Page 59 of One Day Like This (Excess All Areas 1)

“And you deserve better than this. You deserve someone who can walk outside with you and show the world just how fucking proud he is to be your man. Because I am, Iz. Even if I can’t do that.”

“Does that make you my boyfriend?”

“Too right, I’m your boyfriend. I’m your fucking everything, Iz. Just like you’re mine. Next time you get the jitters, talk to me about it instead of racing off and dealing with it on your own.”

“Okay. But I still should go. Work. Shower. Luke.”

Matt cupped her face tenderly. “Okay. Want me to walk you home?”

Izabel’s heart squeezed at the gesture of him walking her down the stairs of their building. “I’m fine.”

“Thank you for last night. Especially caring for me with the fish finger sandwiches. Besides Nan, I don’t think there is anyone else who really does.”

One day she’d ask him to prove to her they weren’t a dirty secret, but for now she was happy to wait.

Matt kissed her, the kind of kiss that went down to her trainers and back. “I’ll miss you today.”

“I’ll miss you too. Message me.”

Matt held the door open for her. “I most definitely will.”

As the door clicked shut, Izabel wondered whether it would be enough.

* * *

“Matt, love, can you put the hams on the table? But don’t take the foil off them yet. If you do, Alex will be stealing slices as soon as he gets here.” Nan was on high alert, living her best life, catering a buffet for her family.

All of them.

Because apparently, their overnight hit was worth celebrating and worth overriding the fact it was her birthday and voiding Matt’s plan to take her out for lunch.

He dragged a hand over his hungover face. His mouth still tasted as though something had died in there. “I’m on it,” he said, dodging his Auntie Pat, in the process.

As he took the plates from the kitchen to the table in the corner of her living room, Ben and Chaya walked in. Side-by-side as always. Perpetual best friends since Ben had rescued her as a child.

“Does your head feel as rough as his?” Chaya asked playfully as she nudged Ben, who had still to take off his sunglasses.

“I don’t know. Does he feel like Uncle Allan just ran over it with his van, then reversed back over him?”

Chaya laughed, her long dark ponytail swishing as she did so. “I have a carrier bag in my handbag in case he puked on the walk over.”

Ben groaned. “Shut up about puking. It’s bad enough there’s a table with trifle on it in my line of sight.”

“I blame Jase,” Matt said. “Wasn’t it his idea to do shots at one in the morning?”

“Yeah. And I don’t see him showing up at Nan’s any earlier than he has to.”

“Is that my Ben?” Nan shouted as she hurried from the kitchen. “Come here, lad.” She pulled him into a hug, and a strong whiff of something chemically floral followed her.

Matt bit back a laugh as Ben grimaced.

“Hey, Nan. Happy birthday.” Ben handed her the bottles of wine he’d brought for the party and a gift bag. “Thanks for doing all this.”

“Well, you boys deserve a celebration for this success you’re having. I’ve been praying for you all for years, so this good news is the best birthday present I could ever get. I’ve even pickled my own onions because I know how much you love them. Hope you’ve got an appetite because I made two bowls. One for you and one for everyone else.”

As Nan bustled back into the kitchen, Ben gagged. “Fuck me, the idea of pickled onions right now might have me reaching for that carrier bag after all, birthday or not.”

Alex and Jase arrived together, seeing they shared a house a short walk away. Jase’s grey pallor told Matt he felt as bad as he did.

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