Page 100 of Love Letters on Hazel Lane

‘But you didn’t tick me?’

‘I thought the whole point of speed-dating was to get contact details for people you wanted to see again. I already have your phone number, remember?’

‘Did you ever hear from Zoey?’

‘No, I didn’t contact her. She didn’t contact me. But even if I had been dating her, what difference would that make to you and me? We’re supposed to be friends.’

Friends.

He was clearly putting her in the friend zone.

‘I felt like you were ignoring me. Blanking me. It hurt, Jo.’

‘I wasn’t ignoring you. Things were… well, I went through a difficult patch. In any case, you blanked me once. After our first date. I thought it had gone well, but then nothing. Nada. Zilch.’

Zilch, she thought. Good word: 19 points.

A cough again. Jo moved her hands from the table and the waitress placed their pizzas down.

‘Any black pepper?’ she said.

They both shook their heads.

As soon as she left, Razz said, ‘I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me again.’

‘Why ever not? I had a great time. I loved going down Gaping Gill. It was so thoughtful of you to arrange that.’

‘Yeah, when I wimped out… At one point, I thought I was going to vomit in front of you. Just at the thought of going down there.’

‘You were a little pale.’

‘And with you loving adventurous activities – you must have thought I was a right wuss.’

‘I said I loved adventurous activities but… well, I don’t. It was Kate’s idea. She said my profile sounded boring and I needed to pep it up a bit.’

‘So basically, you lied?’

Jo nodded. ‘Lied is a bit strong. I tried to keep it vague. Adventurous activities could mean anything. And art – well, who doesn’t like looking at waterlilies and sunflowers?’

‘You’re not into art either?’

‘Er… no. Not really. My only hobbies are playing Scrabble and watching ER. Sad, I know.’

‘ER?’

‘Yeah, it’s a medical drama.’

‘I know what it is, Jo.’

He took another sip of his water.

‘So I took you to Gaping Gill, and you pretended that you loved it…’

Jo opened her mouth to say that she hadn’t been pretending, she had loved it, but he was speaking so quickly that she couldn’t get a word in.

‘…and the whole time, I felt like an idiot because I was too scared to do it. I planned that afternoon especially for you because I liked your profile.’

‘I liked yours too,’ she said.