Page 58 of Tricky Girls

Been sending me round the bend trying to come up with a solution no one has to sacrifice anything for. So far no good.

And then there’s Nic.

I thought the ‘house meeting’ Haz insisted on was going to be something to do with Tilda and the bet. Was half expecting her to say she’d slept with her or something. Was a bit of a smack in the face to hear Nic succumbed to that shit again. Just what we all bloody need right now.

After all we do for her too. In the name of bro-ship and blind loyalty. Including ignoring Tommy which is kind of a shame. I know we have orders to fuck with him, but he also seems alright after spending the night at Vipers with him. Something I told Haz, resulting in a thwack across the back of my head and thereminder that no one in Nic’s family’s alright, younger cousin included.

It’s probably why we’re so fixed on Tilda. Maybe we’re getting a little tired of doing what we’re told all the time for reasons she never fully explains. Haz knows more than I do but even she doesn’t divulge too much of Nic’s shit. All I know was that she was sent to live with extended family after the death of her dad, and that they abused her horribly.

Hence the coke problem. The one we thought we’d seen the back of.

But the sky’s so pretty tonight, all of that feels strangely far away.

‘So’—I take a glug from my bottle of Pepsi—‘whose date do you vote for, mine or Haz’s?’

‘Is everything a competition between the two of you?’

‘Pretty much, yeah.’

‘Why can’t I have my cake and eat it too?’ Tilda picks up a breadstick, smearing it through a tub of sweet chilli houmous. ‘You’re like two sides of the same coin. I shouldn’t have to choose.’ She regards me with a smirk. ‘You two share, don’t you?’

I know this is all a joke to her, I know we’re treading some tightrope between fantasy and reality here but, fuck, sharing this girl would be something alright. A dream or a nightmare, I’m not sure. Turns out me and Haz play by different rules in the bedroom. Big shock there. And with this girl in the middle, tugged between us like an elastic toy, I’m not sure how those rules would come into play.

I look at Tilda looking at me, her sweet face a juxtaposition to the piercings and the tattoos and all that grungy black.

Pulled hard enough, would she snap or bend?

Despite the wind whistling through the tower, my body warms to the image of her caught between us, two predators vying over prey.

‘Yeah, we share,’ I rasp. ‘So, you pick both?’

‘I pick both,’ she confirms.

Well. Suppose a stalemate’s better than losing.

CHAPTER 16

Tilda

One good thing amongst millions about living in the lodges is access to a bath. No more cramming into those tiny shower stalls, hacked off because the boys have nicked your shower gel again.

It’s not often I’m left alone here but with Haz and Elly off out for some bro time and Nic either up in her cave or out as well, I take the opportunity tonight to run myself a bath.

After Elly heard about my affinity for such a thing, she went out and immediately bought me a selection of bath bubbles, salts and candles. Haz glared the whole time Elly made a show of her gift, no doubt wishing she’d thought of something like that. I just can’t imagine it. She’s more likely to gift me gig tickets, merch or a new sex toy. I’m struggling to get it through their thickskulls that neither are better, that they complement each other perfectly.

I sit on the edge of the tub, idly running my hand under the tap. I might have overdone it with the bubbles, the sweet scent of strawberries and cream clinging to my nostrils.

‘You’re more strawberry than lemon,’ Elly told me. I’m not sure about that but it’s sweet she thinks so.

I shut the water off, that crisp sound of popping soap suds filling my ears as I toe my way in. My breath stills at the heat, my body burning as a tidal wave of fire rushes over it. It ebbs after a while and I’m able to lie all the way back, the sound of bubbles intensifying.

I close my eyes, losing myself in the warmth. The cuts on my thighs burn sweetly and I feel a semblance of peace that’s been missing since I left Portia House.

I’m drifting off when a door shuts somewhere above me. The landing outside the bathroom creaks and I freeze upon remembering I didn’t lock it. But Nic’s footsteps don’t stop, continuing on down the stairs. When I hear the bang of the front door, I relax. I’m definitely alone now.

That’s decidedly not a good thing about living here, that feeling of apprehension whenever Nic’s in the vicinity. She doesn’t even need to say anything. I can feel the charge in the air, her disapproval leaking through every pore.

It’s hard to feel that I’m not to blame, despite Elly’s and Haz’s reassurances, despite the fact that IknowI’ve not done anything to piss her off. I hadn’t even known of her existence a month ago.

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