“Okay, guys, I’m starting to freak out.”Drew’s voice moves down the hall.“Abs?”There’s a creaking sound as she opens my bedroom door.
I shove Graeme’s shoulders and sit up as he rolls off me.My frantic brain tells me to jump out of bed, but then what?There’s literally nowhere to hide.I can’t even slip out into the hall and dart into another room.
Graeme shakes his head and pulls the sheet up to cover my naked body.“It’s too late,” he whispers.“We’ll handle this together.”
“Where are you?”Drew taps her knuckles against Graeme’s bedroom door before opening it.“I’m worried I’m going to walk in on—” She stops just inside the door, her mouth hanging open mid-sentence, and her eyes growing wide.A hysterical laugh bubbles up inside me, but I swallow it down.
“Okay.Nota murder scene,” Drew says.Her gaze is like a physical weight as it darts over me before moving on to Graeme and then the clothes strewn across the floor.“Okay.”She spins on her heel and disappears down the hall.
“Shit.”I toss the sheet off and jump out of bed, grabbing the first item of clothing I find.Before I can pull Graeme’s shirt over my head, Drew bursts back into the room.I screech and cover myself.
“Oh, please, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” she says, waving a hand dismissively.“Coffee?”When all I do is stare at her, she repeats, “Coffee.You and me.I’ll meet you downstairs in ten.”She gives Graeme a curt nod and leaves the room.
I remain frozen until I hear the front door close, and then I spring into action, yanking Graeme’s shirt over my head.
“I have a bunch of missed calls and texts from her,” Graeme says as I collect the rest of my clothes.
I grab my phone from the nightstand and groan when I see the long list of notifications from Drew sent late last night and this morning.The ones from today start off asking where I am and if I’m okay, then turn more worried in tone:
Drew:Hellooooo?Seriously, where are you?
Drew:Graeme’s not answering either.
Drew:Starting to get worried.Answer me!
Drew:Found Mum and Dad’s spare keys.I’m coming up!
Graeme touches my shoulder, making me jump.He looks adorably rumpled and concerned.“Want me to go with you?”
“I love you for offering, but she said ‘you and me’, so I think this is something I need to do alone.”
“Say it again,” he says.
Confusion at his request mixes with the worry that’s been buzzing through my mind since the moment Drew walked through the door.When I realize his meaning, the noise quiets down a notch.I plant my hands on his shoulders.“I love you.”
“I love you too,” he says, kissing me.“And Drew loves you as much as I do, so it’s going to be okay.”
I exhale sharply and nod.Graeme kisses me once more, and then I hurry from the room to get dressed.When I head out a few minutes later, I find Brodie standing outside his parents’ flat.
“Morning.”He offers me a smile that can only be described as sympathetic, which doesn’t make me feel better.
“Morning.How mad is she?”
He winces.“I honestly don’t know.She only paused long enough to ask if I knew you and my brother were sleeping together.When I said no, she told me she’d be back later.”
“Okay.I have to go.”I move past him, but he stops me with a gentle hand on my arm.
“You and Graeme, eh?”
Heat rushes to my cheeks.“It’s not like that.I mean, notonlylike that.I love him.”
Brodie’s mouth works silently for a few seconds, and then he clamps it shut, his face softening into a small smile.I’m reminded suddenly of the day we met all those years ago, and how I thought he was the sweetest thing.I still do.“Does he love you too?”
“He does.”Admitting that out loud makes me giddy.“I have to go, I don’t want to keep Drew waiting.Wish me luck.”
“Och, you don’t need it, my lovely.Nobody on Earth loves you more than my wife does.”He kisses my cheek and steps around me, pausing before he starts climbing the stairs.“Tell me Graeme’s not naked.I don’t want to walk in and get an eyeful of something I’ll never be able to unsee.”
With a laugh, I assure him Graeme was getting dressed when I left, and then I set off down the last flight of stairs.My heart is pounding by the time I open the heavy wooden door onto the Royal Mile.Drew is pacing in front of the fudge shop next door, hands shoved in the pockets of her jacket.When she faces me, her brows are furrowed, and she’s biting her lip.Our eyes meet.For one of the first times in our twenty-year friendship, I can’t read her expression.
