Page 18 of Going Solo

“It won’t take a minute,” Cole said.

“I’ll do it later!” I yanked the clothes out of his hands—but Cole didn’t release them, and as the bundle spilt open, Aunty Cheryl’s condoms fell out of my jeans and onto the floor between us. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. My mouth went dry, and I completely lost the ability to speak.

“They’re not mine!”

“Oh.” Cole bent down and picked them up, the gold packets shimmering between his fingers. He bit his lip. “Were you expecting…”

“No! God no!”

Cole’s eyes sparkled. “Because, I mean, if you want to?—”

“Gosh, no! I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

Cole burst out laughing. It came from deep inside his belly and lit up his whole face. I closed my eyes, willing an assassin’s bullet to end my humiliation with a clean kill.

I felt Cole’s hand rest gently on my shoulder. “Toby, it’s OK.”

I shook my head.

“It really is,” he said.

I felt his other hand hold my hip, felt him gently step towards me, pull my body towards his, felt his soft lips against mine. That’s when it finally happened. Tobias Lyngstad. Sixteen and finally been kissed. It was gentle, sweet, perfect. It was the first kiss I had always dreamt of, and I knew for certain, this was more than a crush. I opened my eyes to find Cole smiling, looking at me like it was the first time he’d ever even seen me.

“Hello, you,” he said.

I giggled. “Hi.”

“You’re shaking.”

“I’m nervous. Aren’t you nervous?”

“Bricking it.”

“You’re not shaking, though.”

“I am. I think our shakes have probably synchronised so we can no longer feel it.”

I laughed. Cole grabbed my hands and sat down on the bed, pulling me down to sit beside him.

“Do you want your surprise?” Cole said.

I wanted another kiss, but I nodded.

“I wrote this song for you.” Cole reached behind us, plucked his guitar from the bed, and began strumming the chords. As he started to sing, his eyes found mine.

“I’m sitting on this tractor, going round and round this field. Slowly getting nowhere, when I want to get to you.”

I nearly choked on a giggle and had to pretend I was clearing my throat. I put a hand against Cole’s back, partly to encourage him and partly to smother my guilt at finding this so cringey.

“Got up before dawn, to sit behind this wheel. Going round in circles. Driven mad for want of you.”

For the next two minutes or so, Cole sang his heart out. He’d put so much work into this song, and the musicality was genuinely great, but the lyrics were, shall we say, clunky. When he was done, I leaned in and kissed him.

“Thank you. That was beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful.”

I snorted.

---