Page 42 of Weekends with You

“Now that I think about it,” I teased, turning on my heel and pretending to leave. Before I had even turned all the wayaround, he caught me by the wrist, pulling me up against him. This time, he was the one who gestured to the clock.

“At this rate,” he said, “you’d hardly have time to get back to them anyway.” Midnight was less than a minute away. I wasn’t leaving, but he was right. “Might just be more logical to stay, don’t you think?”

“Pegged me as a woman of logic, did you?” I leaned into him just enough for him to know it wasn’t an accident.

“If I’m honest, I hope you’re more a woman of spontaneity.”

“Then you’re in luck.”

When the clock above our heads read 00:00, the club erupted. And I was kissing Oliver. Or Oliver was kissing me. I’m not sure how it happened, but I knew that as fireworks exploded above the city, as bells and whistles rattled the bar, and as my friends celebrated a few yards away, Oliver and I were kissing.

He tasted like oranges, and I had just wrapped my arms around his neck when I heard my roommates cheering.

“All right, then, Lucy!”

“Atta girl, Lu!”

“Oh my god!”

Oliver and I pulled away from each other, and I felt light-headed. He just chuckled at the sight of the six of them falling over each other and making kissy faces like a bunch of children, but I was hit with a wave of embarrassment.

What if someone tells Henry?I wasn’t sure whether he would even mind, but it would be embarrassing nonetheless.Then again, why would anyone tell him? Kissing someone on New Year’s Eve wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, and Henry and I weren’t exactly anything, so it didn’t matter.

Still, that didn’t stop his face from flashing across my mind. But fortunately, before it could linger for longer than a second, my roommates came barreling over to where Oliver andI stood at the bar. Frankly, it seemed like the entireclubcame barreling over to where we at the bar. It was like everyone had been waiting for midnight to get another round, and we were swarmed by other partygoers in flashes of neon and metallic ’80s-style ski clothes.

Oliver’s hand slipped from mine as Raja pulled me into a hug, and by the time I finished hugging the rest of my roommates and turned around, he was gone.

“Oliver?” I said, looking past Cal and Margot to where he had been standing, a space that had been swallowed entirely by the crowd.

“Where’d he go?” Raja asked, following my line of sight and stepping away from the rest of our roommates. “Did he leave?”

“He was just here,” I said. I turned to face Raja and echoed her question, trying to suppress the oncoming embarrassment. “Did he leave?”

“I’m sure you just got separated by the crowd,” she said, confidently enough that I could believe her. “Everyone just flocked to the bar for another drink, or they’re all running around hugging and kissing and celebrating. It’s a madhouse in here.” She looked around for effect and I did the same, taking in the crowd and secretly still scanning for Oliver.

“You’re probably right,” I said eventually.

“I’m definitely right. Now, come on.” She grabbed my elbow and led me back toward the group. As I took a step back in their direction, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Figuring it was a text from my mother, I pulled it out to check.

Happy New Year’s, Lucy. Hope you’re having a great night, wherever you lot ended up. Looking forward to seeing what this year will bring. And looking forward to seeing you next month when I get home. Xx

I stared at my phone like an idiot, then shoved it back into my pocket and rejoined my friends. If I was going to answer that, this wasn’t the time. I’d made it this far into the night without thinking of him for more than a second at a time, and I wasn’t going to start now.

“How is it possible you were the one who got a midnight snog?” Liv teased as soon as I was back in earshot. “You didn’t even want one.”

“I’ll snog ya, Liv, if that’s what yer looking for.” Finn slung an arm around her shoulders, more brotherly than romantic.

“Ew, Finn,” she said, pushing him off.

“Sorry, am I not as fit as Lucy’s bloke? We can’t all look like a young Idris Elba, can we?”

“All right, all right, enough,” I said. “He’s not ‘Lucy’s’ anything. We are never going to see him or speak of this again, okay?”

“Oh, now she’s shy.”

“Bugger off, Jan.”

“Right, then. It’s already ancient history, Lucy.” Cal offered a warm smile, and everyone else settled down and followed his lead.

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