‘Okay, fire away.’
Her question emboldened him. ‘Have you thought about me at all since we last saw each other?’
She smiled and put her hand out for the flask.
‘Ah, avoiding the first question: very revealing.’ He handed it over.
She drank and pulled the same pained expression as before. ‘My turn. What are you going to do now I’m available?’
He’d been in a daze since she said they’d broken up. Now, these words, so forward and flirtatious, left him reeling. He shook his head to clear it.
She giggled, her voice tinkling in the night air. ‘I haven’t been able to get a word in all night and now… silence.’
He came to a stop, but she didn’t notice for a couple of steps and turned back.
‘I meant what I said at Christmas.’ His voice came out quieter than expected.
She stepped closer. ‘Sorry?’
‘I meant what I said at Christmas,’ he said again.
‘You said a lot of things at Christmas.’ But she wasn’t teasing now.
‘I know.’ He dragged a palm over his mouth. ‘I’ve messed stuff up, caused trouble for both of us. Hurt people. But I can’t stop thinking about you. Haven’t been able to stop thinking about you for… I don’t even know how long.’
She dropped her chin. Was she hiding a smile?
She screwed the cap back on the flask. ‘That’s why I’m here.’
‘Sorry…’ He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. ‘Why are you here?’
She exhaled a little cloud of steam. ‘I’m here because nobody’s ever done anything like that for me before.’
He stood there trying to grasp what she was saying. All evening, he’d thought she was telling him one thing and now she was saying the opposite. His head hurt.
‘And I like it,’ she added.
She slipped the flask into the pocket of his coat and kept her hand there. Half a second later, her other hand hooked into his other pocket, her fingers like ice touching his. She had never been so close. Energy thrummed in the air between them. A break in the traffic left the street silent as her gaze dropped slowly to his lips. She tilted her head slightly and inched her face closer until her nose was alongside his, her breath warm on his cheek. His heart was beating so hard he could feel it reverberating through his entire body. The tiniest brush of her bottom lip against his and his insides melted. Her face was hovering there, and he was paralysed, waiting for her next move. A van rumbled past. He couldn’t wait any longer. The slightest dip and his chin and his mouth was on hers, soft as marshmallows. She parted her lips. The tips of their tongues touched. She tasted of whiskey and salt.
It was a brief kiss. There was a lot more almost kissing than actual kissing. Before he knew it, she’d retrieved her hands and was walking away and he had to run to catch her up.
She stopped at a gate two houses up. ‘This is me.’
All he could think about was kissing her again, but she had opened the gate and was on the other side.
‘Call me,’ she said
He composed himself. ‘Oh, I will.’
‘Goodnight,’ she called from the door.
‘Night.’
She smiled and closed the door.
He turned and headed for home, a ball of excitement bursting in his stomach and a huge grin on his face.
He paid no attention when the car engine started up behind him. As it pulled up alongside him, he barely noticed. He didn’t even look over until the door slammed, but by then it was too late to run.