Page 133 of Set Me On Fire

“What’s the address?” The question was out of my mouth without a thought, and she turned around then to look me over closely. “I can ask around, see if I can find it through some of my contacts from school, but…”

Her lips pursed and I knew she was ready to blow me off, but she didn’t know. I’d screwed up, waiting for her to walk back into my life after all these years. Not again. She rattled it off in a matter-of-fact tone, then stopped still. “Look, I can’t tell you what to do, but… you’ve had all day to process this. I’m just asking for a little bit of time to catch up, y’know? Just let me catch my breath.”

Something she couldn’t do here. I watched her walk out the door, then call an Uber, from Knox’s lounge room window. My heart went with her apparently, aching and bleeding, as I was left to stare after her, not able to look away until she was safely inside the car.

“We’re going to that party,” Knox said.

“Is that smart?” Charlie looked at him, then me.

“Smart?” I shrugged, feeling the part of me, the biggest one, telling me to listen to Millie, to keep away. It was the voice of my own cowardice, I decided. I’d respect her decision, give her time, but the minute she decided what she wanted?

I’d be there, giving it to her.

“Got a clean shirt I can borrow?” I asked Knox. “Pretty sure a paint-splattered t-shirt isn’t the right outfit to wear to a party.”

Knox grinned then.

“You got it.”

Chapter 58

Millie

“How are you, darling?”

I turned around to see Mum had come over. The party was in full swing, friends of my brothers or Jamie’s streaming in through the door, and yet I couldn’t have felt more alone.

“Did parties always suck this much?” I grumbled. “Like people just stand around talking shit.” I gestured to all of my brother’s friends, who’d come piling in through their front gate to celebrate the new house. “Or doing dumb shit.” Clinton was shotgunning a beer, then shouting out something inane as he belched. “Did I do dumb things like that?”

“All the time.” My mother was merciless. “Remember that time you went stumbling into the toilet to vomit and the seat was down?”

“OK, fine?—”

“And then when you passed out in the bathtub, using my good towels as blankets.”

“Mum—”

“Of course, there was the time we found you and Jamie asleep in my rose bushes.” I groaned, it all coming back now.“Like little fairies at the bottom of the garden.” She just grinned as I glowered at her. “Then your father turned the sprinklers on.”

“I remember.”

“You’ll be able to do the same one day, with your not-so-little one.” My mother nodded to my stomach, then handed over a brightly coloured mocktail. I’d made sure to mix some up. If I had to endure a party sans alcohol, I wanted something cute and fruity to drink. “So how’s things? Are the boys coming tonight?”

She was trying to ask oh-so casually but failed terribly.

“No.” I’d asked them not to, so why was I so cranky about it? Must be more hormonal bullshit. “And it’s fine. Everything is fine.”

“Fine, hmm…”

Mum took a sip of her own drink, her focus ostensibly on the garden, not me, but I knew.

“Oh my god, stop pumping me for information, woman,” I spluttered. “I went out on a date with each one of them, and they were amazing. Some douche at work tried to assault me?—”

“Millie!”

“But I sorted him out with a quick knee to the nuts. Then Charlie came in and dragged the guy out by the collar, making his face go this really weird shade of purple. Charlie punched the douche, made it clear he needs to keep the hell away from me.”

“Oh, well, that’s good, though perhaps this isn’t the right job?—”

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