Page 10 of On Circus Lane

“My brother?”

“Do you know another Arlo?”

“God, I hope not. One is enough.”

It’s always been a mystery to me how close Jack is with Arlo. They’re together at all our family events. They never seem to run out of things to say to each other. I love my brother to death, but if we spend more than an hour together, someone cries, and it’s usually me.

The music shifts to Paul McCartney singing “Wonderful Christmastime”, and I look up at the small block of flats we’re sitting in front of. The windows look very festive with Christmas lights twinkling in them. Even as I watch, a balcony door opens and Ivy waves down at us. I wave back and look at my watch. “How long has Ivy been in there?”

“Maybe she’s helping Bee with his case.”

“Remind me again. Have we met him before?”

“Is that the royal we, or just you?”

I nudge him. “Well?”

“I don’t think you’d met him before last night. I hadn’t either. Sal says he’s lovely—very funny. And Ivy adores him.”

“Did I meet him last night? I can’t remember.”

“Because you were in a temper.”

I grimace at the memory. “I was but you know it doesn’t happen often, and it never lasts long. I can’t stay cross with anyone. EvenSteven.”

“I can’t hear you,” Jack says in a singsong voice.

I shoot him an affectionate look. He’s my best friend, the best man I’ve ever known, but I cannot stand that fucker Steven. He plays on all of Jack’s anxieties and picks on him. All in this sugar-sweet voice that suggests he’s doing it for Jack’s benefit. I cannot fathom why he’s with him, but Jack’s ability to keep trying is a major theme of his life.

I sigh, but I’ve opened my mouth about Steven a bit too much lately. It’s not fair on Jack. If Steven is the man Jack chooses to be with, then I should stop putting Jack in the middle.

The door to the apartment block opens, and Ivy appears.

“She seems nice, and Sal really likes her,” I observe.

Jack looks up from his phone. “She’s lovely.”

“And she’s by herself. Are we meeting the mysterious Bee before the end of this millennium or the next?”

He rolls his eyes, and I’m laughing when the door opens behind Ivy, and two men step out. One is a tall redhead, and the other one …

My laughter dies as something goes still inside me. The other man is gorgeous. He’s small and slender with thick hair the colour of chocolate buttons. It falls in waves around a sharp little face. He’s wearing skinny jeans, battered Converse, and a blue T-shirt, and when he turns to face us, I see the shirt is the same colour as his eyes. They’re pretty. His eyes are also rather intense.

I nudge Jack, who’s gone back to his phone. “What?” he mumbles.

“Is that Bee?”

He peers past me and then grins and waves. “Yeah, that’s him.”

“So why is he glaring at me like I’m Fred West at a builder’s convention?”

“You’re making things up.”

“I’m not.” I try a smile at Bee. “Hey,” I call out the window like a lame twat.

His glare intensifies.

Jack sighs. “What did you do to him?”

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