Page 18 of Don't You Want Me, Baby?

Tyler wiped beer foam off his cheek. ‘Yeah?’ His chest warmed with something akin to hope. ‘Ya think?’

Sharon’s eyes narrowed. ‘I think she tried to tell me tonight, but I didn’t twig ’til I saw the two of you going at it.’ She nodded to their surroundings. ‘And shouting at her in front of this lot about her unfulfilled life is not the way to go. She’s stubborn, you know that. Now Bradley’s gone, she’ll dig her heels in. It takes her forever to trust her own mind, let alone her heart.’

‘I know,’ he groaned, the ember of hope fizzing out in the thunderstorm that rolled in his chest. ‘I fucked everything up.’

‘Not quite. You’re her best friend. Aside from yours truly, of course. So do that. Be her best friend in your usual Williams way. You fire her up and she needs that, if she’s going to shut that voice of doubt up and finally go for it.’

He rolled his lips together, feeling the dread slide over him. He felt like a bear in a cage. ‘I don’t know if I can do that. Now I know she might feel something.’ He pulled at his own hair with a frustrated movement. ‘Fuck, Sharon. I don’t think I can just go back to that.’ His lips curled when he thought of watching her with Bradley again. ‘And that little shit doesn’t deserve her. We can’t let him crawl his way back in.’

Sharon leaned in, throwing an arm around him in solidarity. ‘Oh, don’t worry about Bradders, my angry little friend. She’s not stupid, our girl. Let’s just stick to the plan, throw the party and see what happens.’

‘And be her friend,’ he added. ‘You really think it’ll work?’

Sharon’s look was fire. ‘One thing I know about Amber Fitzpatrick is that she knows what she wants from life, and he’s not it. Maybe when he was trying to woo her, but now the real slimy toad’s peeked out? He might have been the one ending things, but onlybecause she finally spoke up for herself. So, yeah, I know it will work. We have to let her figure it out, and be there. Be her friends, and love her.’ She smirked at him, booping him on the nose with her index finger. ‘And I know you can do that. Right?’

Sharon was right. This was Amber. Big-hearted, caring, beautiful Amber. The woman who lived with her dreams in her head, and her heart on her sleeve.

‘Right.’ He nodded, feeling the steely edge of determination flow through him. It wasn’t over yet, if he had anything to say about it. Now she’d shown him she cared, hell – he’d walk through cut glass every day if he could get the chance to make her happy again. His words earlier had meant to put that passion back into her, not snuff it out. He would bend the world in half to get her what she wanted, even if she strode off into the damn sunset without him at the end of it. ‘Friends.’ He raised his fist, and Sharon bumped it, her face curling into a grin. ‘I’ll be the best damn friend Amber ever had.’

‘That’s the spirit!’ Sharon laughed, patting him on the back.

7

‘Don’t get blue,’ Sharon stage-whispered from the corner of her mouth. Amber barely heard her over the noise of the chair she was lounging in. The combination of the massaging motion under her, with the warm soothing water lapping at her feet, left her practically boneless.

‘Eh?’ She turned lazily, her head sitting between the massaging head rest. Sharon peeked at the beauty therapist, but she was off gathering lotions and bottles of gel polish in a little caddy.

‘I said, don’t get blue on your nails.’

‘Oh.’ Amber could feel the knots being slowly pummelled from her body. As birthday eves went, this one was shaping up to be better than she’d thought. When Sharon had arrived that morning, bearing balloons and gifts, she’d been about ready to pull the covers over her head and sleep the last day of her twenties away. Not that she could, given that she had a not-surprise surprise party to get ready for. Sharon whisking her off to a fancy salon in Harrogate was a nice distraction. They had a whole spa day planned, all booked and paid for, and she was so grateful, she’d almost burst into tears on the spot. Sharon had got her to pack a bag with somebits in it – flip flops, her charger and phone, a bikini for the massage, and told her she had precisely ten minutes to get ready and get downstairs.

She replayed what Sharon said in her head. ‘Why not blue?’

Sharon flashed her a serious look, waggling her fingers. ‘Dead people.’

Amber tittered, but Sharon’s face didn’t change. ‘Dead people?’

‘Yeah,’ she nodded, pulling a face. ‘You know, when you die – your nails go all blue.’ A shiver ran through her, making Amber want to laugh again. ‘Gross. Don’t get blue.’

Amber shook her head, practically moaning as the therapist came and poured some minty smelling potion into the foot bath her feet were currently resting in. ‘You watch far too much of that crime channel.’

Sharon shook her head. ‘And you don’t watch enough.’ At Amber’s critical gaze back, her lips finally tugged upwards. ‘Get coral, suits you.’

The massage chair stopped for a second, and then their magical little cogs started whirring in the other direction. She melted further into the leather. ‘Thanks for this, mate. Just what I needed.’ She thought of the stack of gifts back at the flat and felt a pang of guilt in her gut. ‘But you shouldn’t have spent so much.’

Sharon winced. ‘Well, to be honest, I didn’t exactly pay for this.’

Amber’s relaxed muscles coiled tight. ‘What?’ she hissed, her eyes darting around. If she had snuck them in here…

‘Relax, it’s paid. I’m not that bad!’

Amber’s brow lifted. ‘Oh, not that bad? Remember the Avril Lavigne concert we went to? That security guard practically carried us out of there. I knew I should have checked the tickets.’

Sharon laughed, slapping her hand on the leather arm. ‘Oh my God, yeah! I’ll give you that one.’ She belly laughed, jabbing a finger in her direction. ‘I swear, that other bloke with the hi-vis vest,I thought he was going to throw you like a javelin when you went all tense on him.’

‘I thought he was wrong!’ she protested, face flushing as she remembered locking her body up as the burly security guard tried to eject them from the venue. At one point, she could swear she heard Avril laugh. The whole crowd was watching her. ‘How was I supposed to know you’d snuck us in there with that shady roadie! You told us they were VIP!’

She groaned. ‘Oh… Victor. Don’t remind me. You know I think he’d used that one before.’

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