Page 2 of Imogen

“And you want to return it to him?”

“Fuck no! I’ve got another party tomorrow and I want to get wasted.”

“Ah, okay. I’ll get it tomorrow for you.”

Since I’ve always looked older than my years, it’s easy for me to get served. I’ve never been asked for I.D. and we’ve always used that to our advantage.

“Thank you,” she responds, nodding solemnly.

“Do you know where Ben is?” I ask, my nose scrunching up when I spot my mum and dad making out on the dance floor. “Oh God, she’s touching his arse.”

Hayden snickers. “You’d better wear ear plugs to bed.”

I nudge her away from me. “Eww, Hayden!”

“Oh, lover-boy is in the bathroom.”

“He’s probably left there now,” I hiss. “You couldn’t have told me that before you sat down?”

“Easy, tiger. He’s just about to go in,” she explains, jerking her chin in the direction of the corridor.

And sure enough, Ben places his pint of beer down on the shelf outside the bathroom, before heading inside.

Panic grows within me. I’ve never done this before. Sure, I’ve had lads come up to me and flirt, but I’ve never been the one to go up and do it. And they’ve never flirted for long. Once they say something demeaning or cheesy, I tend to lay into them. Then I have to watch them hightail it away like their arse is on fire.

But I know Ben likes me. I see him watching me when he thinks I’m not looking. It’s only been the past few months that it’s been obvious, but I was only a child when I first met him. In a few weeks, though, I’m going to be eighteen, and we won’t need to worry about that.

“I don’t know what to do,” I stress, rubbing my palms down my black mini dress, which is feeling tighter than it did when I first put it on.

“Breathe,” Hayden demands. “You are a Carter, for fuck’s sake. You’ve got this.”

“I’m a Smith,” I remind her, panting.

She waves me off. “Semantics. You are a Carter at heart, and that’s all that matters. Now, you are going to go and wait outside the bathroom for him to come out. Then you can ask him to go outside with you, and then just go for it. Kiss him and tell him how you feel.”

“And that works?” I ask, biting my bottom lip.

“Trust me. I’ve seen him look at you. He likes you.”

I push back in my chair and get to my feet. “Wish me luck.”

“You don’t need it. You’re a Carter, remember?”

I squeeze her shoulder and then adjust my dress so I’m showing a little more boob. My feet feel heavy as I make my way down to the men’s toilets and lean against the wall, pulling my phone out of my bag. I might be outside here waiting for him, but I don’t want to make it obvious.

I hear the hand dryers going off inside the bathroom, and I know it’s only a matter of seconds before he comes out. I take a breath, scrolling through Facebook so I don’t look like a complete creeper. I know I’m acting crazy, but he makes me crazy. He ties me up in knots yet makes me feel free at the same time.

The door opens, and I hold my breath for a split second, peeking at the floor until I see his boots. Boots he’s always wearing. The only time I see him in trainers is when he is at the gym my dad has in the cellar of the building they work in.

“Immy, is everything okay?” he greets.

I look up, pretending to be surprised to see him. “Hey, Ben, I didn’t see you there.”

And my god, he is gorgeous. Even dressed casually he looks hot. A white, crisp shirt is untucked from his dark jeans, and his leather jacket hangs open, giving a tiny glimpse of the tattoos he has snaking up his neck.

He brushes his sandy blonde hair from his face, and his startling green eyes meet mine. They don’t pick apart the dress I’m wearing like so many others here attending or working the party have done. He sees me. “Is everything okay?”

I glance at the door that leads out to the front of the building. The centre my mum hired for my dad is huge. It has a venue space and a member’s room, both of which have bars inside. There are two changing rooms and a sports hall, and outside it has a cricket field, a basketball court, and a field of AstroTurf for football and hockey.

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