Page 2 of You Float My Boat

It had been eighteen months and she’d both completely changed and hardly changed at all. The chaos was still there, but the softness in her features had hardened a little, turning her from teenager to woman, and nothing short of stunning.

Tapping my bank card, I walked back to the table and placed the drinks on it before settling into my seat.

Violet’s eyes reminded me of a twilight sky as she spied the wine, ‘Mmm, thank you.’

‘You’re welcome.’

‘So,’ she sipped, put her glass down and leaned back in her chair. I forced my gaze straight ahead instead of at her chest where her arms were now crossed, ‘what’s the emergency?’

Ah, yes, the reason we were here and the reason I’d sent Violet not one but four messages, and another two to Brooks begging him to get her to reply.

‘Didn’t Brooks tell you anything?’

She shook her head. ‘No, Hugo is incredibly annoying that way.’

I sighed.

I’d kind of hoped he would have done, then I’d have to explain as little as possible because Violet justgot itand would agree to my request without further need for clarification. It would also save me from reliving the worst moment of my life; the day my heart had shattered so violently it couldn’t be mended or glued back together.

It had imploded into dust.

The day I vowed never to love again.

‘You haven’t been over to the house,’ I started,hoping a little small talk would ease the anxiety ball in the pit of my stomach, the way it did whenever I thought about Evie Waters.

Violet leaned forward, the movement forcing a thick lock of hair to fall over her eye which she pushed away. Her slender wrists rested on the table and I noticed a tiny, hand-drawn stack of books on the inside of her left arm, directly above her pulse.

‘I have, only you’ve not been there. It was very handy that the three of you were on river duty every Saturday morning. Huey’s bath is wasted on him,’ she smirked.

The pint glass stopped halfway to my lips, and I put it back down. ‘Have you been breaking into our house when we’re not there so you can have a bath?’

‘No, of course not.’ Violet shook her head. ‘I have a key.’

I stared at her, my frown deepening. I knew that Oz would never have given anyone a key to the house we shared with Brooks, just like I knew that Brooks would never have given his sister a key without asking us.

I was also struggling to understand how the comprehensive security system I’d set up hadn’t been triggered, because there was a hidden camera angled on the front door and it was supposed to alert us of anyone who approached. Not to mention the alarm we set every time we left, along with motion sensors in the garden.

Was it overkill for three students? Probably, even if one was Oz with his billions. But I’d been bored, and it had only taken me a couple of hours on a Tuesday morning after we’d moved in and finished unpacking.Master of security systems was another skill to stick on my resumé. Or maybe not, it seemed.

‘But how did you get the key?’

‘I borrowed Huey’s,’ she shrugged, ‘and copied it.’

I barked out a loud laugh. I wasn’t sure what I was laughing at more, the look on Brooks’ face when he discovered his sister had stolen his house key, or the idea of Violet having a bath in our house every Saturday when we were in London … no … nope … absolutely not … my brain ground to a halt for the second time … the image of Violet naked and wet in our house was not something that belonged in my head.

‘You could just ask.’

‘Where’s the fun in that?’ she winked. ‘It wouldn’t annoy Huey nearly as much. I don’t have a bath in my room, not sure where I’ll get my relaxing soak in the tub this term now you three have finished your punishments.’

‘Which college are you in?’

‘St Anne’s.’ She picked up her wine and sipped, the burgundy liquid matching the glossy paint on her fingernails. ‘Come on, Charlie. Don’t keep a girl waiting,whyhave I been summoned?’

I drummed my fingers against my pint glass again. Thinking about it, maybe I was being stupid. Overreacting. I could handle seeing my ex-girlfriend, I was a grown man and it had been four years, give or take. But then I remembered the anger ripping through me when I found out she’d been assigned to my philosophy tutorials, and decided otherwise.

‘I need you to be my fake girlfriend until the end ofterm.’ I managed not to stumble over my words, even though I spat them out as quickly as possible.

Violet held my stare. To her credit she didn’t flinch, nor did she burst out laughing; the only indication she’d heard me was the tiny crease in the centre of her forehead. She stared until it dawned on me that she wanted further explanation.

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