Page 78 of It Was Always You

‘Yeah, well, it’s an experience you’ll be having without me.’

‘Lil, you’re a spoilsport! I might need your help.’

She snorted. ‘Not a chance!’

Once they were ensconced at Adam’s house, back in the warm, Adam made hot chocolate. Monty was towelled off and Adam laid him by the radiator to finish drying his fur.

Handing Lily a steaming mug, Adam hesitantly spoke. ‘Sooo, I’ve got a favour to ask, Lil.’

She frowned. ‘Oooh, that sounds ominous. Be warned, I may tell you to eff off.’

He cringed. ‘You may, but I’m really hoping you don’t.’

She huffed impatiently. ‘Just spit it out, Adders. I have things to be getting on with, you know.’

‘Okay, here goes… Would you come with me to my work’s Christmas party?’

She scrunched her face again. ‘Oh, either they’re really organised at your school, and they are having it way early or they seem to have forgotten that Christmas has been and gone quite recently.’

‘Neither. The venue the rector likes was booked up too far in advance, and she insisted there was nowhere else she deemed good enough… sooo… it was booked for January.’

Lily laughed. ‘That’s what you call commitment. Anyway, can’t you go alone?’

He ran his hands through his hair. ‘Yeah, I could. But I really don’t want to. It’s a dinner dance. If I go alone, I’ll look like… like…’ His words trailed off and she immediately regretted her suggestion.

‘Okay, of course I’ll go with you. Silly arse.’

He scooted up the sofa and hugged her. ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you. You won’t regret it. Well, you might regret it… it might be as dull as ditch water… last year the food was okay but not fantastic… you may hate it… but if you do, I’ll owe you big time.’

‘You’re selling this very well. I can’t wait,’ she said sarcastically.

‘Anyway, it’s next Saturday. You need to wear a kind of evening dress-type thing, if you have one.’

‘Of course I’ve got one. You’d be surprised what I have in my wardrobe.’

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. ‘Hmm, I’ll bet, you saucy minx.’

She smacked his arm. ‘Clothing, Adders. I just meant clothing.’

After dropping Monty at his mum and dad’s house, Adam arrived at Lily’s place at seven fifteen in a taxi. It was the night of the not-so-Christmas party. Knowing Lil, she would probably be nowhere near ready. He tried the front door, but it was locked, so he resorted to dinging the doorbell over and over until he received a response from the rather pissed-off Lily who opened the door in her robe.

He closed his eyes for a couple of seconds and ran his hand through his hair. ‘Oh, for Pete’s sake, Lil, you’re not even dressed!’

With a smirk, she began to unfasten her long, fluffy robe very slowly. Adam felt he should look away but couldn’t. He wondered if he was about to see her in her underwear right there in the hallway of her house and wasn’t sure why that caught his attention so much. He gulped as she opened and dropped the robe to the floor.

‘Ha ha! Your face was a picture! Hilarious! I’ve been ready for ages, you nutter.’

He huffed out his held breath. ‘Funny, Lil. Very funny.’

She gathered up her robe and flung it over the banister. Turning, she walked back towards him and he swallowed hard.

She twirled around. ‘Will I do? It’s more of a cocktail dress than an evening gown, but I really like it and never get to wear it. It’s designer, you know.’ She winked. Adam stared. ‘Oh God, say something, will you? Should I go change?’ Her cheeks coloured, which drew Adam’s gaze up from the figure-hugging black velvet off-shoulder dress to her made-up face. He had never really seen her wear make-up before. She was more of an au naturel type usually. But here she stood, all smoky eyes and glossy lips. Quite different. Quite, quite different.

He shook his head to dislodge the confusing thoughts he was having about his best friend. ‘You… erm… you… look… erm…’

She sighed and stamped her foot like a spoiled child. ‘Right. That’s it. I’m changing. We’ll be late now.’

‘No!’ He lurched forward towards her but didn’t make contact. ‘No, no, don’t change. You look great. And anyway, there’s no time, like you said.’