Page 66 of An Unexpected Kind of Love

“What a mess,” Lily says at last.

“Hard agree.” My unhappiness comes through my voice.

“I’m sorry. I want you to have good things. And some fun.”

“It was surprisingly fun, till then. We’d actually been getting on and, er, getting to know each other—”

“So the sex was hot,” she teases without mercy.

“Never you mind and maybe it was,” I say hurriedly, flushing, “but we were on the same wavelength and finding out maybe we weren’t entirely so different after all, and then…Eli and geography and timing. I’m on the train back alone. He’s driving.”

Lily tuts. “You didn’t even ride back together?”

“I needed some time on my own. Plus, I thought that would be the end of it between us, but he has my dad’s guitar. I need to see him to get it back.” I groan.

She considers. “Maybe that’s a good thing. You’ll both be calmer by then, have had a chance to think. You can talk things over then, if you want.”

“Doesn’t change the simple fact that he’s due back in short order to America, with the audition of a lifetime by the sounds of things. And my life is here with the shop. Which, by the way, has damages from the filming that I need to deal with when I get back, but it’s just making my headache worse.”

I chew my lip, watching as another train approaches. Everyone watches the board to see if this is the train for London. It is, and it’ll be here in three minutes.

“Damages? What damages?” Lily’s frown is in her voice.

“The floor. There’re gouges and things. Some splintered bits. They’re talking about fixing things this weekend. I don’t know.”

“That’s not right, Aubrey. They should compensate you appropriately and make the repairs. It’s their fault there’s damage. That should be out of their pocket, not yours. Including compensation for the closures. And never mind the patching. Isn’t there an agreement?”

“There is,” I acknowledge, fidgeting with my pockets. “I guess…it’s not just the shop disaster. There’s everything with…a man that’s not right either.”

“Promise me that you’ll talk to Blake too?”

I gulp as the train glides to a stop at the platform, and I weave my way outside. The angsty butterflies in my gut are having some sort of riot, though I’m not clear if the riot is over Blake, Eli, or far too many vegan snacks in the last three days. Or possibly not enough. At any rate, I’m out of sorts, but to be honest, I’m feeling resentful toward Eli. Like, Eli’s had a whole year to get his shit together. It’s as if by some finely honed instinct, he knows I’m starting to make moves toward something good and happy and mine, and then he appears like some sort of villain out of the shadows like some B-grade film that Blake would probably know about.

“I’ll need to, won’t I?” I say, getting onto the train and finding a seat.

“Hopefully with more enthusiasm than that,” Lily says drily.

“Sorry, I was thinking about what an arse Eli is.” Which is fair, because he is.

“God, I’m so mad at him. I’m tempted to give him an earful when I see him at Ryan’s birthday—”

I groan at the reminder. “Right, Ryan’s birthday. Shit.”

Grimacing, I stare out at the sheep across the way, with all the lush pasture their woolly hearts could desire. Maybe I should start living out here too, away from everything hectic that I have to face in the city. The train glides through the countryside.

Of course I want to say, fuck no—to avoid Eli—and bail like a champion. Because awkward. But I feel a sense of duty. Ryan is my friend too. It’s not his fault Eli’s an arse.

“I don’t want to ruin Ryan’s day. How responsible of me,” she laments, woeful. “Youarecoming to Ryan’s birthday, aren’t you? Would you bring Blake if he’s free?” she asks hopefully. “I’d love to meet him.”

“Yeah,” I acknowledge. “I’m going. We’ll see about Blake.”

My stomach’s still in knots from Cumbria and our abruptly ended getaway.

I can’t believe I ruined things with him. Over stupid Eli.

“See you at the party?” she asks.

“See you then.”

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