Page 135 of Riding the High Road

‘OK, I’ll admit she’s bloody gorgeous. But we met for coffee yesterday…?’

‘Ah, it’s all coming out now!’

‘And, if you’ll listen, I said I would be interested in joining the collective, and her political artists group, but we basically agreed that’s as far as it’s going.’

‘You what? How actually does that work?’

I think about how it did work. I told Gabriella that I didn’t want to blow it, and she smiled and said I was a lovely lady – she could snog me right now – but nothing has to happen if I don’t want it to. And I admitted I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or not.

‘We agreed there’s no hurry, we’ve got lots of art to discuss, we’ll leave it at that for now,’ is what I tell Gethin.

He nods knowingly, and I get a flash of Gabriella leaning to kiss me, a wave of longing I’m so unused to feeling.

‘Ah, so tempted,’ I say, bursting into teenage giggles. Gethin catches the mood, laughing with me.

‘Go Mum!’ he says, as I start to calm down.

He takes his iPhone, scrolls through the photos and passes it to me. It’s a selfie of him and Jez on her bike, both grinning stupidly from their helmets.

‘Can you print that?’ He hands me the lead for the phone.

I plug it into the laptop and download it to print. ‘So, Jez’s proposition?’

‘She’s like done a deal with me. As in she’ll get herself legal on that bike, while I earn enough cash to join her on some travels in a couple of months. We’re talking Eastern Europe, maybe.’

I nod slowly. Terrified of the idea of him on the back of a bike, and not liking to think in what way it wasn’t legal. I’ll have to force myself not to fuss it.

‘Jez reckons I should learn to ride as well,’ he carries on, not helping my fears. ‘I dunno, maybe. But there’s something quite cool about being a male pillion for a sexy female biker, don’t you think?’ He raises his eyebrows, so full of himself.

Ah, I do love him. And I’ll admit to being pleased that he’s choosing to get out and live for a bit rather than committing to more study that he may not be ready for.

‘I’m excited for it. As in I haven’t been abroad since we hired that Spanish villa after GCSEs.’ He takes a swig of his wine. ‘And that was all about getting trashed around a pool, which even then seemed kind of pointless.’

I hand him the picture from the printer. ‘Well, Eastern Europe on a bike with Jez sounds much more interesting. I’m almost jealous,’ I say, only half joking.

Gethin grabs a magic marker and holds it poised above the collage, his dimple smile filling his face. Then he draws the lines of a road heading out, splitting off into multiple directions as it reaches the end of the calico. Places himself with Jez on the bike at the start of the road.

He grins at me. ‘There you go. Finished!’