. . . a question
‘Scholly!’ a man calls out as he strides over to Noah, coming in for a hug and a pretty solid thud on the back. ‘How’s it been slumming it across greater Europe? You look rested.’
‘Hardly,’ Noah says as they laugh. ‘Where’s Ally?’
A gorgeous redheaded woman appears behind him, teetering in wedge sandals, and immediately throws her arms around me. The surprise is enough to nearly knock me clean off my feet. I feel Noah’s hand fly to the small of my back, subtly anchoring me in place.
‘Amorie, it’s so nice to meet you! Although I have to say, I feel like I already know you. How is it going? How’ve your travels been? How are you finding Milan? Sorry, I’m chatty!’ She pauses for breath and a small self-aware giggle.
‘Ally’s your biggest fan,’ Noah’s friend adds, extending a hand. ‘I’m Jake, by the way. Me and Scholly go way back.’
He shakes my hand vigorously.
‘Nice to meet you both,’ I say. ‘Scholly?’
Noah grunts. ‘Forget about it. Stupid nickname. There’s a train in fifteen, so we could probably get snacks first.’
Jake stifles a laugh. ‘Train? You’re so cute. I booked a driver,’ he says brassily.
I watch as Noah’s eyes narrow. ‘You didn’t say anything about a driver.’
‘It’s my treat, don’t worry,’ Jake says, turning and indicating for us to follow.
I study Noah in the car, watching his back pull straight as he eyes Jake’s movements closely.
We whizz through all the small-talk standards, from careers to pets’ names, but Noah stays silent the whole while, his jaw wired shut.
On leaving the car, Jake, Ally and I gasp, stunned by the crystal lake and the lush rolling hills.
Noah doesn’t react. I’m not sure he even looks out.
He’s still eyeing Jake with a stern pout on his lips.
Jake leads us towards the water and I pull back, hoping to check in with my confusing companion, but it’s no use.
His pace grows step by step until he’s practically riding Jake’s tails.
Which is weird enough, until I notice Jake subtly clocking Noah in the corner of his eye and picking up speed too.
My jaw grows slack as I watch the two of them speed walk whilst they not-so-subtly try to pretend that they’re not even trying.
‘They always do this.’ Ally sighs.
I don’t know when she dropped back to walk with me, but it’s nice not to be entirely alone.
She looks out at the boys, disappointment in her eyes before she grabs a bottle from her bag and lazily applies sunscreen.
She holds the bottle out to me and I take it, nodding in appreciation as she continues to explain.
‘Football games, nights out, hell, even group dinners . . . They always have to try to get one up on each other. They pretend it’s not a thing, but anyone with eyes can see it is. Boys, eh?’ She stops only to roll her eyes.
‘Is there a reason?’ I ask.
I scan my brain and think of ones for myself . . . Resentment, an old family feud, some deep-seated trauma . . . but she just shrugs.
‘Testosterone, I guess. I don’t know. They’ve been like this as long as I’ve known them.’
She shoves the cream back in her bag, taking the moment to also shed her shirt, revealing the top half of a gorgeous blue gingham swimming costume.
The bright blue pops against her deep, cascading auburn hair, which she promptly throws into a ponytail before donning a baseball cap.
I wish I’d brought cuter swimwear. I only have one green triangle bikini that I bought on sale in Primark over three years ago.
As we walk towards the water, I think about the competition and the way Noah’s been on edge since meeting up with Jake. If this is how they are in everyday life, no wonder he had to leave. I can only imagine how it feels to be single around people you’re always trying to compete with.
We join the boys at the water’s edge and Jake immediately leads us aboard a bright-white yacht. I’ve never been on one before, but Jake and Ally look at home. Noah, however, has tensed up again.
‘You promised we’d keep things low-key.’ Muttering, he steps closer to Jake. ‘Nothing is low-key about a private yacht.’
Jake laughs again, this time a fraction smugger before giving Noah a vaguely condescending pat on the back.
‘You’d do the same for me,’ he says, blasé. ‘You know, if you could.’
Then he walks to the bow, Ally gleefully following behind him.
‘You know, Max was here the other week,’ Jake tells Noah, as we walk. ‘Got his Italian boat licence and sailed the whole lake himself. I’m considering getting mine too.’
‘Of course you are,’ Noah mumbles saltily under his breath.
I watch him closely, carefully monitoring his level of discontent. How much of this is standard? At what point do I intervene?
Jake continues, ‘He gave some route recs that I’ve passed on to our driver.
Said there’s one of those inflatable obstacle courses not far from here, actually.
’ He tries to steady his voice and look ahead, faking coyness and hiding his enthusiasm, but it’s written all over his face.
Noah’s too. Their spines have straightened at the mere thought of an obstacle course.
I can already see Noah subtly flexing his muscles as their chins both tilt higher.
‘How far away did he say it was?’ Noah asks, chomping at the bit.
‘About thirty minutes from here. So easy enough to get to . . . if we wanted to, of course.’
The pair of them look hilarious, both pretending not to care despite their tense frames and deeply hungry eyes. I catch Ally’s eyes and share a small smile. She can see it too – it’s just a question of which one of them will break first.
‘I think it could be fun . . .’ Noah says.
The soft yes sparks Jake into action. ‘Well, then, in that case—’
‘I don’t think we should,’ Ally interjects.
The boys’ heads snap towards her in tandem, shocked to find the foil to their ruse, but she holds both gazes in her stride, as sure as ever.
‘You two are ruthless with these things. If we go to that obstacle course, it will take over our whole day,’ she says.
Jake snorts. ‘What’s wrong with that? We don’t have anything else planned. We literally said we’d play the day by ear.’
‘Yes, as the four of us. Together. That won’t happen if you two leave us waiting on the boat while you run up and down inflatables. So I have two propositions. The first is that we don’t go, and we spend the day sunbathing and drinking on deck as planned.’
Jake swallows, his jaw tensing. I can see Noah’s shoulders start to sink as well. She’s like a parent who’s taken away their shiny new toy. And she’s loving every second of having the control over these grown men.
‘What’s the second proposition?’ Jake asks. His bottom lip starts to jut out but he quickly pulls it back, resisting the urge to sulk.
Her eyes flit to me, showcasing a mischievous glint as she tries to hide an emerging smile. I know that smile very well. That’s the smile of a schemer. I brace myself for her next move.
‘My second proposition,’ she says, ‘is that we go, but we tag-team it. Me and Jake versus Noah and Amorie.’