Chapter 18 #3
Does that mean she’s been talking about me? Better be fucking good things. ‘What did you do for your parents to send you to boarding school?’ I ask. ‘Too many plans and schedules?’
‘You can never have too many plans or schedules. But I wasn’t in my organising prime back then. They just wanted to give me the best chances at life they could. Cheltenham is one of the best schools in the country.’
She might look and sound indifferent about it, but she plays with the lip of her glass. We sit there for a moment, children of absent parents, and the bond between us strengthens. We did find something else in common after all.
‘So Cai’s better than Topaz, then?’
‘In absolutely everything. Personality. Performance. His crew’s nicer. His Head of Security is a dream.’
‘A dream, huh? I heard he’s only that good because Cai has a highly-organised PA who keeps him in order.’
‘I’m brilliant.’
‘You fucking are,’ I breathe out, struck dead by her confidence. ‘Now you’ve chilled out a bit. I even like having you around. But when you first joined… sheesh!’
‘Still being mean, Rhys Pritchett?’
‘I’m only speaking the truth.’
‘Well, if it’s honesty you’re after – you were a nightmare to work with. I’ve never known anyone so disorganised in my life. Combative, too.’ She stares across the table at me, evil gleaming in her eyes. The corner of her mouth twitches.
‘Oh, now the true colours are coming out. Got a beer from me and now she’s throwing insults left, right, and centre. I’m keeping an eye on you, Luce. I saw the way you handled Jasper the Twat. I don’t want my balls crushed like his phone.’
She doesn’t reply, but the flush on her face shows how delighted she is with how the evening’s going. Fucking, yes.
I drain my drink without my smile fading, then check my watch.
It’s already late. We should get back to the house, but I’m not sure I want to say goodnight to her just yet.
At least we have the short drive to carry on chatting.
It’s ridiculous to think it’s the end of the fun, since we have the whole day together tomorrow, as well as the next however many weeks we’re out on tour.
She looks at her own watch and sighs. ‘Time to go?’
‘Yeah, I’m on earlies tomorrow to give Bryn a break, and I need my beauty sleep. It’s gonna be a long ass day.’ I collect the last of our rubbish, put it in the bin and wait for her to join me.
We walk to the car park, the same magnetic pull yanking me closer to her. I might not be able to tangle our legs together, but it’s easy to fall into step with her. Our hips and shoulders bump. We’re too engrossed in our conversation to bother checking before we cross the road.
‘Oy! Watch where you’re going.’
The frantic ringing of a bell’s the only extra clue I get that a cyclist is right on top of us. Fuck. I wrap an arm around Lucy, yanking her out of the way a second before a middle-aged man clad in lycra bombs along the road. He turns his head once he’s passed us, giving us the middle finger.
‘Yeah, fuck you too, fella.’ We stay glued to the pavement’s edge, and I check on Lucy. ‘You all right?’
She’s all flushed, her lips pursed, her chest heaving. So kissable, and it wouldn’t take much to lean in and close the gap. But she interrupts the moment by saying, ‘That was a close call,’ and repositions herself to link her arm through mine.
All thoughts of the almost accident slide from my mind. I look right, left, right, then cross the road, squeezing her closer to me to keep her safe.
We get to the car with no more incidents, and I open the door for her. ‘Thanks, my king,’ she tells me then slips into her seat.
‘You’re very welcome. Though I’d call myself more of a knight after that rescue. Would have lost your life, if it weren’t for me.’
The journey to the house’s way too short. This time I race around the car in time to open the door for her. Helped by her fussing with her bag. We step onto the porch, but when I go to open the door, it’s locked tight.
‘Didn’t you bring a key?’ she asks.
‘Yeah.’ I dig it out of my pocket and slide it into the lock. The door doesn’t give. ‘Must be deadlocked from inside.’
Bryn’s great, but he’s a fucking idiot. Locking up’s in the protocols, but he knew we were out.
Now I’ve gotta ring the bell, and someone’s gonna spot me and Luce together.
No chance of sneaking to one of our rooms to say goodnight properly.
A bit of a limp end to an otherwise brilliant evening. Almost being run over by a bike aside.
Fuck it. I press the button, wincing at the way the noise seems to echo through the manor.
Darkness presses in on us. The chirp of crickets and the occasional rustle of the trees around us fills the quiet the bell left.
Standing here next to Luce, waiting, the atmosphere loaded with expectation is too much to bear.
It’s like we’re in front of the chessboard, thinking ahead to the next move, but neither of us wants to take a leap.
Her feet remain rooted to the spot, and there’s no twist in her body towards mine. It’s on me to make the first move. I inhale deeply and inch one step across. Our arms graze against each other’s. She doesn’t flinch or step away from me. A good sign. What next?
She wriggles her fingers. A hint. I glance at them. Hand-holding before a cheeky kiss? Traditional, but I kinda like it.
Unless she’s winding me up. Planning on getting back at me for all the teasing I’ve done today. Any minute now, as soon as I take her hand, she’ll spin around and yell, ‘Psych!’ in my face, then run away.
Cool it. It’s not a piss take. We spent hours together. Three of them, with twenty minutes driving each way, but who’s counting? All the signs point in the right direction. She is interested.
Moving becomes the most unnatural thing for me. It’s janky, short, like electricity steers everything I do. I stretch my fingers, and the seconds slow as they cross the tiny distance. Then they brush hers. Her skins’s soft, warm, fucking delightful.
An owl hoots, and she flinches. I snap my hand away. Bollocks.
I risk another glance. Although she’s staring at the door, she’s smiling. Her chest rises and falls in heavy, laboured breaths. Yeah, me too, Luce. Her control’s thin like mine. Maybe she should make the first move, since apparently, I don’t know how to hold a girl’s hand.
No. It’s okay. I can do this. I’m thirty-fucking-five.
I’ve done more with a woman. And I have to act fast. It’s already been unusually long for someone to answer the door.
I’m surprised they’ve not disturbed us already.
I should ring again, act all impatient that nobody’s let us in, but I don’t. Instead, I wipe my hand on my jeans.
If only I could slow time, only for a moment so I can get this right. Hand-holding first. Once we’ve mastered that, I can pull her into my arms, whisper to her lips how much I like her, how much fun tonight was. Because fuck, I like her a lot and I really want to kiss her.
The anticipation is too much. I muster all of my courage and reach for her fingers. I’m nearly there. My pinky twists around hers. We’re close to some palm-on-palm action.
The door swings open, and I jerk my hand to my side.
She hisses something that sounds like a swear word through her teeth as Cai greets us, bouncing on his feet like a puppy.
All that’s left is for him to pounce on me, lick me within an inch of my life.
It might go some way to relieve some of the fucking tension in my body, my mind, and my pants, but it’s not his lips I want.
Sweat drips from his forehead, and he mops it off with the towel in his hand. His eyes flit from me to Lucy and back to me, his eyebrows flying into his stupidly messy fringe. We’ve been caught, and I’ll never hear the end of this. Fuck’s sake.