Page 19 of Kiss Me Ever After
“The same as it was last summer.”
My hand froze.Shit.She was calling me out for ghosting her.
“Yeah, course it is.” I bluffed. My cheeks flamed. I kept my head down while I found her number, then clicked on the images she needed before pressing send. After a few seconds, Lennon’s phone sounded with a typewriter noise. She glanced at the screen and nodded.
“Great, thank you.” Her tone was almost business-like, not friendly. “That’s it. Your work here is done.”
“Lennon, I don’t know why you keep trying to get rid of me, but I’m walking you home, okay?” I closed the distance between us until we were inches apart. “You don’t need to be on your own right now.”
“It’s fine, I’ll message Amber to come and meet me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. She’s still at work, and I’m betting she’s meeting Curtis later. I don’t have plans. Let me take you home. At least make sure you get there safely.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Okay. That would be… nice.” She turned towards the staff room. “I’ll get my things.”
While I waited for her, I tried to keep my mind focused on what I was doing, rather than what I wanted to be doing.
I was taking Lennon home because she’s been through a tough ordeal.
I was supporting her as a friend.
There’s nothing more in it.
Who the hell was I trying to convince?
8
Lennon
Justin’s handclasped around mine was the only thing I could focus on as he walked me home. Everyone was staring at me—or at least that was how it seemed. Staring at me for being an idiot and being taken in by a bunch ofkids. My throat was raw and scratchy from throwing up, and I kept swallowing to try to soothe it.
Bryony told me to shut the blinds, leave the mess and put up a sign to inform everyone we’d be closed for the whole day tomorrow. Then she told me to go home, get some rest and come in for ten o’clock in the morning. Her instructions sounded great in principle, but I couldn’t shake the guilt that this was all my fault and I should be at the cafe until midnight, scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees until the flour was all gone, all the crockery was glued back together and the place was spotless.
I also couldn’t get over the fact Justin Navarro was holding my hand.
Or that he’d been there, in the right place at the right time, to be my knight in shining armour.
When we’d bumped into each other at the Old Dock the other night, he’d seemed different. Amber assured me he was single. Justin and Candace were no more, he’d officially declared he was never going back there.
Did he actually like me?
A loud whistle from Justin brought me back to the present.
“I never realised you lived here.”
Being caught up in my own head, I hadn’t realised we had reached Nan and Grandad’s place.
“Technically, I don’t. It’s my grandparents’ house.”
“Holiday house,” he countered.
“Are we really going to have that argument now?” I rolled my eyes as we got to the front door.
He cocked his head. “We’re not having any kind of argument. At least not yet.”
I put the key in the lock, my back to Justin. “Now you’ve done your bit, you’ve walked me home. I’m safe. You can go.”
If I was being honest, I didn’t want him to go. I wanted him to stay a bit longer. I wanted to talk to him. To actually get to know him more.
