Page 113 of He's the One

“But I love talking.”

“I know you do.”

“Let’s buy a book for each other.”

“I’d likeThe Sheep-Pig,” Col said.

“Because it has pictures?”

“Don’t ruin the moment. Because it was important to you as a child.”

“I’m going to give youHatchetbecause if you’re ever in a plane and the pilot has a heart attack, you’ll know what to do. Actually, you probably won’t but… Anyway, that was what I told myself.”

As they headed to the till to pay, Theo felt a little wobbly. He’d only had two glasses of wine. Hadn’t he? Another hadn’t slipped down his throat without him noticing? They paid for their books and had them put in the same paper carrier.

“Are you hungry?” Col asked.

“Not really.”

“Did you have something before we left?”

“An apple.”

“That’s not enough. Want some chips?”

“No, I’m fine.” He wasn’t sure his stomach could cope with food.

“Would you like a walk along the seafront? We don’t need to go on the sand.”

“Okay.”

Col wrapped his fingers around Theo’s hand and Theo thought he’d have gone anywhere with Col, maybe even onto the beach.

Though not tonight.

“That was a good idea, the bookshop thing,” Theo said.

“I googledinteresting first datesand found it after I’d discarded the first twenty suggestions, which included glow-in-the-dark golf, axe throwing and naked trampolining.”

“You dismissed axe throwing? Are you mad?”

Col shrugged. “This was fun and you had a good sleep. Though I did feel sorry for the couple who obviously had nothing in common whatsoever.”

“What books did they pick?”

“The guy had chosen everything to do with boats includingThe Big Book of Boats for Boys—how sexist is that!Greatest Boating DisastersandHow to Avoid Huge Ships.The woman had gone for—”

“Serial killers?”

Col laughed. “She’d picked outThe Nothing that Is, Humble PiandSeventeen Equations that Changed the World.Unless she’s a prodigy, I don’t think she stuck to the brief.”

“Maybe they’ll be perfect together.”

“Maybe.”

As they reached the seafront, Theo took a deep breath and then swallowed hard. “How many glasses of wine did I have?”

“Three and half, I think. I drank a half of one and you grabbed it and drank the rest.”

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