Page 23 of Weekends with You

“What do we think of this?” Raja turned to face us, spreading her arms and showing off her outfit. Her height made everything look good on her. She was wearing a pair of high-waisted pants and a cropped sweater vest, and holding a longline coat in one hand. It was all very vintage. She looked incredible.

“I might even flirt with you tonight if you’re going out looking like that,” I said.

“Lucy, please don’t joke. You know that would be my dream.”

“Ladies, focus,” Liv said. “Should I do the distressed flannel or that long Free People shirt with the collar?”

“Free People,” I confirmed. “Distressed flannel isn’t you.”

“You’re just saying that because you want to steal it.”

“Maybe.”

“Fine, take it,” she said, rolling her eyes and tossing it in my direction. “It does look better on you anyway.”

“So, are we settled, then?” Raja asked after Liv was dressed, giving us all a once-over. “Henry should be home any minute, and I think Cal just walked in, so we can finally get this thing started.”

Henry would be home in exactly three minutes, according to his text.

“Let’s make drinks.”

Like moths to a flame, everyone made their way to the kitchen as soon as we turned on music and took out cocktail glasses.

“Finally,” Jan said, cracking the tab on a beer. “Been waiting all day for this.”

Me too, Jan. Me too.

“Finn, get your skinny arse down here, we’re starting!” Liv shouted up the stairs in the direction of his room.

“What happened to not starting without me?”

I spun around to see Henry standing behind me, luggage at his feet, smile creeping into his eyes.

“You’re home!”Duh, Lucy.

“I am.”

“Welcome back,” I said, actively resisting the urge to throw my arms around him.

“Good to be home. So good, in fact, that I’ll forgive you for starting without me. Let me drop my stuff and shake off the flight, then I’ll be ready for ya.”

He was definitely addressing the entire group, but it didn’t feel like that when he was only looking at me. Conversation swirled around me as he took the stairs up to his room two at atime, but my roommates sounded like they were underwater. I only resurfaced when his voice drifted into the kitchen again, loud and confident and irresistibly deep.

“Cal, deal me in,” he said, gesturing to Cal’s lineup of cocktails on the counter. “Right, then, what’s the move, Jan?”

“Well, 2C is having that bonfire in the garden, so I figured we’d start there, then make our way to the Bag for Race Against Time and fireworks later. All in favor?”

The seven of us responded with an excited chorus of “ayes,” coupled with the clinking of glasses. The “garden” was really just a dirt patch with a few broken planters and a smattering of plastic chairs behind the warehouses, but it did have a great firepit and a lot of room.

“Jan, even though you didn’t grow up here, you’re turning into a proper Londoner,” Henry said. “I’m proud.”

“Not that I had much of a choice, living with you idiots. England is still shit compared to the Netherlands, though.”

“Which explains why you left the Netherlands, I’m sure,” Margot said.

“Jan came here for uni and just ended up staying for good,” Henry whispered to me over Margot and Jan’s bickering. “Like you.”

“Isn’t that what you plan on doing when you find somewhere you like?” I didn’t mean to sound so accusatory, but it just slipped out.

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