Page 21 of The Good Boy

“It’s always better to tell the truth, Genie,” Rory shouts at me, “you taught me that.”

“Did I?” I ask. “That does not sound like a me thing.”

“Yes, that time when it was sunny and warm in October and you told Nanna Maria that you were sick, but actually you and me went to Filey to eat cakes and I had a dog ice cream on the beach, and then we bumped into one of Nanna Maria’sgentleman friends,” he repeats the phrase exactly as my dad always says it,with an air of shock and awe, “and you said crap, I should have just asked for a day off, it’s always better to tell the truth—especially when your employer is the local femme fatale and has got the whole ice-cream-van industry eating out of her lap.”

“I never thought you’d actually pay attention to my advice,” I say into his ear.

“Sometimes you are quite wise,” Rory tells me. “Even though you never listen to yourself.” Rory frowns as he looks over my shoulder. “Do you think Miles is okay?”

Following his gaze, I see Miles pressed up against one of the mirror-tiled walls, where a girl in a tight shiny dress has him cornered. He’s smiling, and laughing at her jokes; she is handing him a drink she has just bought him. There used to be a time when being a nerd was kryptonite when it came to attracting girls, but these days it’s positively an aphrodisiac. He does look objectively hot standing there, laughing and flirting like the attractive, well-adjusted, and solvent good catch he is.

“I think he is doing just fine,” I say to Rory, ignoring the familiar sharp pang of wistfulness I often feel in the middle of my chest.

“It’s just that she looks like she wants to sniff his butt, and you told me that was not a good thing in humans.”

“He’s a big boy,” I say with a determined shrug. “And this is my birthday party! Come on, Rory, uncover both your ears and let’s dance!”

It takes precisely as long as I do to say that sentence for Rory to start leaping around like that time he found a live frog in the garden, only more happily. A few seconds more and he’s nodding his head to the beat and flinging his arms around.

“This is BRILLIANT!” he calls to me. “I never got the point of music before!”

“Must be a human thing,” I say, glancing over at Miles, whose face is getting closer and closer to Shiny Dress Girl. Then he looks up at me, and IthinkI see him jerk his head as if he wants me to go over. But the lights are flashing different colors and I’m not sure if it’s wishful thinking, so I just stare hard at him. If he’s totally okay with this girl’s interest in him I will look really weird, but that’s not new for me. Then he does it again, when she’s turned to pick up her glass. He beckons me over and mouths,Help.

Well, it’s eitherhelporwhy are you staring at me when I’m flirting with a girl, you nutjob?I’m no lip-reader, but I go with the former just in case.

“Hi,” I say, arriving at their side just as a fully loaded kiss is incoming. The music changes abruptly, just like magic, to the song of the summer that Miles and I first became friends, “Beautiful Monster” by Ne-Yo. Excellent timing, DJ, luck on my side for once.

The dance beat kicks in; Miles’s and my eyes lock, our shoulders moving in sync with the rhythm, as he steps around the girl, and we pull some 2010 club moves like two fully grown adults who don’t care what the cool kids think.

The girl, halted mid-move, looks at me, affronted. Grabbing Miles’s hand she regains his attention, rather forcefully. My hackles rise in a way that Matilda would be proud of. Nobody shoves Miles in the corner and then tries to kiss him.

“Er, we’re a bit busy, love,” she says, waving me away as she all but pins him up against the wall.

“Yeah, but...” I look at Miles, and think of about three innocuous but not fun things I could say and go with the nuclear option. “...withmyhusband.”

The look on Miles’s face, a mixture of relief and disbelief, tells me he knew I would go rogue. Sort of resigned, and kind of amused but also a bit tired. Maybe I am too much. Apart from the times when I am not being enough, that is.

“You let me buy you a drink when yourwifewas on the dance floor?” The girl turns back to Miles with flashing eyes.

“I didn’t let you,” Miles says. “You just did it.”

“And then you didn’t think about mentioning your wife after that?”

“Typical Miles,” I tell her. “I love him, but he just can’t help being a woman magnet.”

“I mean, he’s all right but...” Shiny Dress Girl looks him up and down. Miles widens his eyes at me. “Why are you still with this prick?”

“The heart wants what the heart wants,” I shout at her earnestly, pressing the back of my hand to my forehead. “Oh, Miles, why am I never enough for you?”

“Oh, you are more than enough,” Miles says, repressing a smile as he turns to Shiny Dress Girl. “Look, the truth is this is Genie my friend, not my wife. I should have just made it clear earlier I’m not in the market for anything right now. I tried but you weren’t really listening.”

“Listening?” she asks, incredulous. “What am I, your shrink? I haven’t got time for your issues, mate. I’m going home in the morning, I’m on a deadline!”

She leaves, making a beeline for another guy across the room.

“Sorry,” I say once we are alone. “I was trying to be funny.”

“You don’t have to try,” Miles tells me, with a small smile.

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