Page 77 of You Float My Boat

I managed to tear my eyes away from where our fingers were touching, to find him pulling a face, and whatever moment we’d had was over.

‘No. You mustn’t miss that. Not sure I want to know what happens when Gordon’s pissed off.’

The screech of Charlie’s chair along the tiled floor muffled the chuckle he let out as he stood up, ‘Oh he’d probably recite equations at me until I relented and apologized. And … I hate to say it, but I do think it’s been helpful. We’ve only had three sessions, but he runs them with an iron fist, as you can imagine, so there’s no way we’re not getting a first.’

‘Let’s get you there, then. Mustn’t be late.’

Jamie was nowhere to be seen when we looked around to say goodbye, so we stepped outside and into the cold. If possible it was even colder than when we’d entered. Charlie pulled on his baseball cap, zipped up his thick bodywarmer and once more held out his hand for me to take.

This time I didn’t question it, except as I took it something caught in my periphery. I don’t know why, out of everyone on this busy street, this particular movement was what had me turning around, but it did. Five metres away, standing halfway down the queue, was Evie with a friend, and I finally understood the term ‘if looks could kill’.

Just from the way her eyes hardened as she peered down to where Charlie and I were joined, she could probably be found guilty of grievous bodily harm.

If I wasn’t already shivering from the cold, her glare would have frozen me.

‘What are you …’ Charlie’s gaze shot over to where I was staring to find out why I’d stopped walking, and groaned. ‘Just ignore her, Violet. Come on.’

He dragged me off before I could argue or think any more about her, and his hand tightly wrapped around mine.

‘So, what’s the class this afternoon?’

‘Victorian England.’

‘Fascinating,’ he drawled, making it clear he absolutely didn’t find it fascinating, as his hand teasingly squeezed mine. ‘MoreMill on the Floss, is it?’

‘Mill on the Flossis no less fascinating than x equals y plus whatever it is …’ I shot back. ‘At least mine has some romance in it.’

‘Hey … there’s romance in physics.’

Whatever the look I gave him had him throwing his head back with laughter. His perfect smile on full display, deepening the dimples which only came out when he was really happy.

‘Come on. We can’t have you late for all the romance.’

We left the way we came, down the narrow, cobbled passageway – Charlie stepping back to let me go ahead of him, while somehow at the same time never letting go of my hand – until we reached the main road.

My palm cooled as his hand dropped, and I turned to find him easing a hand along the back of his neck.

‘Charlie, are you okay?’

He nodded, though it was clear he wasn’t quite sure. I waited, and waited some more. By my count, it was at least fifteen seconds of watching him have a conversation with himself. I was about to ask if he was going to share when …

It was so quick I didn’t see it happening. It was probably because all the confusion whirring through mybrain had dulled my reflexes. But before my heart had time to beat again, my face was held between his huge hands, and my lips had been surrounded.

This was nothing like the kiss in the Blue Oar a couple of weeks ago. Nothing at all.

Thiswas the first kiss I’d dreamed about as a teenager.

Strong and forceful, yet so gentle and delicate it was causing my eyes to water. Insistent, needy almost. Lips, Charlie’s lips that I’d been thinking about on a near-hourly basis since the first time I’d experienced them were once again on mine. Soft and firm, giving me no chance to escape. Not that I would have.

Nah uh. No way.

Somewhere between leaving the sandwich place and here, in the most perfect spot which existed in Oxford, he’d slipped in a stick of gum. Peppermint burst against my tongue as his roamed around my mouth, making me wonder if perhaps this kiss was something he’d been thinking about.

Thinking about it the way I had – and that perhaps this kiss wasn’t quite as impulsive as it initially seemed to be.

I didn’t know how long we were there, but the noise of the street and the bustle of people walking past – along with what might have been a cry of‘get a room’– came back into my consciousness as Charlie eased away.

His eyes scoured my face, but he’d find nothing but a flushed, thoroughly starry-eyed nineteen-year-old …

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