‘Stop looking at me!’ I hissed, slapping the backs of Matt’s legs until he turned to face forwards, staring bewilderedly at Jacob in the hope he might provide some answers. ‘Talk to me, Jacob,’ I barked.
I heard Jacob’s stool creak, picturing him doing his classic fake upper-body stretch, arms splayed out wide, body twisting from side to side as he snuck a glance over each shoulder whilst causing everyone within a 20-foot radius to turn and stare in his direction. Subtle it was not.
‘Target six o’clock. Approximate distance 25 feet. He’s reaching for something in his jacket .?.?. God, it should be illegal for anyone that hot to wear leather. It’s really not fair on the restof us.’
‘Jacob!’ I growled, wrinkling my nose at something foul-smelling in the bin beside me.
‘Right, sorry. He’s coming this way, 20 feet and closing in .?.?.’
I crouched lower to avoid detection. ‘Remember, I’mnothere. Got it?’
‘Yes, got it,’ Matt huffed, moving out of reach of my hands.
‘15 feet,’ Jacob confirmed. I hugged my knees tighter to my chest. ‘10 feet. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1—’
‘All right, Jacob.’
I wedged myself further into the cut-out space underneath the sink as Luca’s voice echoed directly above me. Matt’s eyes flicked between me and Luca, with the furrowed brow of someone trying to solve a complicated maths equation at the sight of his grown-ass sister contorting herself into a painful-looking position that she’d most likely need assistance getting out of.
‘Luca? Fancy seeing you here!’ I winced at Jacob’s over-the-top, not at all casual greeting. The man couldn’t do subtle if his life depended on it.
‘Don’t think we’ve met. I’m Matt, Jenny’s brother,’ Matt said, extending a hand across the bar.
‘Luca.’
‘What can I get for you, Luca?’ Matt asked.
‘I was hoping to catch Jenny. Is she working today?’
‘I’ve not seen her,’ Jacob blurted out quickly. A little too quickly. I rolled my eyes, grateful for Matt’s more measured response.
‘She’s not working today,’ he confirmed, sneaking a quick wink down at me. I jabbed two fingers towards my eyes and pointed sharply upwards. ‘She helps out every now and then but she’s better at drinking the drinks than pouring them, if you know what I mean!’
Matt winced, his right leg buckling slightly as I uncurled one of my feet from where it was wedged beneath my bum and rewarded him with a sharp jab to the shin.
‘Yep, I sure do,’ Luca chuckled knowingly. I frowned.What the hell did that mean?
‘Now there’s a story I want to hear,’ Jacob said eagerly, stool legs jarring gratingly against the floor as he scooted closer. My heart leapt up into my throat. I still hadn’t told Jacob and Alice about the whole sleepover at Luca’s and I planned on keeping it that way.
‘I just came to return this,’ Luca said, by some small miracle sidestepping the opportunity to regale my brother and best friend with embarrassing details of how I’d rugby-tackled my way into his flat at 1 a.m. stinking like a brewery and then passed out in his bed. I heard him place something on the bar, sliding it across the countertop, just as my right leg went into spasm. I clamped one hand over my mouth to stop the scream of pain vibrating at the back of my throat, the other desperately massaging the twitching muscles in my right calf. But my leg seemed to take on a life of its own, kicking out in protest at being stuck underneath my full weight for so long, and striking Matt in the back of the knee in the process.
‘Oww!’ His legs buckled, his elbows leaning atop the bar the only thing stopping him crumpling to the floor as they caught his fall. ‘What the hell, Jenny?’
I closed my eyes, willing the ground to swallow me whole. Peering up, I saw an angry-looking Matt, an amused-looking Jacob and a frowning Luca all staring down at me.
‘Yes. I was just, err – yes.’ I jumped to my feet, gesturing vaguely to the floor as though that were sufficient explanation for my hiding. Luca’s teeth teased at his bottom lip.
‘Have you been down there this whole time?’ he asked, eyes twinkling with amusement.
‘Of course not,’ I scoffed, with a level of conviction I hoped would ward off any requirement for further explanation. Luca cocked one eyebrow dubiously, his lips pressed tightly together in a way that told me he was not convinced. ‘Besides, who’s stalking who now?’ I went on. ‘Let me guess, you just happened to be passing?’
‘He came to return your wallet,’ Matt explained, still rubbing the back of his leg as he waved my battered leather card holder in front of me. Huh, I must have dropped it leaving the community centre the other day. The fact that several days had passed and I hadn’t even noticed it was missing said a lot about the current contents of my bank account. Or lack thereof. Warmth flooded my cheeks as I shoved it in the back pocket of my jeans.
‘Thanks,’ I muttered. ‘But you really didn’t have to come all this way just to return it.’
Luca shrugged. ‘I did try and call .?.?.’
My cheeks burned some more. So, that’s why he’d phoned. Another cheer rumbled from one side of the bar to the other like a Mexican wave, all the red-football-shirt-wearing men leaping to their feet while everyone dressed in blue sat with their head in their hands. Luca took a step forward, one forearm propped against the bar as he leaned in closer.
