Page 163 of When The Night Falls

‘Would you prefer it?’

‘Yes.’

He nodded. ‘Then of course. But I haven’t got any clothes here, so I’ll have to leave earlier in the morning to fetch my things before work.’

I hesitated. ‘I’d hate to inconvenience you.’

He shook his head. ‘I’m an early riser.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes. I’d love to stay the night –really.’

I smiled. ‘All right, then.’

‘That’ll be the third night in a row,’ he remarked with a grin. ‘I’m obviously doing something right.’

I laughed. ‘You really are.’

§ § §

Live at the Apollo was on the television while William, Jason and I slouched on the sofa as we recovered from our food coma. Jason’s favourite comedian was on stage, and I suspected he was William’s too after hearing him guffaw several times. I had always found their favourite comedian rather hilarious myself, and the chance to laugh was exhilarating after all the chaos of the weekend.

Unfortunately, my good mood was interrupted when Olivia sent me a text, asking how things had panned out with Aaron last night. I huffed as I started typing a wall of text to explain the situation, and how I hadn’t heard a word from him since last night. It evoked the memory of how wounded Aaron had looked, and it made me squirm against William’s side, as I lay cuddled up between him and Jason.

William cast me a worried glance, his arm tightening around me. ‘You all right?’

‘Yeah, sorry.’

His eyes homed in on my screen, and when he saw the wall of text I was writing to Olivia, his eyes noticeably widened. ‘Wow. If I were you, I’d open with telling them to have a seat.’

I pressed my lips together, slightly amused by his joke. ‘She’ll want all the details.’

‘Who? And of what?’

‘Livy. I’m explaining what happened last night.’

His lips twitched. ‘Right.’

I focused on my text again, picking up where I had left off. William could definitely read everything I wrote, but I didn’t care to keep my screen out of his sight, because I had nothing to hide. Nevertheless, I was surprised that I didn’t sense him trying to spy on my screen even once after that. He must have been curious, but he seemed to respect my privacy too much to do such a thing.

Olivia was quick to reply after I had sent the message.

Oh wow. I am so, so sorry, Cara. I don’t even know what to say. That did NOT go according to plan...

Do you think I should send him a message?

It can’t hurt. I would have

I’ll do it rn. Will you let me know if he reaches out to you?

Ofc. I doubt he will tho – not before he’s talked to you. I mean, he knows we’re best friends, so I don’t think I’m the one he’d choose to confide in about this

Yeah, true.

Sighing, I scrolled down in my messages app to find my thread with Aaron. As I opened it, I wondered what to write. We had never fought before, so I had no idea what to expect. Would he reply at all? I couldn’t guess what his thoughts were, but I hoped he would find it within himself to forgive me. After all, the only reason I hadn’t told him about my liaison with William was that it was part of our agreement. Surely he had to see that.

I’m sorry about last night. I really am. Call me when you’re ready to talk, yeah? x

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