29. JACK
29
JACK
T he morning after the party, a lurch of guilt rouses me. My phone . Where the fuck is it?
But then, almost immediately, I notice Elly sleeping next to me, and the guilt calms. If Elly is here, everything is all right. The rest can wait.
A strip of light between the curtains falls over the bed, leaving her in the spotlight. Which is exactly where she should be, and where I’ll make sure she is once we’ve got her over whatever block is holding her back from owning her talent.
She’s sleeping on her front, her mass of curls spilling over my pillow, her back rising and falling in a relaxed rhythm. I can’t believe she’s here. It’s the same feeling every morning, as though I’m drifting through a dream. After all the years of barbs and teasing and ridiculous banter… and how many times she’s pissed me off in the past… I’ve known her for a decade, more or less, but never like this. Never soft and vulnerable and mine .
I stroke a fingertip down her spine, and she murmurs into the pillow. “Let me sleep. You’ve exhausted me.”
Her grumpy voice brings a smile to my lips and warms my heart. Fuck, I’m in too deep with this woman, but I don’t care . I kiss her shoulder blade. “You have to get up, El.”
“Why? It’s Sunday.”
“Because I booked you into a mate’s studio. Recording time.”
She jolts up to sitting, eyes wide and pinned on me, but I’m staring at her perfect breasts because she’s just exposed them and it’s been a good couple of hours since I last saw them. I reach for one, needing to run my finger over that small pink nipple. Elly slaps my hand away. “You did what?”
I shift back, surveying her, trying to get a read on this reaction. “Are you mad?”
“No.” She squeals and throws her arms around my neck, kissing me full on the mouth. It only takes a second for what was an excited slam of her lips to mine to turn into something else entirely, and I break off before I get too aroused. “We have to stop...”
“Do we?”
“Today, yes.”
She shoots me a sly look before she jumps out of bed, and I get a tantalising glimpse of her naked form before she disappears into the bathroom. My bathroom. I hear the water turn on and a blissful satisfaction rolls over me. She’s showering in my shower.
I must be far gone for her if the fact she’s making herself at home in my space makes me feel like this… all warm and contented.
The doorbell rings, hauling me from my thoughts. Who is here this early on a Sunday?
I push back the covers, pull on a hoody and boxers, and head downstairs. As I approach the door, the bell rings again. Whoever is out there is impatient. Maybe even irate.
When I open the door, Kate is standing on the doorstep, wrapped up in a coat and scarf. She has a furious expression on her face and at first she doesn’t acknowledge me, instead tilting her head and peering over my shoulder as though she’s looking for someone else, but, seeing no one, she fixes her gaze on me and holds out my phone without a word.
I have no idea what she’s thinking, or why she’s decided to deliver my phone in person despite the fact she must have a cracking hangover after last night. Cautiously, I take it from her. “Thanks. Where was it?”
“The table outside the bathroom. Exactly where you said you left it. I found it this morning.”
“That’s weird. I swear I check—”
“Are you sleeping with Elly?”
The question cracks out like an accusation, and my heart rolls like a die. “You looked at my phone?” I squeeze the handset tighter, panic setting in that Kate has been riffling through my photos.
Kate draws back, her upper lip curling. “Of course I didn’t look at your phone.” She says it with such disdain, as though it’s insulting that I’m asking whether she would invade my privacy like that, and I know in a flash of clarity that she never would.
Still standing on the doorstep, Kate stamps her feet one after the other, not in irritation, but because it’s so cold out here. I’m being rude, not letting her in, so I back up against the front door, opening it wider, and she brushes past me towards the kitchen. I follow behind, aware of a prickling sensation inside my body, as though it’s preparing for a fight.
In the kitchen, Kate paces back and forth, twisting one of the buttons on her coat. I stand still, watching her until she halts and brings her attention to me. “Is it true? Are you sleeping with her?”
“Why are you asking?”
“Mum told me you were. She’s freaking out because apparently you and Elly were going at it in the bathroom of Nico’s flat last night.”
“Mum? But how—”
“She phoned me this morning at the crack of dawn to ask for confirmation, and I couldn’t give it to her. And you know what I thought? I thought, there’s no way Jack would screw around with my best friend.” The look on Kate’s face is one of desperation, and her voice is thin. She’s speaking fast and it feels like my brain has to do cartwheels to catch up. “There’s just no way you’d do that, right? Especially not in Nico’s flat. That’s my home . I thought, surely he wouldn’t fuck my best friend in the bathroo—”
“Shit. Kate, hold on a sec.” I hold up a hand to stave her off. “I just woke up.”
Kate pauses. “Is it true? Did you fuck Elly in—”
I let out a groan, and in response Kate lets out a little gasp, one hand rising to cup her mouth. “You did. Oh, my God. How could you? She’s my best friend and I love her and if you are using her because it’s convenient, I swear I will—”
“I’m not. That’s not what this is. Fuck’s sake. Is your opinion of me that low?”
The silence that follows is so onerous I wonder if it could crush us. Kate’s eyes look watery, and my breathing turns shallow. “There’s no evidence to the contrary,” she admits, although she looks heartbroken to say it. “You’ve never been serious about anyone. I guess I didn’t think you could do it, and when I heard it was Elly this time, I panicked. I don’t want her to get hurt.”
An uncomfortable squeeze occurs in my chest. “Fuck, Kate.” The words come out low and deep, and I rub a hand down my face. Kate winces in response, as though she knows I’ve taken a hit.
We stare at one another, and I can’t get mad at her because, as much as I wish she wasn’t, she’s right. I’m not sure I thought I had it in me to have a serious relationship, or if I even wanted to, either. This thing with Elly, and how gloriously fucking happy it makes me, has come as a surprise.
Kate puts a hand to her forehead. “Can I get a glass of water? I feel like crap.”
I get a glass, fill it, and hand it to her. She gulps half of it before setting it down on the table. She leans her hand next to it, as though she might fall over without the support.
I wait a few moments in case Kate has anything else to say, but when she doesn’t speak, I do. “Did Mum say how she knew?” A nasty sensation ripples through me, bringing with it a certainty I don’t need to voice, but I do anyway. “It was Lydia, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. She told Mum she caught you coming out of the bathroom. Said the two of you looked guilty as sin, and the noises...” Kate presses two fingers between her brows and shuts her eyes, while I cringe because it makes me sound like a teenager who can’t keep his dick in his pants. She clears her throat, making eye contact when she continues. “Lydia was very upset about it. She really likes you. And Mum loves her. I think the two of them had plans to see you going down the aisle before Easter, and now you’ve gone and messed it all up for the sake of a ‘quick fuck in the loo’.” Kate uses her fingers as quotation marks. Are those the words Mum used? Jesus.
“That’s nonsense.”
“Not to Mum, it isn’t. She’s been screaming at me over the phone, saying you’re a deviant and she’s on her way back to London to rescue you from the clutches of ‘that harlot’.”
I cover my face with my hands. “Oh, fuck.”
“Fuck is right. And you know she’s always thought Elly’s a loose cannon. Can’t get her head around the ‘wants to be a musician’ thing. Thinks she’s a wastrel.” Kate fills her cheeks with air and blows it out. “Didn’t help that you were always complaining about how she never paid her rent on time.” Filled with regret, I let my eyes flicker shut for a moment. “And now she’s convinced Elly’s a she-devil who’s dead set on seducing her perfect son. She’s coming to stage an intervention.”
“She can’t do that.”
Kate lets out a sharp burst of laughter that sounds anything but amused. “This is Mum we’re talking about. She can do anything she wants. She left half an hour ago so if you don’t want her smashing your door down and carving Elly’s insides out, then you need to get out of the house.” Kate picks up her water and finishes the rest. “You’ve put Elly right in the firing line. Don’t fuck with her. She’s important to me, and if you break her heart, I will skewer yours and cook it on the barbecue.”
There’s something adorable about just how hard Kate is willing to fight for Elly, but it still annoys me. “I’m not fucking with her, but that’s all I’m giving you because this is none of your business. In fact, you’re nearly as bad as Mum, coming round here to ask me about this. It’s interfering and—”
“Totally different. Mum’s coming because she doesn’t like Elly. I’m here because I love her.”
Kate’s words make my heart hurt, for a variety of reasons. “Neither of you trust me, though.” She bites into her bottom lip, shame washing over her face, and when it’s apparent she’s not going to contradict me, I check my watch. “Elly and I have to head out soon. We’re going to a recording studio.”
“You’re what?” Kate asks, eyes wide.
“I booked her studio time, so she can record her—”
“You did that for her?” Kate sputters.
“Yeah, at Elmwood Studios.”
Kate’s lips part in a soundless ‘ wow .’ And it is impressive; there’s no better place to record than Elmwood.
“I’ve set up all her social media channels too, so she can stream the music and make the videos. I’ve roped in one of the guys from the marketing team at work. Derek. Do you know him?” I continue, and Kate nods. “He does freelance for creatives, so he knows what he’s doing in terms of positioning her.” Excitement is burning through me, destroying my previous annoyance. The feeling is exactly the same as when I’m at work on a project that’s definitely going to come off. It’s a buzz… a high, and I know Kate can feel it emanating from me.
“Okay, wow,” she says, in little more than a whisper. “You’re invested.”
“Hey.”
The two of us turn to the sound of Elly’s voice. She’s standing there in the doorway, looking beautiful and happy and like she’s been fucked all night, and at the sight of her I want to do it all over again. I have to hold myself back from pushing my sister out of the house so I can get on with it.
Elly’s smile falters, taking in whatever it is she can see on our faces. She looks from Kate to me, then back to Kate. “What’s going on?”
“I came to return Jack’s phone. He left it at Nico’s last night.”
Under Kate’s gaze, Elly’s cheeks turn a little red. “Oh.” There’s a long, uncomfortable silence, only broken when Elly whispers, “You know.” Kate quirks a brow, inviting clarification. “About us,” Elly adds sheepishly.
“Yeah,” Kate says. “I do. Can we talk?”
The two of them seem to have forgotten I’m there, so I announce that I’m going for a shower, and walk towards Elly. If we were alone I’d kiss her or pull her against me, but with Kate staring at my back, I can’t do any of that. I’m about to keep walking past when Elly grabs my hand.
“You lost your phone?” she hisses, quiet enough that Kate won’t be able to hear.
I shrug one shoulder. “Last night. But it was only at Nico’s. I knew it was safe.”
Her brow creases, and her blue eyes are pools of worry. “The photos. You deleted them, right?”
My pulse beats in my ears. Would it be wrong to lie, if it soothes her concern? Without thinking it through, I commit to the falsehood. “Yes.” It’s only a white lie. I’ll delete them as soon as I have a moment.
Elly sags with relief. “Okay.” She puts her hands on either side of my face and kisses me, brief and soft, and when it’s over I don’t hang around to hear whatever Kate has to say about it. I need to shower and get the fuck out of the house before Mum decides to show her face.
I’m halfway up the stairs when I take my phone from the pocket of my hoody and select every one of Elly’s beautiful photos, intending to delete them. But right as my thumb hovers over the button, I can’t press it. She’s so beautiful, the photos so sexy, and what if this thing between us doesn’t work out? What if Kate warns her off, and all I have left at the end are these pictures?
I can’t delete them. I can’t.