Page 46 of Love You Like That (Excess All Areas 4)

Wasn’t that exactly what she was doing? Were they both playing the same game?

“I think you’re wrong.”

Ben leaned toward her. “Million quid question right here. Do you want me to be?”

The question caught her so off-guard, she didn’t have time to formulate an answer. Nothing came to mind except one word.

A word she couldn’t say out loud.

No.

Ben took her hand and squeezed it. “Like I thought. Alex bet a hundred pounds that he’d be your perfect wingman. But the truth is. He’s your guy. So, as his big brother, it falls to me to step in and fill the gap his lack of foresight created. I’m going to help you catch my brother.”

She’d caught most of his words, but she glanced down at the transcript to confirm what she thought she’d heard that couldn’t possibly be right. “You’re going to help me hook up with your brother?”

“Keep up, Zoe. He’s not a hook up. He’s your penguin. Or lobster. Or whatever the fuck animal it is that stays with the same one for life.”

Zoe burst out laughing. “I only caught penguin and lobster in that exasperated rant, but I get the general idea.”

“Pretend you’re interested in someone else to set fire to his arse.”

Zoe put her hand on his arm. “That’s a dumb idea.”

Ben stood. “Trust me. The next time you go out. Let him hook you up. Flirt with the guy. If the guy asks you for a drink, go, but only if it’s safe. Watch Alex’s reaction. He won’t let you go.”

“Jealousy feels like a very bad strategy.”

Ben smirked. “I’m not suggesting you sleep with a stranger and send Alex selfies. I’m just suggesting you let him see you give your attention to someone else. Do it once, it will be enough. I know my brother.”

As the bus door rippled shut behind Ben as he left, Zoe took a deep breath. Was it possible she’d seen her own feelings reflected in Alex’s eyes as she thought she had?

Perhaps she should just tell Alex what she was feeling.

But what if Ben was wrong? She’d make a fool of herself, ruin their friendship, and make the tour awkward for everyone.

Perhaps his solution was the right one. How hard would it be to test whether Alex was the slightest bit jealous?

The tour was beginning to feel like a blur. Cardiff the previous evening had been wild. So had the first night of two nights in Newcastle, which also thankfully meant a night in a hotel. It was technically Ben’s birthday, being twenty minutes past midnight, and seeing the following night was going to be spent on the tour bus, they’d decided to go all out tonight.

The club was dark. So dark it was impossible to see into the corners. Alex surveyed the crowd. Hot bodies, tight clothes, and the pulsing undercurrent of unmet needs.

On the dance floor, Luke’s hands were playfully all over Willow as they swayed to the music. Jase danced with Cerys and Zoe. From his position on the balcony, he could see Zoe move in time to the beat.

With her arms lifted, and a smile on her face, he could not only see the way the music filled her, but he could feel it. That urge to move when a beat dropped, when a bass hit you so hard in the chest it felt like a second heartbeat. She drifted closer to the speakers. And despite the pale blue shirt and loose jeans, her body moved in a way that was giving him a boner. All fluidity and grace with a hint of stripper.

Fucking deadly.

And he wasn’t the only person who could see it. A twat behind her on the dance floor had noticed too, rarely taking his eyes off her arse.

“Here,” Ben said, delivering his pint. “Cheers.”

“Happy thirty-first birthday.” They tapped glasses and leaned on the balcony.

“Had no idea when I turned thirty last year that this is where we’d be twelve months later. Honestly, I stood up there during ‘Am I Him?’ tonight and had an out of body experience.”

“For real?”

“Think about it. A little over a year ago, we stepped out of that gig Iz had organised for the shelter and found Jase and Matt killing each other on the pavement outside. Do you remember? It was pissing down. And I thought to myself, holy fuck, this is it. This is the end of the band. And when I got home that night, I checked my account, made sure I had a couple of months’ money in the bank, and figured I was going to be a mechanic for the rest of my life. So, to stand up on that stage tonight and see all those faces, singing our song…well, shit. I couldn’t figure out how we got this second chance. Best fucking birthday present ever.”

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