Page 68 of Falling for You
‘What is it? Are you okay? Is it the mouse?’
I beam at her. I can’t help it. I’ve been grinning like a madman since last night, since I realised that I’d actually managed to find him.
‘What the fuck?’
I turn to see Penny, her eyes barely open. She looks like she’s just come out of hibernation. ‘Annie, it’s like eight in the morning.’
‘That’s not early.’
‘It’s a Sunday!’
‘I need to talk to you both,’ I say, the words falling out of my mouth. ‘I’ve made us all a tea. It’s in the living room.’
As we walk through, Tanya eyes me suspiciously. ‘What time did you get in last night? I didn’t hear you. Who was that guy you left with? Your message was so mysterious! Are you okay?’
‘I’m great!’
Penny stumbles past us, immediately crashing onto the sofa. ‘I’ll listen with my eyes closed,’ she mumbles as I bounce after her.
Tanya picks up her tea and I drop down into the beanbag, which swallows my body at once.
‘Okay …’ Tanya says slowly. ‘You’re weirding me out a bit. What’s going on?’
‘Guess who I saw last night?’
‘Peter Andre,’ Penny says, her voice muffled by her pillow.
I roll my eyes. ‘No.’
‘Oh!’ Tanya sits up a bit straighter. ‘Rod Stewart?’
‘Boris Johnson?’
‘No and no.’
‘Our landlord?’
‘No!’ I cry, swatting away their guesses with my hand. ‘American Boy.’
It takes a minute for the penny to drop, and then I see Tanya’s mouth drop. Penny peels her eyes open and smiles.
‘So itwashim.’
‘What, was he there?’ Tanya gapes at me. ‘Did I date him? Is that who you ran off with?’
‘Yes, no and yes.’
Penny slowly pushes herself up to sitting straight on the sofa, a big tuft of her blonde hair sticking out vertically. ‘I need more information,’ she says, picking up her mug and wincing as it singes her hands through the thin china.
I reposition myself on the beanbag and tell them everything. We ended up staying in Infernos until the lights cameon, dancing and yelling lyrics at each other and laughing. There was so much laughing. Andso much kissing. I haven’t kissed someone like that since I was a teenager.
‘Sorry.’ Penny holds up a hand. ‘You took him to a kebab shop and then to Infernos? Are you mad?’
‘He kept talking about how he really wanted tosee London,’ I say.
‘That’s a red flag for me,’ Penny says.
‘He loved it!’
