Page 111 of Thick as Thieves
“I’d love to come to your dinner. And I’ll even date you,” she tells me, as if she’s doing me a big favour. I can hardly contain my smile, because she is.
“Don’t get me a present,” I tell her. “I know you won’t have time and I don’t want you to worry about it. Just coming to the party is enough.” I grin and hold her hands. My heart is beating out of my chest. “Can I walk you home?” I say, pointing down the lane.
She smiles and nods and we walk on, talking and laughing, with me getting closer and closer to her. I’ll be tripping her up next.
Jonno goes past on the tractor in the field, honking his horn at us.
“Have you asked my brothers?” she asks me.
“No, I don’t have enough places. My mother has asked people we have in the summer to come. So I’ll have to do something with just us after they’ve gone home,” I explain, making it obvious where my preference lies.
She nods at that. “Jonno got some old speakers working the other day. I’ve taken them to Bowman's Lodge. I’ve also got some old fleece blankets to brighten up the settee there. So we could have a fire and do something there. We can get food and stuff.” She smiles at me, the plan lighting her up. They love plans, the Greystones. Always cooking one up.
I’m staring at her face again, I can’t look away. God, she’s absolutely mesmerising, and my heart is going into overdrive. But I play it cool. “Yeah, sure. Sounds good. Let me know.”
I pull her towards me as we get to the gates and peck her on the lips. I want to kiss her so much. So I touch her lips with mine again, and she melts into me. I plant my lips on hers more firmly, my mind totally focused on her and how good she feels in my arms. God knows how long we’re stood there, kissing in that gate.
But then I hear a horn blow and we both jump apart. Jonno has pulled up in the tractor, and we never even heard it arrive.
He's grinning at us, shouting, “Thought you’d be there all night.”
I make a shooing motion with my hands, but pull Evie out of the way. “Come for seven tonight. Don’t worry about clothes, just come,” I beg her, all pretence dropped.
She laughs. “I don’t think your mother would appreciate me naked.”
I start to laugh with her—“You know what I mean”—and I kiss her lips again. Now I’ve started, I can’t stop. But I have to. “Seven,” I reiterate, walking away as she nods.
I try my hardest not to look around as I walk down the lane. ‘Play it cool, you idiot,’ I’m telling myself. But I get to the bend in the lane and I can’t resist any more. I look back, she waves at me, and I see her laugh. “She fucking knows,” I say to myself and grin.
Evie age 15
Greystone Farm, Yorkshire
I hearthe knock at the door. Pat is out with Jackson for the day, and all the Greystone men are working the farm, so I shoot up the stairs to look down on the front door without being seen. It’s the two girls who are friends with Kellen and Xander. They’re not too friendly towards me unless Kellen is there, but at least it isn’t one of the village ladies. So I go down, step over the array of shoes I’m trying to make fit, and open the door.
“Hey,” I say, smiling at them. May at least try and be nice. They both smile at me, but I can tell it’s forced. I bet Kellen told them to come.
“Marcus said he asked you to the party but you hadn’t had time to get something to wear. So we thought we could bring you some dresses to try on. They’re old ones of mine.”
Isobel is smiling at me. But it never seems to reach her eyes, a tell-tale sign Jonno and I look for. We’ve studied body language, especially tell-tale signs of lying. I need to know if someone is going to grass me up, we need to be prepared.
“Oh that’s really kind of you. Please come in, mind the mess. I was trying to find a pair of shoes that might fit. Pat has a few, but they’re all too big. But on weird occasions she buys ones that she likes even if they don’t fit her.” I shake my head and laugh. They don’t react at all, but look at me like I’m mad.
“Anyway, we have these old dresses, have a look through.'' They dump them on the kitchen table as they sit down, and I can see them having a good look round, their heads and eyes on a swivel. The nosey gits.
I pick a dress out. It’s a nice grey, the rest are very gaudy and not me at all.
The friend makes a strangled noise when I pick out the dress. “Is that even a dress? It’s a bit boring, Evie. Surely you want to make a splash as Marcus’s girlfriend.” She says the word with great emphasis. He must have told them.
“Oh, he told you, did he?” I smile at them. It’s then I realise he hasn’t. Jonno will kill me. Idiot rule 101: never confirm or deny. It’s Kellen’s fault. He's messed with my head.
They both look sour. “To be fair, that dress is perfect for her,” Isobel states with so much obvious nefarious intent, I almost laugh.
“Oh yes, it’s the nicest dress, suits your colouring.” The other one tries to cover the nastiness.
“Are you getting your hair and nails done?” Issy asks.
I shake my head. “No, I was getting a shower, that's it. Am I supposed to?” I’m going for the total country bumpkin they clearly think I am, so I ham it up.
