AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I am sorry,” I told Liv and Emma as we sat eating our lunch. “He asked me, and I just messaged Ana after he picked me up.”
Liv shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.” She winced and touched her cheek, the side where she’d had a filling in her tooth. “Emma, stop being ridiculous. Now, this party on Saturday. Are we all going?”
“Jack Dawson’s?” Ana asked, poking a fork at her salad and practically snarling at it.
“Yes. The football team are going, obviously, and Harry Mayhew,” Liv informed us, the subject of Zak and me clearly no longer of any importance. “So, we need a plan.”
“For what?” I asked.
She huffed and placed her hands on the table. “To get Harry to notice me.”
“Just wear your lowest-cut top,” Emma muttered.
“Or that leather skirt that barely covers your bum.” Ana popped a tomato in her mouth and winced. “I don’t know why they insist on serving these shitty, sour tomatoes.”
Liv flicked her long blonde, poker-straight hair over her shoulder and lengthened her spine. “Can we be serious?”
My attention moved to the double doors leading into the dining room as Zak, Liam and a couple of other boys strolled in.
“Maddy!”
Liv’s voice snapped my gaze back to her. “What?”
“A plan. We need a plan for me to get Harry’s attention.”
“We’ve told you,” Ana stated, peeling a banana. “The clothes will do it.”
“Yeah,” Emma added. “The skirt and the top together will seal the deal.”
As Liv continued talking about her latest crush, I sensed that I was being watched. The hairs on my arms stood up and a shiver ran through my body. I turned my head and saw Zak looking at me from across the room. Toby, one of the boys he’d come in with, was talking to him, but his attention was definitely on me. There was a beautiful smile on his face as soon as our eyes met.
“Oh, for shit’s sake,” Ana groaned. “Just go and speak to him.”
“No.” It was hard, but I tore my gaze away from Zak. “He’s having his lunch.”
“Yeah and he looks like he wants to eat you.” Emma snorted at her own joke, and I felt myself shiver with excitement.
The anticipation of doing more than kissing Zak took my breath away. Already, I could imagine going further with him than any other boy I’d been out with before. I mean, I’d done things, more than kissing, but I’d never gone all the way. I’d never felt enough for someone to have sex with them. It wasn’t like I was waiting for ‘the one’ or for marriage, but I just hadn’t ever felt like I wanted to before. Yet Zak was different. I wanted more with him, even if he wasn’t the boy I’d end up with.
Turning my gaze back to him, I was disappointed to see his attention was back on whatever the boys were talking about. I watched him for a few seconds and then sighed, still unable to believe that he seemed to like me as much as I liked him. About to turn back to the girls, I instantly stopped because Zak’s headswivelled in my direction. When he winked and gave me a broad smile, I knew for definite he was going to be my first.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Will
My mouth felt dry, and the silence seemed to have stretched for hours. It was actually only seconds—ten to be precise. I knew because I was counting.
“I told you, honestly,” Maya said, sounding breathy. “And you’re sure that Maddy is okay with it?”
The relief that she was okay with Maya coming over was immense because this relationship was different.
“She’s totally on board. Honestly.”
“What do you think? Shall we all go out for dinner?”
The vice-like grip around my chest loosened, and nervous air rushed out. “That would be fantastic. I’ll book somewhere.” My mind was already racing ahead to where we could go. “There’s a great pub in the next village along.”
“Sounds good.” Maya paused for a second. “I’m wondering whether to come on the train.”
