Page 116 of When We Were Young

Suddenly, Reu threw his arms around him, squeezing tightly. ‘Love you, man,’ he croaked.

‘Love you, too.’

Reu released him as suddenly as he’d grasped him and bounced off, turning at the door to flash the rock ’n roll salute and yelling, ‘Let’s party!’

Will followed Reu through to the next room where the catering was laid out. He spotted Emily talking to someone on the other side of the room. He grabbed a bottle of beer from an ice bucket, high-fived a passing roadie, and was on his way over when the person turned.

It was Christie Blackmore.

Shit.What were they talking about?

‘Fantastic show!’ cried Christie when she saw him.

Will gave her a chaste peck on the cheek. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I’ve always wanted to see a show here, so when Ed said you were playing, I had to come out.’

‘You remember Emily?’ he asked.

‘How could I forget? We’ve been having a lovely chat.’

Will’s armpits prickled. ‘Oh, yeah?’

Emily smiled. ‘I was just telling Christie we’ve got a few days off before I have to go back to college, and you head off to Australia.’

‘Yeah, I can’t wait to have a break,’ said Will. ‘We’re all knackered.’

‘Why don’t the two of you stay at my pad in Malibu?’ said Christie. ‘I’m heading to New York tomorrow. You’ll have the place to yourselves.’

Emily’s jaw dropped. ‘Really? That would be brilliant!’

‘That’s really kind of you, Christie,’ said Will. ‘But we’re going to LA with the guys––’

‘You’ve spent the last four months with them, Will,’ said Christie. ‘LA’s only an hour away. You can still see the boys, but this way you get time to yourselves, too.’ Christie swigged her drink and gave him a discreet wink. Why was she being so nice?

Emily pleaded with her eyes.

In his mind, he cycled through every possible excuse. No sane person would refuse an offer like this. But he felt sick with guilt whenever he thought about that night in Christie’spenthouse suite. Two weeks of constant reminders of what he’d done would be torture. Just standing near her made his bones itch.

The house in Malibu was fabulous, but there were photographs of Christie Blackmore everywhere. Her presence hung over him like a shadow, that night in her penthouse suite playing over and over in his mind. He wished he’d never gone up in that lift with her. He should have got out on his floor with Matty. He hated himself for what he’d done.

But playing house with Emily was bliss. Waking beside her, without Ed knocking on the door, telling them to be in the lobby in thirty minutes, making breakfast side-by-side, barefoot in the kitchen, with nowhere to be – living like normal people. Though Christie’s house was anything but normal with its pool, gym, and home cinema. They even had the use of her Mercedes 300SE convertible. Not quite normal life, but more normal than living on a bus with twenty dudes.

They lay side by side on loungers by Christie’s pool. Emily held her book up to shade her eyes from the sun as she read. He felt a pang. The summer was almost over. She’d be heading home soon, and he was going to miss her. He wanted to ask her to come to Australia, but he knew she wouldn’t.

‘Are you looking forward to going back to college?’ he asked instead.

She rolled on her side to face him. ‘I’d rather stay here with you.’

‘You’re missing your work, though.’ Her bikini was distracting. Just three small triangles.

‘Hmm. A bit. I enjoyed taking the photographs, though. I can’t wait to see how they turned out.’ She paused. ‘Have you spoken to your parents yet?’

He reached across and played with the string tied at her hip. ‘No.’

‘It’s been over a year; isn’t it time?’

He sighed. ‘I’m fed up with Mum giving me grief. Reu speaks to her. He tells her how I’m doing. It’s better this way, talking through him.’