Page 14 of Don't You Want Me, Baby?

Amber held up her phone. ‘I’ll be there in a minute, okay?’

She waited until they were inside to answer.

‘Bradley.’

‘Hi.’

‘Hello.’ She toed at a tuft of grass growing in a pavement crack.

‘How have you been? I haven’t heard from you.’

‘That’s how break-ups work,’ she quipped. ‘Did you not read that part of the manual?’

He laughed awkwardly. ‘Er, no. I guess I probably should have. Listen, I wondered if we could talk.’

Wow. The irony.

‘About what?’

‘Us. I don’t like how we left things.’

‘Well, we broke up. I don’t think there’s anything left to say really. Nothing’s changed, has it?’

‘Well, no – but… could we meet up? I could come over.’

Amber looked at the Slug, full of the usual regulars. ‘Er, no, I don’t think that’s a good idea.’

‘Tomorrow then. I have some things I want to say. I was a bit hasty the other night. You caught me off guard, babe. Please?’

‘I don’t know, Bradley.’

‘Please. Ten minutes. I could come over to the Slug tomorrow? For me?’

‘Bradley, you already gave me an answer. I really don’t think there’s any point.’

‘Will you think about it at least? I’m sorry. You took me by surprise, that’s all. I didn’t really think things through. I just want to see you, Amb. Come on.’Why now? Why had it taken him days to bother to call me? He dumped me, he made his choice. I was moving on, damn it!She thought of her life, behind those doors. The life she wanted. One he had already walked away from.

‘Come on? Brad, I don’t know what this is about, but it’s too late.’

‘Too late? What do you mean, too late? We haven’t been broken up a week! Don’t you at least owe me a conversation?’

A conversation? That was all she’d wanted to do for weeks.Months if she was honest.Sharon was in her head, the words had stuck in her grey matter hard and fast.

‘I’m not sure I do, no. If you wanted to stay with me, you should have tried harder. If a man wants you, he shows you. Goodnight.’

‘Amber, come on! I?—’

She cut off the call and headed inside. Walking into the warmth of the Slug, she was assaulted by the voices of the patrons around her. The familiar smells and sounds felt so comforting her eyes filled with tears. She belonged here, in a place like this. The second she’d walked through the doors, she’d felt less alone than she had standing outside listening to Bradley’s attempts at talking her round. Blinking rapidly, she pushed a smile onto her face, and her ex out of her mind.

Sitting at the end of the bar, perched on a stool that looked like a kiddie seat under his large, brooding form, was Tyler. His eyes followed her as her feet moved to him automatically.Why is my heart beating out of my chest? Why do I feel calmer, just by seeing him? This thing, it hasn’t always been there, right?She felt elated and pissed off all at the same time. She couldn’t get Bradley to walk through the door when they were together, and here Tyler was. Again. Gazing at her as if he knew something she didn’t and was waiting for her to catch on. Breaking eye contact, she took in the busy bar. It was a typical Sunday and there was a steady stream of people waiting to be served. ‘Where’s Sharon?’

Tyler nodded his head over to the window, where Sharon was sitting with a guy from the construction site. They looked pretty cosy and Sharon was laughing at something he said. He had his arm around her, his nose close to her neck as he spoke into her ear. She looked different to normal. Like she’d melted into the man cradling her. She watched him lift a mug to her lips. ‘She’s fine,’ Tyler rumbled. ‘Mary made her some strong coffee. I think he was waiting for her to come back.’

‘Good for her.’ Amber smiled. Maybe her ice queen love ’em and leave ’em friend was mellowing. It was nice to see, but the tenderness between them was a little hard to watch. Being single seemed to amplify every happy couple in her orbit. It made her heart clench.

‘Bradley coming over?’ Tyler’s voice pulled her attention back to him. ‘I’m guessing it was him on the phone.’

‘Nope, and yeah, it was.’ She sighed, pulling up the empty stool next to him and dropping her bag at her feet. ‘What ya drinking?’ She was already reaching for his glass, tipping the contents straight down her throat and feeling the burn as it went down.

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