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“He didn’t stop you from tucking in?” asked Sam.
Evie bit the inside of her cheek. “Uh…”
Her brother’s brows knitted together. “He doesn’t know?”
“No, he does. He just doesn’t know all the gory details. And…he thinks I’m still in remission.”
Sam scoffed. “Evie, if he’s gonna be your boyfriend, you gotta tell him when you’re in a flare. He can’t be there for you if he doesn’t know.”
He’ll look at me differently. Evie fretted. “But what if he’s repulsed?”
“If he is, he’s an arse and doesn’t deserve you.” Sam paused for a beat. “Is he pressuring you for sex?”
“Noo!” Her cheeks burned hot. “Yuck, I can’t believe you asked me that!” Her shrill reply propelled Sam back to his game.
Evie touched her lips, still tender from the previous night’s make-out session. Four dates in and Stuart definitely fancied her judging by his eager hands and demanding kisses, which, while wonderfully flirty, tasted like stale cigarettes. He’d begged for a blow job (“Everyone does it, babe”) behind the pub, but Evie resisted, not ready to go there quite yet, especially in an outdoor space reeking of spilled beer and rotting scallops. “No worries,” he said, but his immediate offer to take her home suggested otherwise. If her uncomfortable feelings about a blow job soured Stuart’s evening, how would he deal with a sudden bout of nausea, excessive gas, or worse, this morning’s diarrhea emergency?
The thought made her shiver. Would ANY guy feel comfortable with all that? Would Nick? Evie swept her hair away from her face. I mean, he’s great. He knows what living with an invisible health issue is like, but…unlike me, he’s not bolting to the bathroom hoping he’ll make it in time.
Evie could write a book about it. The embarrassment, the loneliness of being the only one in her social circle with a life-disrupting affliction. But at least she could confide in her parents and Sam, and more recently, Sunita and Fiona, whereas Nick had no one. Well, he had her—now—but whether he’d actually ring was anyone’s guess. Guys were weird like that. She’d seen it firsthand with Sam. She’d confide in him, but vice versa? Rarer than a Starbucks coffee in Orkney.
If Nick didn’t call, Evie had to hope his parents weren’t as uncaring as he made them sound. He had to talk to someone. Talking always helped. Their conversation the previous night was proof of that.
“Sam?” She wriggled on the couch. “Have you met Nick’s parents?”
The growling creatures on the monitor froze and the room fell quiet again, apart from the rain’s patter on the windows. “Shit!” Sam swirled the mouse around in circles on its mat. “Bloody internet’s cut out again.” He exhaled heavily. “Why? They came into the shop?”
“No, Nick did. With his brothers.”
“I met his mum once.” The game shuddered alive again, unleashing a spine-chilling scream. Evie jolted as Sam continued his massacre—and the conversation. “Once was one time too many.”
“How come? You love her on Equinox Ten.”
“She’s great on TV. In person, she’s a bit plastic—a total diva.” Eyes locked on the screen, Sam clicked the mouse nonstop with one hand while absently reaching for his breakfast roll with the other.
“But isn’t being a diva a good thing sometimes?” asked Evie. “Taking control, knowing what you want?”
“Not in her case. She’s stuck up and humorless and really hard on Nico. She heard he lost out on some film role and tore a strip off him in front of all of us.” Bloody limbs and eyeballs flew as Sam annihilated another zombie village while feasting on his ketchup-drenched bacon sandwich.
All that gore and he isn’t bothered? He’ll make a great veterinary surgeon one day.
A muted beep sounded beneath Evie’s puzzles. “Finally!” she exclaimed, shifting the book. Sunita was volunteering for the first time at the local newspaper and promised an update during her midmorning break. 1 New Msg sat in the tiny window of her pink flip phone. She prized it open and selected the unread text.
Nick:
You’re the BEST
What?! Heart soaring, the events from sixteen hours earlier pranced through Evie’s head: Nick admiring her dress, his fingers laced between hers…his vulnerability, sharing his biggest secret, revealed to her and her alone.
She swooned, reliving his hand tucking her hair behind her ear and the lingering look in his eyes. His gaze was intense and familiar—like her own. The enduring ache of wanting more…
It’s not all in my head! He likes me!
Her phone beeped again.
Nick:
Gran LOVED her necklace! That’s all down to YOU, my brilliant friend! Thank you thank you thank you.
