Page 68 of Perfect

Ella seemed the most coherent one and was sat with a bottle of beer in her hand, a glazed look on her face. Nathan was asleep with his head on her shoulder.

I took in the chaos and said with a grin. “How long was I gone?” Dragging up Ella’s attention. She didn’t seem surprised by Connor’s presence.

Connor instantly took control. His voice firm and clear over the music and chatter of the club. He checked the chunky watch on his wrist before announcing.

“It’s time to call it a night. Ella, wake dickless up.”

Relief pooled into Ella’s expression. I felt a twinge of annoyance, she was obviously relieved at Connor’s intervention. The girl must have some type of feeling for him, God only knew why she appeared to be hiding it from me. I’d rather her just say they were good friends or something. I obviously didn’t want her to confess the other thing. My insecurities about them having a past together was still rolling around inside me.

I helped to stand some of the bottles on the table and Ella nudged her shoulder to dislodge Nathan, telling him to wake the hell up.

He did and sat up glassy-eyed as he took in his surroundings. At least his chin was drool-free.

“Connor?” he cheered with a schoolboy type of glee like a fucking celebrity had just turned up. He was overly pleased to see him, the old tension between them now firmly in the past, it appeared.

“You need to get up man, Kyle and Max are taking a taxi. I suggest you share it.”

Kyle and Max appeared as if Connor had snapped his fingers and helped Nathan to his feet. He opened his mouth to refuse but Connor wouldn’t have it. “Go home hard-on, you’re done. I’ll drop Ella off on my way past.”

He looked almost ready to argue but then nodded, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

We all said our goodbyes and Connor and I waited by the door whilst Ella went to the cloakroom to fetch our jackets. There was no sign of Natalie which was a relief, the thought of her joining us in the car was not one I relished. She was probably giving out free blow-jobs at the back of the club.

We stood in silence. I did feel slightly woolly-headed, but not a total lost cause.

“I take it dad sent you to get me?” I questioned breezily.

“No, not this time. I offered actually.”

I lit up at his words and grinned but he shot me a look of warning before glancing to look for Ella’s approach.

“Behave,” he instructed in a warm voice and I held my hands up in mock surrender.

Ella joined us, muttering something about her jacket smelling like fags and we all left the club together. As we set off out into the street, I was dying to hold hands with Connor, but of course, I couldn’t.

I was just about to mention Natalie when Ella said she’d received a text from Noah, Natalie’s brother to say she’d arrived home safe but was shit-faced and covered in sick. Nice, classy. She was probably covered in other bodily fluids but I decided not to go there.

In the Ranger on the journey back to the farm, Ella chuntered about this and that. She put in a bit about boys and why they were all a nightmare which again didn’t suggest her ‘complication’ would be connected to Connor. Part of me wanted to interrogate him about both Ella and Natalie when she left the car but I felt so sleepy. The alcohol had left my body feeling heavy.

I dozed off with my hand on Connor’s strong warm thigh, replaying our kiss over and over until the nothingness kicked in.

The next morning, I woke up in bed, fully dressed. I hazily remembered Connor carrying me upstairs and me making jokes about him tucking me in and that was about it. I didn’t feel embarrassed though. After what we had shared, I felt confident in his company. His appearance at the club and behaviour proved that the guy at least felt something, even if it was just plain old lust.

It was Saturday morning and Connor had gone into the village or so dad explained over breakfast.

As I was reading my Kindle, Tom texted to say that they usually went to the pub for the quiz on a Saturday and did I want to go. Ha ha! So, therewasa quiz in the pub, I knew it!

I thought about it for a while and then decided why not. Connor had been a no-show all day and he hadn’t even attempted to text me. I knew he had my number. I appeared to have spent the entire day pining after him like a lost puppy. Did last night even mean anything? Had I again, misjudged it due to the booze?

*****

It appeared I was turning into a bit of a party animal, going out two nights in a row but it was just the local pub and a quiz at that.

While I was getting ready, I still hadn’t seen or heard anything from Connor and I continued to feel annoyed. Like I was being ignored again, or was I just the neediest bitch on the planet?

Clothing-wise, I’d chosen tight black jeans with rips in the knees, a pale pink tee, and flat strappy sandals. I left my hair loose as usual.

A definite dress-down occasion, nice and casual.

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