Page 150 of Take My Hand

“You, too, Carrie.”

With a tight smile she ran a hand down Zak’s arm and then left throwing her hair over her shoulder. As we watched her go Emma and Liam appeared, both looking more than tipsy.

“Finally,” I said, looking Em up and down and noticing her dress was on back to front. “Had fun have you?”

“So much fun,” she giggled. “So much fun and wine.”

Liam swayed with a stupid grin on his face, and I noticed that he was holding on tight to Emma’s hand. I wasn’t sure if that was to stop him from falling over or because they’d obviously moved on a step in their relationship. Whatever it was, it was cute.

“Have you seen Liv?” I asked. “We’re thinking of leaving now.”

“Oh, thank God,” Emma sighed. “I’m knackered and so ready to sleep.”

“I’ve messaged her.” Zak pulled my hair over my shoulder and kissed my neck. “She was outside, she’s coming in now.”

Within a few minutes she appeared at our side, holding hands with Teddy. He was looking at her like she was made of diamonds or something equally glittery, while Liv was smiling, and her lipstick was gone from all the necking on she’d been doing.

“Hi peeps, are we all okay?” She pulled her shoulders back, shaking her sheet of long blonde hair. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. Hi Teddy.” Zak nodded at his friend. “You coming back with us?”

“No, he is not,” Liv cried, extremely put out. “He’s lovely and everything, but we’re nowhere near that close.”

Zak chuckled and fist bumped Teddy. “Good seeing you, man.”

“You, too, catch you again soon? Manchester is my first choice uni, so I’ll be around a lot of weekends and stuff.”

“Nice one,” Zak said, placing his hand in the small of my back, “Anyway, we’d better go, our Uber will be outside in five.”

After more goodbyes to Teddy, we all trailed outside, a little drunk and feeling tired. I realised that I hadn’t once thought about Ana and that made me feel bad—but something else, I hadn’t worried about my dad and whether he was okay—so maybe I was ready to go away to university after all. When Zak hung his arm around my neck and pulled me close to kiss the side of my head, I knew I was.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Will

“Twelve-eighty,” I told the guy holding his bank card up. He tapped the card reader, pocketed his card, then picked up his drinks and walked back to his table. “My pleasure, don’t mention it, dickhead.”

“I don’t know why you get so upset,” Marcus said as he wiped the bar down in front of me. “You know most pissed-up people have no manners.”

I did know, and that was one of the few reasons why I hated owning a bar. There weren’t many others, but rude customers were definitely one. Not seeing Maya was another. I couldn’t not take my turn on the rota for a Saturday night, it wouldn’t be fair, but it didn’t mean I liked it.

“That hen night are getting a bit lairy as well,” I ground out, everything getting on my nerves. “Maybe we should cut them off.”

Marcus burst out laughing. “It’s not like they’re ordering quadruples or anything like that. They’re just enjoying themselves.”

“Yeah, well when the mother of the fucking bride thinks it’s okay to squeeze my arse like she’s testing the juiciness of an orange, I think that I’m entitled to be a killjoy.”

He laughed again and called over to a serve one of our regulars. “Two pints, Joe?” When he got the thumbs up, he pulled two pint glasses from under the bar and set them under two pumps, and pulled them at the same time. “Are you grumpy because you’ve got blue balls, seeing as you haven’t seen Maya since last weekend.”

We’d both had busy weeks and had only managed our nightly phone calls; no lunchtime meetups or evening dinners. So, yes, I was grumpy because I hadn’t seen Maya, and yes, I had fucking blue balls.

“She’s coming over tomorrow morning.”

“She won’t be waiting at home for you when you’ve finished?” He finished pulling the pints and set them down in front of Joe, taking the cash from him and programming it into the till. “Keeping the bed warm.”

“Nope,” I replied like a sulky teenager, moving down the bar to the next customer.

While I served them, Marcus carried on down his end of the bar and Dilly worked the tables, carrying on with a usual Saturday night. Thankfully we were busy, so it didn’t drag, but when it reached last orders, I was still relieved.

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