‘—while Elle and this guy danced and snogged. I kept thinking to myself,Surely she’ll need the toilet at some point and I can reason with her in there. But no. They just kept snogging for what felt like hours. Some of his mates kept hassling me to dance with them, and at one stage Elle and the guy she was with pointed at me and laughed at some inside joke, which is what tipped me over the edge into full-on survival mode. I just needed to make sure that the two of us got out of there and home in one piece. Which is, of course, exactly why she’d invited me along in the first place.’
‘As a safety net?’
‘Always the safety net.’
‘Hmm. So howdidyou get home?’
‘I found a landline phone on the bar and called my brother. I knew Mum and Dad would still be out at Supper Club and he’d just passed his driving test. I managed to remove Elle from the clutches of the sleazy bloke under the guise of feeling sick and needing some fresh air. Thankfully, Josh was waiting for us outside at just the right moment and helped me to bundle her into the car. He’d had to bring Livvie with him, obviously, though she found all the drama thrilling.’ I smiled, remembering how the night had panned out, Josh and Livvie coming to my rescue. The three musketeers, helping each other out, just as we’d always done as kids. ‘Elle was furious, mind you, since she’d not managed to get the guy’s number. I told her that if he wanted to see her again, surely he’d come back into the shop to find her.’
‘Let me guess, he never did?’
‘Well, if he did I never heard about it. So I’m assuming not. And we never came back here again.’
‘I’m not surprised. And did your parents ever find out about it?’
‘Fuck, no. We got home before them, thank God. Elle didn’t have such luck, though – her mum hadn’t even known she was going out after work and had been frantic with worry. When she got home drunk she was grounded for a month. Elle refused to speak to me for the entire time.’
‘Harsh. So this is your first time in this basement since that night?’
‘Yup.’
‘Ha, way to choose an inappropriate venue for a first date, Brinton.’
Hang on.Hang on. Had he just said the words ‘first date’? Two thoughts immediately competed for attention in my head: firstly, Tom Brinton had confirmed we were on adate. Secondly, he’d specifically said the phrase ‘first date’, which… suggested there’d bemore?!
This silent revelation had taken hold just as I’d spooned a delicious mouthful of dulce de leche mousse into my mouth and, frankly, it was a miracle it hadn’t spluttered out of my nose in excitement. Once I’d successfully swallowed it, I licked my lips and looked up.
We caught each other’s eye and both smiled shyly. I could feel my cheeks burn as he looked down quickly at his own mousse, grinning while stirring it around.
Tom cleared his throat again. I realised it was a thing he did when he was nervous.
‘So… it’s weird that we never really spoke at school, isn’t it?’ he said.
‘Is it?’
‘I think it is a bit, yeah. Why didn’t we?’
‘I was quite shy back then, I guess.’
‘Shy?’
‘You didn’t think so?’
‘No. I mean, you weren’t loud or outgoing or anything like that. Just, well, quietly sure of yourself, I guess. And funny.’
‘That’s weird, because that’s exactly how I used to think of you back then. With the exception of “quiet”.’
‘Ha. So why didn’t we ever hang out?’
‘Oh, come on, I think we existed on completely different planes back then. Plus, as much as I’ve appreciated his mechanical support this week, me and the likes of Ryan Seldon aren’t exactly kindred spirits.’
Which reminded me that he might have started work on my car today. Though, right now, I didn’t feel quite the same urge to chase him about it.
‘Fair enough. But you shouldn’t judge someone by the company they keep, you know?’
‘Oh, God, no of course not. I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just that you two seemed to come as a bit of a package back then.’
‘I can see how it looked that way. But so did you and Elle. I never quite understood how the two of you slotted together as mates. Why were you friends with her?’
