Page 81 of Knotting Hill
No?
Did she?
No…
She wouldn’t.
Would she?
“Wasn’t me,” Mum says as I back out. “But I do know who it was, and no, I’m not telling you.”
“Was it…”
“Wasn’t Dad. Go now.” She makes a shooing motion.
I smile and leave her in peace, going back outside to tell Cheryl the good news.
“Oh, my GOD!” she bellows in my face. “Thank you so much, Storm! I owe you big.”
“Thank my mum, not me,” I reply, laughing at her sudden tears. “Don’t be silly,” I add, pulling her to me for a hug.
“Hormones!” she cries, laughing through her tears. “Fuck, I’m a mess.”
“You’re gorgeous. Now come inside, wash your face and go meet Miriam. She’s ace.”
Forty-Eight
Storm
Later that week,I return from work to find the pack assembled in my flat and looking rather shady.
“What?” I ask, fear gripping me that something has gone terribly wrong with our love bubble. I already feel ill. My heart is beating erratically, and a sheen of sweat is covering my brow. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was going into a spontaneous heat, but that can’t be right, can it?
I clutch my head, letting my bag fall to the floor as the stress of this situation suddenly gets the better of me.
“Storm,” Josh says, reaching me first as he is closest.
I drop to my knees, my head lolling against him when he wraps his arms around me.
“Call an ambulance!” JP states as he drops to his knees next to me.
“No,” I croak, trying to find his hand through the steamy haze of my eyes. “I’m okay. Heat…I think.”
“Your heat?” Russell asks, joining us on the floor. “Are you sure?”
“Sure enough,” I mutter. “Nest.”
“Balls to this,” JP states, getting up. “You are coming back to ours. That was our plan anyway. We can make you more comfortable there than here with all of us.”
I don’t argue. I let Josh pick me up and carry me to the sofa as JP and Russell search for a bag to shove some of my stuff into while Josh places a cool cloth on my forehead that he retrieved from the bathroom.
“Bedside drawer. Need it.” I wave in the general direction.
I hear it slide open, and a grunt of surprise. “This?” JP asks, waggling my knotty vibrator at me.
I try for a giggle at the absurdity of the action but fail. “Yeah.”
“I have a feeling you aren’t going to need it,” he says.
