AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Someone comes out of the bathroom door behind me and I step closer to Finn to give them space. Neither of us moves after they’ve passed. Blood rushes to my head and my jaw clenches in determination to win this standoff. ‘Try again.’
‘He told you he believed Gareth Gates should’ve been crowned the winner of Pop Idol in 2002, not Will Young?’
‘That,’ I exhale through my nose as slowly as I can, that irritatingly perfect curl of his shifting on his forehead with my breath, ‘was arguably too niche.’
‘I’ve been spending too much time with you.’
‘I knowthat.’
The glee in his eyes is unmistakable. ‘Come on, the suspense iskilling me. What did he tell you?’
‘You are an insufferable man.’ I heave a sigh. ‘He just informed me of the reason his last relationship ended. Said he cheated on his ex-girlfriend. Do you know who his ex-girlfriend was?’
‘You keep asking me questions that I have no way of knowing the answer to.’
‘The Berlin fucking Wall, Finn,’ I groan. ‘A wall. He regularly took trips to Germany to see her. It.’
‘So he’s a history buff. Nice.’ I was expecting at least a modicum of surprise at this reveal but his expression is entirely unchanged, arms still folded against his chest.
‘He emotionally cheated on her with Hadrian’s Wall.’
‘The Ancient Roman one? That’s a MILF of a wall, to be fair.’
His ease makes me want to scream. Maybe he already knew this about Henry. Or maybe he’s calm because I set him up with someone who could at least like him back. The man Finn set me up with isn’t even intopeople. ‘How are you so unfazed by this information?’
‘You’re being very judgemental, did you know? To each his own.’ His tone is flat, but when he shifts his weight and moves an inch closer, his chest starts to rise and fall quicker than normal.
‘He can fancy a fucking helter skelter for all I care, but forgive me for being under the impression you’d set me up on a date that could actuallygo somewhere.’
He snorts. ‘You won’t believe me, but I honestly didn’t know about this side of him. So I’m sorry about this, but,’ he scrunches his nose before a smile splits his entire face open; the least apologetic any person has ever looked, ‘I’m also not. It’s funny. You have to admit that.’
‘I think I’m too sentient for him,’ I say under my breath.
‘Must be nice. Bet you’ve never been told you have too many feelings before.’
I huff and the angry puff of air makes him blink. ‘He said I’m “okay”.’
‘What every woman wants to hear.’
‘But he’d prefer someone more positive.’
‘You’re less positive than the Berlin Wall? That’s rough, actually, I’m sorry.’ I glare at him some more and he meets it with a grin. ‘I don’t know why he’d agree to go out with you.’
‘Because I’m that bad of a catch?’
His smile fades as his gaze trails over me again, and his voice rumbles between us. ‘No, Ava.’
When he meets my eyes, his are liquid heat, and I’m trying to make sense of the pressure in my chest, of the way the atmosphere is pure friction scratching against me and searing my skin.
But then he claps his hands together and I suck in a breath and step backwards.
‘While you’re lamenting,’ he declares, ‘I have someone to get back to. So if you don’t mind, I’d love to squeeze past.’ His hand grazes the small of my back as he moves past, his voice coarse in my ear as he says, ‘Enjoy the rest of your evening.’
For a few seconds I stand there, blinking, and then I remember it’s his fault I’m here. Loath to go back to the table just yet, I storm into the bathroom to empty my bladder in a rage.
I’m not mad at Henry. Finn’s right, he’s not hurting anyone. But Finn? Whether he knew about Henry’s proclivity for inanimate objects or not, he knows me well enough to know we’d be a bad match regardless. He knew I’d go into this with my guard down. I bet he’s laughing about it with his date now.
I hear someone come into the sink area and try to quieten the sound of my pee, but it’s one of those times where the quieter you try to be, the longer it goes on, so I have to finish what is quite possibly the world’s longest piss knowing I have an audience on the other side of the door.
