Page 53 of The Wedding Pact
He looked down then, swirling the remainder of his tea in his mug, and sighed with defeat. ‘Not really. I think, for her, it was a light at the end of the tunnel. An escape route. From me.’
‘I’m sure she didn’t see it like that,’ August commented, kindly.
‘It’s not like we ever got really mad at each other, it was never horrible between us, I just began to feel like she wasn’t looking at me the same anymore, like I’d disappointed her and she was done. If I hadn’t found this job, I expect we would have split up anyway.’
He went to take another sip of tea but his mug was empty. August took it from his hands and replaced it with her own, a mug which was still half full.
‘Do you miss her?’ August asked.
‘I miss the her from before we moved in together. I can look back on that and smile now. But the Yui from the past year still makes me sad. No, the situation makes me sad, it’s really not her fault. It does make me worried about moving in with a girlfriend again though.’ He sighed. That was the truth of it really, the reason he would never jump into living with a girlfriend again, and the reason he knew he had to keep his thoughts about August to himself if he didn’t want to risk their friendship.
‘Why’s that?’
‘Because what if I ruin it again? What if living with me is a relationship destroyer?’
August thought about this. ‘I like living with you.’ He smiled into his mug of tea, and she continued. ‘I know I’m not a girlfriend, but for what it’s worth, I do. And every situation is different. Your next girlfriend won’t be exactly like Yui, so why would your relationship?’
Flynn nodded, glancing over at August, at the sun catching her hair, at the way she held her hands around his empty mug, cradling it like she could still feel the warmth. He wasn’t sure what to say. Because what he was thinking was about how it would feel if Augustwerehis girlfriend.
So August spoke again. ‘That said, I’m not as wise as I sound, because I have never lived with a boyfriend. My last boyfriend broke up with me at the merethoughtof living with me, so maybe we’re both complete nightmares, destined to just live together for eternity like a couple of misfits.’
Flynn laughed at that; his melancholy moment broken. ‘That doesn’t sound too bad.’
‘No?’
‘Nope. James’s loss was my gain, quite frankly. Where does he live now?’
August shrugged. ‘Same place as he used to, I’m guessing, in a house share across the city.’
Flynn slung an arm around August’s shoulders, the weight of it heavy but comforting. They both admired the big, open panorama in front of them, and he said, ‘Well, we live here.’
‘We live here,’ August smiled.
Chapter 34
August
August watched Mrs Haverley’s profile as she ever so slowly scrutinised the apartment. She’d been there fifteen minutes and hadn’t left the living room yet, barely saying a word. Her eyes were moving along the lengths of the wall, perhaps looking for scuff marks, or signs that August and Flynn were living there under false pretences and needed immediate evicting.
Flynn asked again, ‘Mrs Haverley, are you sure I can’t make you a tea or anything?’
Mrs Haverley dragged her eyes from the curtains to Flynn’s face, regarded him for a moment, and then said, ‘I’m fine, thanks.’
She moved towards August’s bedroom and stopped, her gaze caught by one of their faux wedding photos, sitting in a silver frame and propped up on a shelf. ‘You had a beach wedding,’ she stated, with no indication this was a question, nor whether she considered it a good or bad thing.
‘We did,’ August replied in her brightest voice. ‘In Cornwall. It was a magical day.’
‘Yes,’ Mrs Haverley replied. ‘Weddings are quite lovely.’ With that, she moved into August’s room, and behind her August and Flynn glanced at each other.
August held her breath.
‘I see you purchased another bed.’
‘We did,’ August confirmed, aware she was becoming repetitive. ‘We use this as our spare room.’
‘Do you have many overnight guests?’ Mrs Haverley asked sharply.
‘No,’ Flynn and August said in unison, and Flynn added, ‘August has family not too far away so we like to be prepared in case they want to come into Bath.’
