? Did you hear that?’
‘Just Finn working his magic,’ I said teasingly. Finn made an angelic face.
‘We’re doing pedicures,’ he added, waggling his toes. ‘Want to join in?’
I thrust my own toes at her, waggling them as threateningly as I could manage before dissolving into giggles.
Tiff pushed my feet aside, trying to keep a straight face as she affected a look of disgust. ‘Strange as it might seem, I’ll pass.’
I tried to pinch her dressing gown with my big toe. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to have fancy toes for the book signing on Friday? Leon will be there, after all …’
Tiff’s face froze into a horrified rictus, then she glanced down at her phone before hurrying out of the room and disappearing down the hallway.
‘Oh shit,’ I said as I heard a door slam. ‘I really shouldn’t have had that third cup of sangria. Or the fourth.’
Finn took the nail-polish bottle from me and uncapped it. He brandished the purple brush at me. It would’ve dripped on the couch had I not aimed a quick zap of magic at it.
‘Well, if you’re going to put your foot in it, at least make sure your toenails are looking good.’
He took my foot and delicately applied the nail polish to my big toe. Well, not especially delicately, given that half of it ended up on the skin. But I wasn’t going to correct him on his technique. I grabbed a tissue and charmed it with some magic, wiping the chipped polish off my other toes before he could get to those, too.
‘It helps to do the prep work,’ I explained.
‘Yeah, but it’s more punk rock this way.’ His fingers were wrapped around my ankle as he worked, and I was growing increasingly heated at the contact. It wasn’t like we’d nevertouched before: we’d spent years’ worth of Summerweens curled up on couches or sprawled out next to each other on beach towels. But things had changed so much in the two years since we’d last been here. We’d both changed.
Josephine’s ring fizzed on my finger.
