Page 96 of More Than Just Friends

Was it just me or did he put some kind of strange emphasis on the word friend?

That word already sounded so weird.

Friends didn’t do the things that we’d done these past forty-eight hours. But I wasn’t complaining.

Anyway, we’d be back to being mates once we were in London, so how Noah had referred to me was technically accurate.

Sammie quickly introduced Noah to everyone, which I was grateful for because I was worried about getting names mixed up.

‘So come on then!’ Sammie said. ‘What did you get up to in Mykonos?’

Noah’s eyes popped and he looked at me. Shit, he was blushing.

‘The T-shirt!’ I pointed quickly before someone guessed that he really did do something in Mykonos that he shouldn’t have. With me.

‘Ohhhh!’ His shoulders instantly loosened. ‘Er… what happens in Mykonos, stays in Mykonos, right?’ He smiled as his gaze flicked to me then back to the table. ‘Congratulations in advance, Stella,’ Noah added quickly, clearly keen to change the subject. ‘I’m really looking forward to your wedding tomorrow.’

‘Awww, thanks,’ Stella said. ‘I’m really excited too. And glad that you could be here. Sammie was just saying how you’ll be Ali’s date tomorrow after she ditched her muppet match.’

‘I believe so. His loss is my gain.’ Noah’s eyes met mine again and my whole body lit up.

‘Isn’t he just a sweetheart?’ Sammie added. ‘Why these two didn’t get together years ago is beyond me.’

I quickly tore my gaze away from Noah, reached for my glass of wine and took a large gulp.

‘Well, I’ll leave you ladies to it. Nice to meet you all,’ Noah said. ‘See you later, Ali.’ He flashed me one of his trademark smiles that made my stomach flip like a happy dolphin, then left.

The table stayed silent, then once he was out of earshot, it erupted with excitement.

‘He’s adorable!’ Laila said.

‘Er, hello?’ Jasmine tilted her head. ‘Sammie?’

‘Yep,’ Sammie said and my face crumpled with confusion. What were they on about? ‘Glad you saw it too.’

‘Saw what?’ I frowned.

‘It’s obvious!’ Sammie rolled her eyes. ‘You two slept together!’

‘W-What?’ Now my stomach wasn’t flip-flopping. It’d completely bottomed out. My gaze darted to the floor, then to the table where everyone was staring at me, bug-eyed. ‘Why do you think that?’ My voice squeaked.

‘It’s written all over your face!’

‘Sammie’s right – it’s kind of obvious,’ Jasmine added.

‘God, you ladies are good!’ Stella grinned.

‘Thanks, hon.’ Sammie beamed. ‘That’s why they pay us the big bucks! Us Love Alchemists and Empresses are like those sniffer dogs the police use at the airport to track down drug traffickers. We can sense chemistry between couples from a mile off. Even Petros and Stavros, the Love Alchemist and Love Emperor, told me they thought these two would get together. And we said it was pretty obvious. Did you see how shifty Ali started acting when he came over? And the way Noah looked at her. Especially when I mentioned the T-shirt. My guess is that it all happened in Mykonos.’

‘That was a dead giveaway,’ Jasmine confirmed. ‘Not to mention the connection.’

‘Totally!’ Sammie confirmed like it was as clear as day. ‘The electricity between those two was enough to power not just the whole of Santorini, but the whole of Europe! Why the hell didn’t you tell me?’

My heart thundered against my chest.

Oh God. This was so awkward.

Before I was worried that if I told Sammie, she’d blab to Mum and all our friends. But this was so much worse. If I’d known that she was going to announce it in front of an audience of mostly strangers, I would’ve spilled the beans privately earlier.