Page 68 of Oar Than Friends

‘Yeah, you’re right.’ She grinned as her shoulders relaxed, ‘I’ve just not been on many dates, and it made me nervous, I guess.’

I reached over and picked up her hand, holding her palm against mine. Partly to give her reassurance, but mostly because I wanted to be touching her whenever I could. ‘I haven’t either.’

‘What? No way!’

I nodded, ‘Yes, way. This is kind of new to me too. I’ve dated, but I’ve never been on a date where I’ve thought for more than three seconds about what I’m going to wear, or with anyone I already knew I wanted more dates with. More anything with.’

Her eyes dropped to the shirt I was wearing underneath another one of the cashmere sweaters my mother bought in abundance and begged me to wear, because‘the English winters are so cold, Artie, darling’. While Kate still had one ofmy navy-blue ones, the sweater I’d chosen to wear tonight was green.

‘What made you decide on that?’ She waggled her finger at me.

‘It’s the colour of your eyes.’

I held her gaze, and the tiny catch of air and the flare of her irises had my chest puffing, and my heart beating that little bit faster.

‘Kate, I’m serious. This is new to me. I’d go as far as saying this is my first proper first date. So, we’re both going through the same thing.’

She chewed on her lip, the way I’d noticed she always did when she was thinking deeply. ‘What’s the food like? I’m starving.’

‘Well, it’s no lobster roll restaurant,’ I began, which had her eyes rolling. I laughed and nodded to the massive blackboard above the fireplace. ‘It’s good. Best pies in England, I reckon.’

Her eyes widened. ‘Pie? Like cherry pie?’

‘No, my little American, like steak pie with heaps of mashed potatoes and green vegetables.’

‘Sounds awesome. I’ll have that. As long as there’s cherry pie too,’ she called after me as I stood up and went to order at the bar, walking as slowly as I could in the hope she might have been staring at my arse.

‘How’s Tideway training going?’ I asked, when I sat back down.

‘Oof.’ She puffed out her cheeks, making her dimple completely disappear. ‘I don’t know. Our second session is tomorrow, but it’s hard. I’m not sure I’d have done so well if you hadn’t given me a crash course in it. It’sdifferent for sure. The Cam is much more like the type of river I’m used to.’

‘The Thames is one of the most challenging rivers to row on. If you managed to get your crew safely through the first time, then you did an amazing job.’ I sipped my water, ‘I’ve known coxswains to completely fall apart. My first time going out with the Oxford crew our cox managed to sink our boat.’

‘Oh wow, okay. I wasn’t that bad.’ She winced, but her wide eyes said it all. ‘Oz, do you think it’s cheating that you gave me all that advice? I’ve never known rivalry like Cambridge and Oxford.’

‘No, of course not. I’m not rowing for you, I’m just telling you something you could probably research yourself,’ I reasoned. ‘Yes the rivalry is deep, but some of my British rowing mates are on the Cambridge crew, so we do have to be reasonable about it. They’re not accused of cheating, are they?’

She looked like she was weighing up the pros and cons, so I changed the subject.

‘Who else are you up against for the seat?’

‘Becka Jones is Blue Boat cox, she was Blondie last year, but I’m not up against her. She’ll stay on Blue Boat. There’s a girl called Morgan Wright, she seems pretty experienced, she’s second year. She’s from Scotland, I think.’

‘Never heard of her,’ I shrugged.

‘She’s the one I think will get picked for Blondie. The rest aren’t experienced enough …’ her voice trailed off with her train of thought as two of the biggest steak pies known to man were placed in front of us.

I knew I wouldn’t have a problem demolishing mine,but I’d be seriously impressed if Kate managed hers. I wasn’t even sure where it would all go. All coxswains were small, they needed to be in order to keep the weight of the boat down and fit into their seat, but Kate was particularly so.

I could probably put her in my pocket.

Picking up my fork with a grin, I pierced through the pastry and started eating.

‘How many books do you have to read this week?’ she asked, scooping peas into her mashed potatoes and mixing them together.

‘No books, but I actually have a couple of essays to hand in. One on the comparisons of architecture between the Greeks and the Romans, the other on the themes of justice withinPrometheus Bound.’

She forked a piece of steak into her mouth. ‘Sounds intense.’

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