Page 106 of Tricky Girls

‘Yeah, well, don’t choose your family, do you?’

‘You’re so cute, the two of you. You and Haz. You’re like siblings sometimes.’

‘Feels like it. She does my nut in.’

‘You love her though.’

‘Yeah,’ I sigh. ‘Nic, too.’

Tilda grunts, not as happy with that apparently.

‘Wish I understood your beef,’ I say to her.

‘You and me both,’ she huffs. ‘She’s like Peeta fromThe Hunger Games.You know when he gets Tracker Jackered and tweaks out every time he sees Katniss? I’m Katniss!’

‘You’re definitely as hot as her.’

I wait for Tilda to laugh like she usually does, but she only turns her eyes on me, waiting until she’s finished chewing to say, ‘Yeah? You reckon?’

‘Don’t just reckon, babe. I know.’

She looks away but I don’t think it’s because she’s uncomfortable. There’s a cute little blush on her face that the cold can’t account for alone. For the first time, I think my flirting’s actually landed its mark.

‘You cold?’ I murmur.

She nods, taking half a step closer to me. Taking that as an invitation, I put my arm around her, pulling her slender body against mine.

I release a long breath, thinking that this is about as perfect as the moment from the other night. Despite the cold day, the sky is cloudless, the sea appearing murky as ships and their containers chug across it.

‘Reckon Dan’s game’s on one of those.’

Tilda peeks up at me. ‘Is my gift?’

I squeeze her tighter. ‘I gave you that the other night.’

‘Was a pretty good gift.’ She nods.

‘Yeah?’

‘Mm-hm.’

‘One you’d like to repeat maybe?’

She stays silent, staring resolutely at the ships.

I grin self-deprecatingly. Worth a try, eh?

When we start seizing up, we return to the market. It seems busier now, no easily navigable paths meaning we’re bumping shoulders with every step.

I peer round, lips pursed. ‘Hm, maybe I can see why they’d say no.’

Tilda takes hold of my arm. ‘We’ve just got to get closer to the stalls.’

I let her lead, her smaller size nipping in and out of the crowd and clearing paths for me.

‘So, sister, sister, brother, mum, grandparents?’ Tilda says, ticking off her fingers.

‘Yep. And don’t forget it’s Haz’s birthday Monday if you were getting her something.’

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