Page 39 of You Float My Boat

‘Just then. Before Marlon Brando walked in,’ she replied. ‘You nudged me.’

My forehead creased a little as I tried to figure outwhat she was talking about, then wondered how I’d ever forgotten.

‘Oh. Oh! Yeah.’ I opened up my messages and passed the phone to her. ‘Read these.’

Her eyes scanned through the texts. A funny little gurgling started up in my belly, wondering if she would maybe, possibly, come to the same conclusion I had. Because I wasn’t entirely sure, but it was something that had struck me during a middle of the night insomnia session.

‘Stel, do you think … Is Charlie flirting with me?’

I was well acquainted with a guy who flirts. Without sounding like my ego needed knocking down a few rungs, I knew what it was like when a guy flirted with me. It happened on a regular, if not fairly regular, basis. In fact, there was a guy on my English course who flirted with me every week in our Historical Prose lecture, and I let him because it was fun.

But this … in no world I lived had Charlie Masterson ever flirted with me. It was something I’d never even been able to conceive within my imagination, and I could imagine a lot. Therefore, I didn’t want to jump to conclusions because I hadn’t spent enough time with him to have knowledge of his flirting skills. Yet I’d also spent enough time with him to know for sure he didn’t seem like the winky face type of guy.

‘I’ve been going over and over it,’ I muttered, filling the silence between us as she continued reading, while the rest of the theatre was yet to settle from the excitement of Leo being in their midst. ‘We’ve never spent time together before, I can’t tell. But he seems to reallywant to rehearse lines with me. It’s not just being polite right, or do you think it is? I mean even if he is flirting it doesn’t mean anything, but I can’t tell …’

‘Vi, shut up,’ she hissed, stopping me in my semi-conscious brain dump. ‘I’m trying to think.’

I held my mouth in a hard line as she scrolled to the top again and read from the beginning. I waited. And waited.

‘Stel …’ I almost whined.

She held the phone out for me to take. ‘Look, you could say he’s just being friendly, which he is. And if these came from anyone else you probably wouldn’t think about it, but also you guys are doing your thing publicly and these are private …’

I turned to her, my eyes wide in anticipation of the verdict, ‘And?’

‘I think he’s flirting.’

‘Shit.’

‘Yeah, but I don’t know what it means outside that.’

I slumped down in my chair, just like she had.

‘You guys definitely have chemistry, even if it is weirdly awkward. I’m assuming you haven’t knocked heads again.’

A little chuckle popped through my lips. ‘No. No more collisions.’

‘Have there been any more non-kisses?’

‘Not really. Nothing that counts anyway.’ I shook my head.

There was really very little to report. Charlie had met me after class twice in the last week, as well as for coffee, and we’d walked through the streets to his class, takingthe long route. Every time we’d held hands, or his arm had been over my shoulder as per rule 6. But he hadn’t so much as kissed my cheek. There’d been no kissing or non-kissing much to my dismay, because that non-kiss had been the hottest thing I’d ever done, or hadn’t done. Whatever it was or wasn’t, I’d told Stella about it the second my legs had been able to move again, which had been a good five minutes after Charlie jogged off to his next class.

It had taken me that long to recover. Not that I really had recovered. But seriously how could something which barely involved any touching be so insanely hot?

My entire body had felt like it had been dipped in paraffin and set alight. By the time he’d finally dropped his hands and run his fingers through my hair I could feel my heartbeat in every cell of my body. The vest under the grey jumper I’d so carefully selected had been completely soaked through.

‘Nope, nothing. I bet my bloody brother threatened him or something,’ I grumbled. ‘But even so the non-kiss was only for Evie’s benefit. If I hadn’t spotted her, he’d have stayed where he was.’

Evie.

All of it was for the benefit of Evie and Evie alone, and I’d actively reminded myself of the fact every day. I could still see the faint blue biro markings where I’d written THIS IS NOT REAL on my hand as a panicked reminder two days ago, when he’d come to meet me after my Victorian Poets class and all I’d been able to think about was how good he looked injeans and a cable knit. Like he’d just stepped out of a magazine.

Goosebumps erupted over my skin at the memory and I turned my palm over again to check. I should probably go over the letters with permanent marker.

‘Maybe, but I stand by my assessment. I think he’s flirting. But it could mean nothing, Vi. Guys flirt.’

My belly gave another little flippy gurgle thing. ‘Yeah?’

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