Page 58 of It Was Always You

He sat up. ‘Did you?’ He tried to sound enthusiastic but ended up sounding surprised instead. He cringed.

She laughed, thankfully. ‘Yes, thanks for making that sound like an impossible feat. I’m not completely repulsive to the opposite sex, you know.’

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean it to come out like that. So, who is he? I take it he was a he?’ He sniggered.

‘Very funny, Pee Pants. Yes, he was a very sexy Spanish he. Rafael Gaspar. He was amazing in bed.’

He gasped. ‘Lily! You have to learn to say no.’

‘Why? He was hot and I fancied him.’

‘So are you seeing him again?’

A sighed travelled over the airwaves. ‘No, it was pointless. It wouldn’t have gone anywhere.’

‘I suppose not with him in Spain and you… well, wherever work takes you, I guess, eh?’

‘Exactly. Anyway, sod off, will you? I’m exhausted and I want to sleep.’

It was his turn to laugh now. ‘Charming. Well, I’ll see you when you get back. Bye.’

‘Bye, Pee Pants.’ She hung up before he could respond.

TRACK 25

‘YOU BELONG WITH ME’ (TAYLOR SWIFT)

August 2024

Having Lily back in Scotland made Adam feel more settled. What didn’t make him feel settled was the fact his profile on the stupid dating site was getting a lot of attention. He was being bombarded with emails and had no real clue why.

Lily knocked on his forehead with her knuckles. ‘Errr, hello… anybody in there?’

He swiped her hand away. ‘Piss off!’

‘Well, come on and get with the bloody programme, will you, you dobber.’

He scrunched his face at her. ‘What are you going on about?’

She gazed up at the ceiling momentarily and shook her head, clearly feeling exasperated at his complete and utter obliviousness. ‘Good grief. Do I have to spell it out to you? Really?’

He slumped backward on her sofa, rubbing his hands though his hair. ‘I just don’t see it myself. I mean I look in the mirror and I just see… me… I think you over-exaggerated when you wrote that fucking profile. Any woman who meets me is just going to be disappointed.’

She was busy putting the finishing touches to her make-up after convincing him to go out for a few drinks in Galashiels seeing as it was the last weekend before he would be back to school. The taxi was booked, reminding Lily of how things used to be when they were younger.

She paused and turned to him, sighing. ‘Adam, you are most women’s bloody dream man.’

He scrunched his face at her again until she stood, hands on hips, staring at him incredulously. Most women?

Shaking her head, she began to count off on her fingers. ‘Okay, you’re tall, you’re dark, you’re muscular, you’re handsome… you know… if you like that kind of look⁠—’

He rolled his eyes and gave a snide curl of his lip. ‘Charming, thanks, I feel so much better.’

‘I haven’t finished.’

‘Oh, I apologise. Do continue. This is helping me to no end.’

She made a clamping gesture with her fingers. ‘Shut up. You have a noble profession⁠—’