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He pressed send. Not wanting to think about it any more. It was all too confusing.

A second later the screen flashed with her reply.

Erin: OMG, I’m so sorry. I thought I was texting my friend Fotina! Fox is next to her on my contacts list! Sorry!

Fox stared at the phone, surprised at the flat feeling in his stomach, but he made himself type out a quick reply.

Fox: Ha! No worries. Enjoy your night.

He stuffed the phone in his jogger pocket and hauled himself from the sofa, feeling even more unsettled than before. He was probably just tired and cranky. Maybe an early night was in order, and he could start again tomorrow. Switching the lights off as he made his way through the house to lock the back door, a flash of movement outside caught his eye. He strained to peer into the darkness, realising someone was moving on the patio by the pool. A dark figure, wearing a hood, moving towards the pool house.

Fuck. Robyn. His senses switched into overdrive, suddenly worried. Who was creeping around her house?

But then, Fox caught himself. Maybe she was having a late-night visitor. Just because he spent his evenings alone on the sofa didn’t mean that Robyn had to. Although, he didn’t know how he felt about that either.

The figure reappeared, alone, and as they passed the lights around the pool, he recognised the heart-shaped face beneath the hood, her pale skin luminous in the night. Fox watched as Robyn settled onto one of the sunbeds and lay flat on her back, looking up at the sky. He felt the twitch of a smile on his own face. What on earth was she doing?

He retrieved his phone and typed quickly.

Fox: You all right out there?

He watched her look at her phone and then shoot a glance at the house before typing a reply.

Robyn: All good. There’s going to be a meteor shower tonight. Want to watch with me?

Fox answered without a second thought.

Fox: Give me five.

Robyn: Fox . . .

Robyn: If you can turn the outside lights off . . .

Robyn: It will be much better in the dark.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Robyn

Robyn knew the exact moment that the meteor shower would be a good one. The moment Fox said he was going to join her. When he turned the exterior lights off, plunging the garden into pitch darkness, it suddenly felt like an event. Not just her popping out to watch the stars, which was something that she had done a thousand times before, in so many different places. It took her a moment to adjust, and she could feel the flicker of anticipation inside as she let her eyes get used to the black, broken only by the sweep of the torch around the side of the house. She felt her lips lift into a smile, even though Fox couldn’t see her.

‘Didn’t have this on my calendar for the weekend,’ Fox admitted, sounding slightly breathless as he threw himself down on the sunbed next to her.

‘Wouldn’t want you to miss out.’

‘So what’s happening then?’ he asked, adopting the same position as her, flat on his back, eyes trained on the sky.

‘Not a lot just yet, but soon it should kick off.’ Robyn took a wide sweep of the sky with her hand, indicating the glittering galaxies over her head. ‘And then tonight, if we’re lucky, we’ll see up to fifteen shooting stars an hour . . .’

‘Really?’ His voice lifted; she could hear his curiosity. ‘I’ve never seen a shooting star,’ he admitted.

‘Never?’ Robyn couldn’t help but be amazed. It was one of her favourite things to do, watch the night sky and spot a star as it streaked across space and time. It didn’t cost anything and made her feel rich. True, shooting stars were rare, and many nights she’d watched for nothing, but she still enjoyed the feelings that star watching evoked in her. But on nights like this, when there was a meteor shower, she could hardly wait for the view.

‘Never.’

‘Well, get comfy then, because this is going to blow your mind.’

Fox folded his arms behind his head and Robyn did the same, just the small poolside table between their beds.