Page 25 of The Last to Know

“It wouldn’t hurt to have something like that…I mean, we should, shouldn’t we?”

Grace nodded. She thought back to all the mornings they had woken up like that. Not naked, but snuggled up on a sofa, in a bed, the back of a car, or a tent. Their entire relationship had been filled with moments most people would have assumed meant they were a couple, but then, most people didn’t see those times and they’d never thought to take photos. “Yes, we should.”

A phone beeped and Grace sat up properly to see which of them was being bothered. It was her own phone that lit up. She read the screen, then frowned, her mouth scrunched and moved side to side in the way it did when she wasn’t pleased.

“What’s up?” Caz asked, slightly concerned.

“Your day’s about to get worse.” Grace grimaced, “Mum and Dad are on their way over.”

“Alright, that’s not—”

“They want to stay the night.”

“Oh.”

Caz was like a whippet—up off the couch and heading up the stairs as fast as her feet would carry her.

“We’ll have to move your stuff into mine,” she shouted down at Grace, who was wearily making her way up the stairs. “It would make sense we’d share the bigger room, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Grace said when she’d gotten to the top. She stood on the top step, out of the way, as Caz whizzed past carrying armfuls of her clothes, still on hangers.

“Don’t just stand there, Grace,” Caz urged. “How long will they be?”

Grace glanced at her watch, “They said they’d pick up an Indian take-away as a thank you and then head straight over. We’ve probably got an hour.”

“Alright, doable,” Caz said, running past her again.

“Caz?”

She slid to a halt and turned. “Yes, Grace?”

“We don’t have to move everything. We can just say I have so many clothes that we use the spare wardrobes.”

“That makes sense.” Caz pointed a finger at her like a gun.

“I know…all we need to do is move my day-to-day stuff, the nightstand stuff, and…” She shook her head. “Definitely anything in the top drawer of my bedside cabinet.”

Caz nodded. “Okay, I’ll do that—”

“Oh, no you won’t,” Grace said, budging her out of the way to get past. “That is out of bounds.”

It took a minute and then Caz grinned. “Oh, the battery powered bestie is in there.”

Grace ignored her.

“What other little delights do you have in there, Grace?” Caz teased, launching herself onto Grace’s bed. She lay on her side, leaning on one elbow as she watched Grace go bright red.

“Nothing to concern you, nosy parker. And for your information, nothing in there is battery operated.”

“Are you running your orgasms off the national grid?” Caz burst into laughter. “No wonder the smart meter is always flashing red.”

“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?” Grace said, but she couldn’t hold back the laughter either. “Will you sod off so I can pack my stuff? It’s bad enough I’m going to have to kip in with you tonight.”

“Don’t pretend you’re not excited about it. It will be like camping out. An adventure!”

The doorbell rang.

“What the heck?” Caz said, jumping to her feet and standing up. She looked at her watch. An hour hadn’t passed. “That can’t be them already?”

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