Enemies to Lovers

Chapter 11

11

It’s no surprise that Jamie is still sound asleep when I slip off for my morning jog, but when I get home he’s coming down the stairs as I’m trying to go up. Neither of us stops to let the other go by, so we get closer and closer and, with every step I take, my heart starts thumping louder. I still feel … things , about what he said last night. He wants me to want him? Was he joking, or being drunkenly truthful? I don’t want to be a ‘pick me’ girl, waiting for Jamie to change his mind and then flinging myself at him. I have far too much self-respect for that. And he probably doesn’t even remember. It wouldn’t be admissible in court, that’s for sure.

I force myself not only to look up, but to hold his eye, too. I cannot be made bashful from his slurred half-confessions. He will not make me feel small! He’s fresh from the shower, hair wet across his forehead, and the stubble chasing his jawline looks blond from the sun. I give him a hint of a smile – I surprise myself with how coy it feels – and Jamie relents, stepping aside to let me pass.

‘Morning,’ I say brightly, and he winces for effect. I reward him with a laugh.

‘Scale of one to ten,’ he begins, and there’s only about six inches between his face and mine.

Anticipation gurgles in my hips. Hmmm, something has definitely shifted between us. It’s almost imperceptible, but it’s as if we’ve found the frequency that works. The energy between us is different this morning. I think it’s been trying to find this frequency the whole time.

‘How much did I embarrass myself last night?’ he asks.

I take a dramatic in-breath and suck in my cheeks, looking to the ceiling like I’m weighing up all my evidence. ‘Put it this way,’ I say. ‘I’ve got enough ammo to lord over you for maybe a month? Possibly two?’

He shakes his head like he believes it. ‘Goddammit,’ he mutters. If he’s going to say something else he stops himself and settles instead on: ‘Coffee. I’m going to go and find some coffee.’

I feel like I’ve got the upper hand. And the notion of that – of Jamie feeling uncertain in my presence for once – makes me feel emboldened. And so I reach out to the collar of his T-shirt, a faded Ralph Lauren yellow thing that makes his tan look practically mahogany, and say, ‘You’re crooked.’

Jamie’s jaw slackens and his lips part, and I can feel him holding his breath as I put my hands around his neck and smooth down the fabric. I focus on what I’m doing, but it’s a challenge: his gaze is trained on me, and he tips his head to one side quizzically, making those six inches between us only five. I can feel his brain whirring. I finish fixing his T-shirt and tap a hand to the smooth muscle of his chest.

‘There,’ I say, my voice low.

Downstairs, by the pool, only Mum is up, and she says she’s going to the market.

‘Oh,’ I say, ‘you know I’d love to offer to come, but I was going to stretch out my hip flexors after my run. I’m not sure what I’ve done, but my right hip has been niggling me since we got here.’

‘Oh, gosh,’ Mum replies. ‘You know, it’s different terrain here, isn’t it? I had a similar thing when we were in Sicily, when you were about eleven, I think. I’ll go, don’t worry. Set the table once you’re done?’

‘Deal,’ I say. And then, because I’m all in my feelings this morning, I open my arms and give her a hug. She’s visibly taken aback.

‘I won’t ask why,’ she says, with a squeeze. ‘I’ll just take it.’

When she’s gone Jamie says, ‘I hope you’ve got your sun cream on.’ I hadn’t realised he’d stopped swimming – I was totally in my head. He stands up in the pool, rivulets of water cascading down his lithe, tanned body. His collarbones jut out with pride, his pecs swell with satisfaction. He wipes his face with a colossal hand and shakes his hair back from his face. It’s like being spoken to by a real-life model.

‘I don’t actually,’ I respond, from where I’m standing near the veranda. He looks at me, blinking. It’s that face again, except whereas before it used to drive me mad that it was impassive and blank, impossible to read, now I see it for something else: a dare. Curiosity about what I’m going to do next. ‘You offering to help?’ I add.

The right side of his full lips curls enough to let me know that he absolutely is. I mirror the gesture, and grab my bag from where it’s hanging inside the kitchen door. I hold the sun cream in my hand, my invitation for him to climb out of the pool.

He puts a foot up to the edge – an easy feat for him, from the shallow end – and lunges upwards. His walk is lazy, like a Southern drawl. He’s in no rush. Like a panther in the forest keeping a steady eye on its prey, he gestures to the sun-lounger where his towel is, and I go towards him.

‘Such a gentleman.’ I don’t know why I say it, but I do. When Adonis was here, I was struck by how smiley he was when he spoke to me, his features expressive and open. He didn’t have any fear around owning his interest. It’s different with Jamie. There’s too much at stake, too much to lose. Every sentence is like a move on the chessboard, careful and loaded and unclear. I’m playing with fire.

Jamie responds by wiping a finger at the side of his mouth, a bit like you would when an especially tasty-looking pasta is put down in front of you. He takes the bottle and uses a hand on my shoulder to spin me round.

I hear him open the lotion and squirt some into his hand.

‘Good run this morning?’ he asks, as his hands find my back. I am transported back to Christmas, the first time his hand lingered on my lower hip as he squeezed past me in the kitchen. There’d been plenty of room, no squeeze necessary. But that’s where it had all started.

‘Nice,’ I reply, as he reaches the back of my bikini. ‘Just 10 k, down around town and up through the hills to get back.’

‘Do you want me to go under the strap?’ he murmurs, the movement of his fingers slowing down. ‘Or …?’

My voice sticks in my throat. I have to will myself to speak. I’d much rather close my eyes and let his hands do whatever they damned well please. I think of that first night playing volleyball, and of my disappearing bikini top. I tell him, ‘It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.’

He lets out a gruff chuckle. ‘True,’ he replies. ‘But a gentleman never pervs and tells.’

‘I’d never pegged you for one of those,’ I shoot back, reaching behind to pull on the string of my top so that it comes undone. I put an arm over my chest in case anybody comes out, but then that is half the thrill.

‘If you never had me pegged as a gentleman,’ Jamie says, and he works his way perilously close to my left boob, ‘that’s your problem.’

I don’t know what to say to that.

‘And yet here we are,’ he continues, voice low. He keeps his hands on me, running down the length of my torso so that his fingertips all but graze my nipple and I gasp. I am most definitely protected from the sun with the thorough job he has done. He’s showing off, now.

Jamie gently takes the string of my bikini from in front of me, leaning in so that I feel his breath on my skin. I move my neck, a silent invitation. But he doesn’t take it. The agony of this is painful, and delicious. I’m buzzing at a cellular level. I’m thinking a million things and nothing, all at once. I close my eyes and take a breath.

When I turn round, I get to see those grey eyes and blank expression.

‘We’re doing a good job of being nice to each other today, aren’t we?’ I ask quietly.

‘It’s almost like we’ve declared a ceasefire.’

‘Almost,’ I retort.

He breaks into a huge grin, like he can’t hold it back. It makes me smile, too, and we stand, in a kind of smile-off, something shifting between us yet again.

‘Morning,’ Laurie yells from across the pool. It breaks our spell. Goddamn this family! Always interrupting things.

‘Morning,’ Jamie shouts back.

‘Morning,’ I say, quickly doing my top back up.

When I’m done, I hold out a hand.

‘Friends?’ I ask. ‘Officially?’

Jamie takes my hand and gives it a firm shake.

‘Friends,’ he says, holding on to me for a second longer than a friend should.

‘Pretty lady!’

The voice comes from around the side of the house, and it comes from Adonis. I’m in the middle of trying to list all the states in America quicker than Laurie can. Why? I have no idea. Somehow it came up, and then somehow it became a competition.

‘Adonis!’ Mum says, opening her arms to issue two air-kisses. ‘I’m so glad you could come. It’s Flo’s hip, you see …’

‘You missed Hawaii,’ Jamie says, pointing at Laurie’s sheet of paper. ‘And Missouri,’ he adds, forcing me to scream, ‘Adonis! Hi. Jamie – fucking stop it.’

Jamie holds up his hands in surrender like he didn’t realise meddling was such a big deal, and Adonis approaches with his brow furrowed, wondering what the hell is going on.

‘Oh, New York State ,’ I mutter to myself, going back over my list and forcing myself to remember what I’m missing.

‘You didn’t even get New York State?’ Laurie teases, before obviously writing it down himself.

I am determined to beat him. Absolutely determined. Kate, Jamie and Alex have gathered around us like we’re playing a grandmaster chess final in fifties Soviet Russia, everyone with bated breath and narrowed eyes, trying to figure out who has the smarts to emerge victorious.

Mum and Dad wander over, Dad saying, ‘Adonis! Hello.’ Alex points at my list and says, ‘You need to think about what others begin with M … ’

I’ve got Maine, Massachusetts (which I don’t think I’ve even spelled right), Michigan … Gah, this is so annoying! I know Americans all learn a song that helps them remember the states, but as a Brit I never have, and it turns out I might lose this stupid competition because I can only think of thirty-nine.

‘You’re seeing Florence at her most authentic right now,’ Mum explains to Adonis. ‘In competition with her brother, over something inconsequential but deadly serious …’

Adonis laughs. ‘I think she might have achieved her strength this way, no?’ he offers, and Dad laughs.

‘Oh no,’ he says. ‘That’s from her mother. All of our children are incredibly pig-headed and, quite frankly, we’ve got no idea where that’s from, have we, Vee?’

‘None at all,’ Mum laughs.

‘Minnesota!’ I blurt out, when I eventually think of an M state that’s missing.

‘Finally,’ Alex comments, and I give him the finger without looking up.

‘I’m on forty-three,’ says Laurie.

‘Bullshit,’ I hoot. ‘No way. Somebody check his working,’ I instruct. I hear Adonis say to Jamie, ‘So the game is … writing down places in America?’

‘All the states, yeah,’ nods Jamie, not altogether warmly.

‘I saw your friend Jasmine at the food market,’ Adonis tells him, and I hold my pen still above my paper to listen.

Laurie has paused too, though – we’re both running out of steam.

‘She’s not really my friend …’ Jamie says, and Adonis cocks an eyebrow.

‘I understand,’ he replies, butting his shoulder against Jamie’s arm.

Jamie sees me look up. ‘It’s not like that,’ he presses on, telling Adonis but, oddly, looking at me.

I cast my eyes back down quickly. It’s none of my business if Jamie’s ‘friend’ Jasmine says hi. Jamie said he wants me not to hate him, but this is a mark in the ‘he must have just said it drunkenly without meaning it’ column.

‘Laurie has thirty-nine states,’ Dad announces, leaning over Laurie’s shoulder and putting a line through his duplicates. ‘You’re neck-and-neck.’

‘Siri,’ Alex says to his phone, ‘set a timer for ninety seconds.’

Siri beeps confirmation and Kate stage-whispers to both of us, ‘Neither of you has the Dakotas!’

I scribble down North Dakota and South Dakota , and that triggers a mental map that means I suddenly remember Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska.

‘Stop her from writing,’ Laurie yells, pointing at my moving pen. ‘She’s cheating!’

‘How can I be cheating?’ I say, full of glee – Laurie hasn’t written anything after the Dakotas.

‘Five …’ Alex says, holding up his phone. ‘Four …’

Everyone else joins in now. All of us, bar Laurie, shout: ‘Three … two … one …’

Siri sounds her alarm, and Laurie throws down his pad of paper and his pen petulantly.

‘That’s not very sportsmanlike,’ I point out. ‘Aren’t you going to tell me: Congratulations, the best man won?’

Laurie rolls his eyes and holds out a hand. As I reach for it, he pulls it away and slicks his hand back through his hair, like an eight-year-old.

‘Very cool,’ I tut. ‘Very mature.’

I watch him walk away and dive-bomb into the pool, Mr Moody Pants because his little sister is smarter than him.

‘Well,’ Mum says, ‘I’d rather Laurie lost than Florence. Then we’d know about it!’

‘Oh, really?’ laughs Adonis.

‘Absolutely,’ says Mum. ‘When she was fifteen she once lost at Monopoly and she didn’t speak to any of us for almost seventy-two hours.’

‘And when we went on that adventure holiday when we were about twelve and she lost at archery,’ offers Alex.

Even Kate offers her twopence-worth. ‘Flo once tipped over the Scrabble board at the pub because she was losing. Said it was an accident, but we all know it wasn’t …’

I am aghast that my family would all pile on and assassinate my character in this way.

‘Adonis won’t want to play Dobble if you scare him with stories like this,’ I declare. ‘Shush, the lot of you!’

I didn’t know Mum had asked Adonis to come and look at my hip, but it’s feeling okay after a good post-run stretch. Instead of a massage, I motion for Adonis to sit and I take the seat next to him. Laurie sloshes about in the pool noisily.

‘Who’s in?’ I say, reaching for the cards.

‘Me,’ says Jamie, sitting opposite me.

‘Anyone else?’ I ask. Kate shakes her head, Mum and Dad pull a face that I take to mean not on your nelly , and Alex looks between us all and decides, ‘Nah. I’m going to challenge Laurie to an underwater handstand competition.’

‘Fine,’ I say. ‘Just us three, then.’ I look between Jamie and Adonis. ‘Ready?’

‘As soon as you explain what I must do,’ Adonis says. ‘Yes.’

I click my fingers and point at him. ‘Fair enough,’ I reply. ‘Right. Well, Dobble is a kids’ game, really. There’s a massive pile of cards, and you all have to race to match the symbols on them. See here? There’s an ice cube, sunglasses, a knight …’ Adonis nods. ‘I like it because it gets you properly thinking,’ I say. ‘And when you get into the rhythm of it, you feel really clever.’

Jamie laughs. ‘And when everybody else is matching them really quickly and you get stuck in a rut, it’s horrible ,’ he says.

‘Okay then,’ Adonis smiles. ‘I’m ready.’

Dad delivers a big jug of water and some glasses with his cursory pun. ‘Did you ever hear the joke about hydration?’ he asks us, and on account of having heard this for my whole entire life, I don’t answer.

‘No,’ Jamie supplies. ‘Because it’s no laughing matter.’

Dad smacks him on the shoulder good-naturedly. ‘Good man,’ he says. ‘Now drink up!’

Jamie grabs the cards and starts dealing them out, and as he catches my eye he … smirks. I quickly focus on the cards and on what he’s doing, watching his big hands deftly flick between the three of us. I have to reach and get a glass of water, taking it down in big, deliberate gulps.

‘Ready?’ Jamie asks, to which Adonis and I say, ‘Ready!’

And we’re off. Adonis does great, considering it’s his first time, matching ice cubes to ice cubes and pencils to pencils.

‘Dog!’ shouts Jamie, matching a pair, and then I yell, ‘Treble clef!’ and whack my card down too.

‘Treble clef?’ says Adonis. ‘What is that?’

But we don’t answer him, because now for every card I put down, Jamie puts one down, too. Adonis leans back in his chair, his beginner’s luck no match for my and Jamie’s determination, and I find myself leaping up so that I can stand over the piles, all the easier to win.

‘Yes!’ I say, getting rid of three cards in a row, and then a fourth. Jamie gets two. We go at it quickly, Jamie leaping out of his seat to get a better angle for doling out his cards rapidly, too. Bam, another. Bam, another. Bam! Another!

When we’re both left with a single card in our hands, we know we’re so close it’s painful and it suspends time for a moment. But then I see a small spider’s web that matches the spider’s web on my card and I throw it down with force and shout, ‘DOBBLE! Yes!’

Jamie drops his jaw and looks at me like he can’t believe it.

‘ No way! ’ he exclaims, and his expression is priceless.

‘Oh my god,’ I say. ‘You look like you’re about to cry. Are you okay?’ I put on a silly voice. ‘Is Jamie-Wamie not very good at being a loser ?’

He pulls a face, rising to my bait. ‘Two out of three,’ he says. ‘Because I guarantee you can’t do that again.’

I issue a hoot. ‘Ha!’ It’s not an attractive sound, but it’s an authentic one. ‘I don’t think I dare,’ I say. ‘Because when I do win again, you might actually cry, and then where would we be?’

‘Right,’ Jamie retorts. ‘That’s it!’

Before I realise what’s happening, he’s lunged at me, scooping me up and throwing me over his shoulder so that my butt is by his face and my legs are up in the air.

‘You’re getting dunked,’ he yells.

And I squeal, ‘No. I hate chlorine water on my face. NO!’

‘Lies!’ shouts Alex from the pool. ‘She says that all the time and it’s not true. Don’t believe her.’

Jamie lingers at the edge of the pool. ‘Who is telling the truth?’ he asks, his voice low and serious.

‘Me,’ I yell, still kicking. ‘I promise.’

‘Lies! Lies! Lies!’ Alex reiterates. ‘She was swimming underwater just this morning.’

‘I’m going to kill you, Alex,’ I holla.

And Jamie shifts me in his arms so that he’s dangling me over the water, holding me like a kid under the arms, as if I weigh nothing. I close my eyes as Jamie counts, ‘Three, two …’

Before he gets to one he launches me into the pool, flinging me with incredible muscle power so that I hit the water hard and sink to the bottom, where I find the tiles with my feet and use them to launch myself up. I come to the surface fast, wiping my face with a hand and catching my breath, to see Jamie holding his arms aloft at the side of the pool – the champion personified.

Well, revenge is sweet, dear Jamie Kramer.

‘I can’t believe you!’ I say, making a song and dance about being ‘upset’. I need to throw him off the scent, because I’ve got a plan …

I swim to the edge and hoist myself out, walking round the side like I’m furious, convincingly enough that even Laurie issues an ‘Oooooh!’ from the water.

‘Are you all right, Flo?’ Adonis asks, and I feel fleetingly guilty as I say, ‘No! Jamie is such an ass.’

‘Flo …’ Jamie says, walking towards me. ‘I was just messing around! I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.’

I dodge out of his path, in the direction of the water, so I’m closer to the edge of the pool. As Jamie comes near, I take my chance and grab his arm.

‘Gotcha!’ I cry, pulling him towards the water, and he yelps, ‘Flo!’

I give a pantomime laugh, and Laurie and Alex start to chant, ‘Dunk him! Dunk him!’

I pull and pull, side-stepping Jamie so that I’m behind and can give him a massively satisfying shove. But right at the last second, Jamie manages to grab me, so that as he falls over the edge I go with him and we hit the water together.

The force pushes my body into his, so that when we’re underwater we’re entwined. Everything slows down. When I was in the water alone, I came up for air so fast. But together, it’s like being on the pause button. I open my eyes underwater and see that he is doing the same – and he’s smiling. I give a small wave. Jamie waves back and then moves towards me, taking my hand so that we emerge at the top together. I take a gulp of oxygen and twist round to see where he’s gone, and he throws himself at me.

It becomes all-out war. I lob myself towards him when I break the surface again, getting enough force to dunk him successfully in return. Squealing with delight, I let him splutter, and then push off the side of the pool directly towards his legs underwater, where I manage to grab both sides of his shorts and pull.

‘Florence!’ he yells, horrified, as he scrambles to pull them back up. ‘This will result in your punishment,’ he intones, and I swim to the steps to climb out, happy that if I haven’t won the war, I have at least won this battle.

‘We should do water games,’ Adonis announces, taking in the feral performance we’ve just given him. ‘You guys are crazy!’

I flop down on a chair with my towel, catching my breath. Alex and Laurie are seated at one end of the pool, out of the way of the commotion that has occurred, and Jamie swims to go and sit with them.

‘Only if I’m on a team with these guys,’ Jamie says. ‘I want to whoop your asses!’

I slap my thigh, like what he’s said is the funniest thing in the world.

‘Me, Adonis and Kate against you three losers?’ I ask. ‘That’s barely a competition.’

‘And Mum,’ Laurie says. ‘You have to have Mum on your side, too.’

From her sunbed, Mum tuts, ‘I can actually hear you, Laurence, thank you very much. I’m not that much of a handicap, am I?’

Laurie and I look at each other, and I make a zip-across-the-mouth motion. Mum is, actually, that much of a handicap when it comes to water games, as we have all learned through experience. On land? She’s a beast. In the water? It’s actually embarrassing.

‘He’s trying to get in your head, Mum,’ I say. ‘Don’t fall for it. You can be our mascot if you want; even three-against-three, we’ll win.’

‘Game. On,’ Jamie yells, standing up and swiping a finger across his neck, as if we’re dead men walking already.

‘Right. A simple relay to start,’ Kate shouts, sitting in the shade with a whistle and a lemonade. She’s assigned herself judge status, so it’s two-against-three, with Dad prepared to help us out if we ask nicely enough.

‘I’m in a very meaty bit of my book, you see,’ he says. ‘But I’ll help if you need me to.’

I could never tear him away from his reading, so Adonis and I are going to do our best as a two.

Kate continues, ‘Everyone has to swim to the end of the pool and back, with Adonis going twice.’

‘Pfffft,’ yells Jamie. ‘Easy!’

‘Now, now, Kramer,’ Kate warns him. ‘This is only a warm-up game. Don’t get too cocky.’

As she says cocky , Jamie looks at me and winks. I screw up my face, making a show of being unimpressed.

‘Ready?’ asks Kate, and we tell her we are. ‘Go!’

Adonis dives into the pool, swimming against Laurie in long, smooth strokes that put my brother to shame. Adonis gets the lead and keeps it, getting back to tag me in seconds, before Laurie can tag Alex.

Alex is a good swimmer because he’s strong, even if he’s not the leanest man around. I’m trying my best to do big arms and measured breaths, but by the time I get to the other end of the pool and flip round to head back, Alex has the lead and I don’t swim so much as flail to catch up.

But I do catch up. And Jamie and Adonis dive into the pool for the final lap in seamless synchronicity, absolutely neck-and-neck.

‘Go on, Adonis,’ I cry, as the boys yell their support for Jamie.

At the far end of the pool, Jamie and Adonis are perilously close to each other, like they could physically bump into one another.

‘Did Jamie just hit Adonis?’ Alex asks, as they reach the wall and push back.

‘I don’t know,’ I say, watching Jamie take the lead. ‘Surely not …’

Adonis drops back slightly, but suddenly Jamie lurches in the water, coming to a shuddering stop, where Adonis overtakes.

‘Hey,’ yells Jamie, standing up in the pool. ‘You can’t do that!’

Adonis reaches the wall, Kate shouts, ‘And we have a winner’ and as he clambers out, he grins widely, happy and satisfied.

‘We won!’ I tell him, giving him a high-five.

‘We won,’ he repeats. He reaches over into the water to where Jamie is saying something about cheating – offering a hand that Jamie bats away.

‘I’ve got it,’ Jamie grumbles, and Adonis steps back.

‘Okay,’ declares Kate. ‘Let’s do some dive games. Laurie, can you get those sinking pool toys from the kitchen table?’

Laurie gives her a salute and runs off to find them, with Kate explaining that there are four sinking toys that will sit on the pool bottom, and each person in the team has to collect all four before they’re thrown back in for the next person.

‘Easy,’ I tell Adonis. ‘I can collect all four in one breath – I’m good at diving.’

‘She’s almost as good as me,’ stage-whispers Alex, and I shake my head like he’s nuts.

‘Have you always been like this?’ Adonis asks. ‘Doing competitions all the time?’

Laurie, Alex, Kate and I all answer at once. ‘Yes!’ we say and then laugh, because you either love it or need to get out of our way.

Adonis looks afraid.

‘You okay?’ I ask him. I’ve never hung out with a boy in a family setting before, never had somebody who is ‘mine’ (for lack of a better word) be in this situation. I quite like it. Alex has occasional boyfriends, but they don’t tend to last long, and of course Laurie and Kate have been a pair for years. As the little sister, I’ve always been bottom of the pecking order, but having Adonis here gives me status – a gravitas that is messing with what my brothers must think is the natural order of things. Even Jamie seems surprised at whatever new dynamic is coming into play right now.

Laurie re-emerges with the goods and proceeds to lob four toys at one end of the pool and four at the other.

‘It doesn’t matter which you get,’ instructs Kate. ‘You just need four. Go!’

I launch in, breezily grabbing my loot and emerging victorious. Kate throws them back in and sends in Adonis, as Laurie comes up with his.

‘Dammit,’ he says, as he realises we’re already beating him.

Adonis goes in, followed by Jamie. I see Adonis get one, but then Jamie swims really near him and gets the toys closest to him, making it harder for Adonis. As tactics go, I get the general idea: Adonis now has to swim further to get his. But Jamie is wasting time by blocking him. Adonis comes up for air as Jamie does, and Jamie blocks him again as he tries to go down.

‘Hey,’ I say. ‘Cheat!’

‘He cheated first,’ Jamie yells back, but then Adonis has the four toys he needs and it’s time for me to go again.

I have no idea what happens when I’m in the water, but by the time I get back up, I’m the only one who cares about my record-breaking and natural talent for underwater-toy accumulation, because everyone else is focused on Adonis and Jamie.

‘You can’t do that, man,’ Jamie is yelling, and Adonis is half laughing, half scared-looking as he says, ‘I apologise. I thought this was supposed to be fun. That’s all.’

‘Yeah, well …’ Jamie huffs, without finishing the sentence.

I swim to the edge and look up at them all. ‘What’s going on?’ I ask.

Nobody speaks; they all just look at each other as if they don’t know where to start.

‘Okay,’ I say. I climb out and drop my collected toys onto a nearby sun-lounger. ‘So who won?’

‘Urm …’ Kate murmurs, like she’s scared to say, in case we cause a riot over it. ‘It was a tie,’ she settles on. ‘Two points to each team.’

I have no idea what’s going on – everyone seems super-weird.

‘You good?’ I ask Adonis, because he’s the guest, after all.

‘Of course,’ he replies, giving me his adorable smile. ‘Although I do have to go soon. I have massages booked.’

‘Okay,’ I say to him, and then to the group at large, ‘This will have to be our last game, because I’m down to being a one-man team in a minute.’

‘Oh, Adonis, you can’t stay for something to eat?’ Mum asks, over the edge of her magazine.

Adonis shakes his head. ‘I must work,’ he says in his accented English, and Mum replies, ‘What a shame.’ To me he asks, ‘Can I see you later? Or tomorrow?’

I nod. ‘Sure,’ I say. ‘Just text me?’

‘Okay,’ he replies, and the way he looks at me – it’s hungry, and it makes my tummy do three somersaults in a row. Adonis wants me! With Jamie, it’s all so conflicting. What he says and what he does are at odds, don’t line up. Adonis and his intentions are crystal-clear. If Jamie doesn’t want me to hate him, he could start by taking a leaf out of Adonis’s book.

‘LAST GAME,’ Kate yells, ‘is the Pink Swan game.’

‘Oh god,’ groans Laurie. ‘I know what this means …’

‘Go on then,’ Kate invites. ‘Be my guest.’

‘The Pink Swan game is where you have to take a run and jump onto one of the big inflatable pink swans, paddle to the other side, get out, run and jump onto it again and get back to where you started, so that your teammate can have their turn. Am I right, or am I right?’

Kate rolls her eyes. ‘You’re right,’ she says. ‘Boys! Assemble the swans.’

Jamie hops into the pool with the swans, but they keep floating in all directions, so it’s decided that Dad will hold one at one side, and Mum will have to hold the other.

‘They’re not level,’ yells Alex. ‘Dad! Come forward.’

Dad inches forward and Alex reassesses.

‘Okay,’ he says. ‘Fine. I’m happy.’

I go first, against Laurie – Laurie is slightly in front, the jackass – and then Jamie and Adonis go.

‘Funny how they always seem to race each other, isn’t it?’ Alex comments as they thrash about like two hungry hippos running rampage in the lake of a national park.

‘Is it?’ I say, realising, as I speak, that it is, yeah.

They both climb out of the far side of the pool, and Mum and Dad grab the inflatables and hold them again. But before Adonis can run onto his, Jamie pushes him back so that he gets a head-start. Adonis stumbles, but isn’t fazed, and then instead of jumping onto his own inflatable, he lands on Jamie’s, pushing him off into the water.

‘Ah,’ says Alex, loving this turn of events. Are they doing this playfully? Or is it a fight? It seems pretty serious for two blokes who barely know each other … ‘Behold,’ he narrates, like he’s David Attenborough, ‘the peacocking rituals of the straight male. The tall Adonis, local to the area, is asserting his dominance over visiting breed Jamie, using his height and tan to wow the rest of the flock and take his place as alpha. Notice how Jamie is scrambling to give him a challenge, but is ultimately failing, perhaps from underestimating Adonis’s desire to show off to one Florence Greenberg.’

‘Shut up,’ I say, pulling a face. And although I do not approve of Adonis playing dirty, I scream for him to get to the finish line, so I can race Laurie. ‘Go on, Adonis,’ I yell, and Jamie looks up from where he’s trying to get on the other swan, hurt etched across his angry features. But he’s not on my team, is he? Why would I cheer him on?

I get on the swan, passing Jamie in the water, who hisses, ‘Your boyfriend is a dick.’

I glide by, climb out and am almost all the way back to the start as Laurie gets on his swan to complete the race.

‘You all right there?’ I ask, as I swim beside him in the opposite direction. ‘Not your finest hour, is it?’ I say.

To which Laurie cries, ‘Fuck it!’, gets off his swan and pulls me off mine, with everyone launching into the water for a massive water fight that mostly involves ducking each other, until Adonis grabs my hand in the water and pulls me round.

Except, it isn’t Adonis.

It’s Jamie.

‘Oh,’ I say, my lips parting in surprise. ‘Sorry,’ I continue, pulling quickly away. ‘I thought you were …’

Jamie sighs. ‘Isn’t it time for him to go?’ he says.

I don’t know how to reply to that. ‘Be nice,’ I say, and Jamie shrugs.

‘He just makes it so hard,’ he replies, and anger flares across my face. Why does Jamie get an opinion? I don’t have an opinion on Jasmine. And even if I did, it’s Jamie who told me he didn’t want me; Jamie who asked to never speak of our almost again. And I’ve done that! Because of my massive embarrassment, I haven’t uttered a word about it. But dear Lord, I could almost throw that back in his face now, if he thinks he can comment on who else I see. He’s so … so … so Jamie .

I climb out of the pool and wrap myself in a towel, and when Adonis comes over, I open it so it wraps around us both. I don’t care if it’s inappropriate around my family, I want to make my position clear to the one person I shouldn’t even care about at all – but here we are.

‘Thank you for having me,’ Adonis says. ‘I like your family very much. Although Jamie … I don’t think he’s my biggest fan. Is that how you say it?’

‘That’s how you say it,’ I smile. ‘And Jamie isn’t family,’ I explain. ‘He’s Laurie’s best friend.’

‘Oh,’ Adonis nods. ‘He’s not your brother?’

‘No,’ I shake my head.

‘Ah,’ Adonis nods again.

‘What?’

He shrugs. ‘Nothing,’ he says. ‘It’s nothing. I have to go now, but later, yes? See me later.’

‘Okay,’ I reply, and as Adonis kisses my cheek and says goodbye to everyone else, I can’t help but notice Jamie is shooting daggers at him – the only one not to say it was nice to see him.