Page 96 of Five Things I Love About You

‘But I?—’

Kirstie doesn’t let me speak. ‘And before you say anything, I had to tell him that, because he had to think this was at least partly coming from you.’ She shakes her head. ‘Honestly, you people and your stubbornness are going to be the death of me.’

Sophie takes over, cutting Kirstie off before she can continue.

‘Matt, understandably, thought we were completely insane, but by the end of the conversation Kirstie had convinced him you were totally up for flying over and meeting him in a coffee shop on neutral ground.’

‘You thought I was mad travelling three hundred miles to Newcastle to look for Jay – now you expect me to fly ten times that to meet someone for acoffee?’

‘It’s not just someone though, is it? It’s The One.’

Is it? Is Kirstie right? I mean, I definitely have feelings for Matt that I hadn’t wanted to admit to, but The One?

As if she can read my mind, she elaborates. ‘I saw the way you looked at each other and I saw the way you looked when you spoke about him. And I’ve never once seen you look like that at anyone else, definitely not Jay.’

Poor Jay.

‘But if Matt is The One, why was I dreaming about the man I almost ran over, and someone called Jay? What does that mean? And what about the skydiving, and the fact he was in London that day, and the pink tie? None of that fits Matt, but a lot of it fits Jay.’

‘Maybe it’s all just a coincidence,’ Sophie says gently.

‘But you believed it too!’ I say.

‘I did. But maybe I was wrong.’

‘So you think Matt is The One too, do you?’

Sophie nods. ‘I think he probably is, yes.’

I sigh. ‘So what happened? What did he say?’ I just need to get this over and done with, like ripping off a plaster.

‘Well, he seemed pretty pleased, and when I said you’d left Jay because you hadn’t got over him?—’

‘You saidwhat?’

Kirstie has the grace to look sheepish. ‘Sorry. I know it wasn’t subtle, but I needed him to understand.’ She shrugs. ‘Anyway, it was all fine because he said he’d love to see you and was happy for you to go and see him.’

‘But…’ There are so many things wrong with this situation I’m not sure where to start. ‘But he’s more than three thousand miles away! I mean, how long even is the flight?’

‘Oh, only about eight hours. I mean, it took you more than six to drive to Newcastle right, so it’s not much different.’ Kirstie waves her hand in the air.

‘Not much different?’ I repeat, like a well-trained parrot.

Sophie reaches over the table and takes my hands. I let her. ‘Listen, M. I know this is a lot to take in, but I promise you, Matt sounded pleased to hear from us, and he’s excited about you coming to see him. You always say you only live once, that life is for living, right?’

‘Do I?’

‘Well, you have done. In the past. But anyway, you’re right. It is. And I know I was the one who persuaded you to go chasing after Jay in the first place, and I would say I was sorry about that, only… well, it’s worked out okay in the end, hasn’t it? Because you might not have fallen in love with the man from your dream, but you did meet Matt and…’ She smiles. ‘He seems to be pretty much the man of your dreams anyway.’

I let those words settle for a moment and see how they feel. Is Matt really the man of my dreams – if not quite the manfrommy dreams? I’m not quite sure what my friends have seen that makes them so convinced that he’s the one for me, but they’ve clearly seen something. And the truth is, when I think about Matt – which I try not to do too often because it hurts – I feel a flutter of excitement in my belly. A stab of regret. A longing to see his face again.

To kiss his lips.

‘Fuck it.’

Both of them open their eyes wide, look at each other then back at me again.

‘Does this mean you’ll go?’ Kirstie says.

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