Page 65 of Meet Me in Berlin

Her brows knit, but she laughs. ‘Okay. That’s how it’s going to be. A line from a film that’s older than us.’

I shrug. ‘Ghost is Mum’s favourite movie, so I heard it a lot growing up. It’s a great response to so many things.’

‘Mmm, okay, Miss Ditto, but I have your number. I know where your hotel room is. I know the name of the art galleries where you work, and I know your parents have a butcher’s shop in Stratford. I’ll find you, Casey Vassell.’

‘Ah.’ I wince. ‘About that…’

Her mouth presses into a tight line.

‘That’s not my last name.’

Her brows shoot up. ‘You gave me a false last name?’

‘It’s not false,’ I say quickly. ‘It’s just not mine. It’s my friend’s.’ I shake my head with a groan. ‘That was a stupid thing to do. I think I was trying to be mysterious and cool or something?’

She rolls her eyes. ‘Probably. You did a lot of that.’

‘Sorry. Mine is Miller-James.’

She watches me and I think she’s about to tell me to do one, but she says, ‘I was a bit full-on that day. It was too much, especially since we’d only known each other a couple of weeks. I’m not surprised you freaked out.’ Her face relaxes. ‘You forgot my last name, didn’t you? Otherwise, you could’ve found me before last week.’

I nod. ‘Yeah. I vaguely remember you mentioned it when you told me a story about your lecturer, but we’d only known each other a few hours by then, and I was so focused on how lovely you were and how much I wanted to kiss you that I wasn’t really listening. It just didn’t seem important at the time, you know?’

Holly shakes her head at me, but she has a wry smile. ‘Well, what’s done is done. And we’ve got the chance now, Casey Miller-James,’ she says, cupping my cheeks. I love the feel of her hands on my face, like they belong, like they’ve always belonged. Her phone buzzes on the table, and my eyes flick down, but I can’t read the name. She picks up her phone, then drops it back on the table with a grunt.

‘Everything okay?’ I ask.

‘Yeah. It’s just…’ She gives an annoyed huff. ‘Stuff at home. I didn’t want to talk about it, but?—’

‘You don’t need to tell me anything,’ I say quickly, sensing relationship drama that I definitely don’t want to discuss today.

‘It’s just my ex.’

‘Oh.’ I’m suddenly interested. ‘Your ex.’

She huffs again. ‘He keeps texting, calling, wanting to work things out, trying to get me to go home.’

‘Your ex is a he?’ The handsome lad called Tom comes to mind.

‘Uh-huh. You knew I was bi, right?’

‘Yeah, I did. But seriously, you don’t have?—’

‘He just won’t get the message it’s over.’ She bites her bottom lip. ‘Doesn’t stop me feeling guilty, though.’

I nod, my own guilt rising up. ‘I take it you’re not rushing home to sort it?’

Holly makes a face. ‘God, no. I’m having to be really blunt with him now and I don’t like doing that.’

I pat her thigh. ‘I’m sorry you’re dealing with that. Anything I can do?’

She smiles coyly. ‘There’s lots you can do, but we’d get arrested if we did that here.’

I giggle. Like, a proper girly giggle. Fucking hell, who am I right now? I clear my throat, try to find my normal adult laugh.

‘How about you?’ she asks.

‘How about me what?’

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