Page 109 of Thick as Thieves
“That’s it? Are you kidding?” he’s laughing at me, he’s hyper.
“But the other person has to be sixteen as well,” I reiterate. Trying to temper him.
“I know that, you idiot. At least I can practise on anyone over the age of sixteen.” He waggles his eyebrows at me, rubbing his hands together as if he’s getting ready for action.
“They have to agree to this, you know,” I say to him, starting to laugh at his antics. He’s doing stretches now. In preparation for what, I’m not sure.
“Duh, of course. Tell everyone to form a queue, and no pushing or shoving in the line. I can accommodate everybody. Everyone will be catered for.” He’s lost his mind. There’s no fucking queue.
“You can’t even have a drink in the pub,” I tell him, “so no changes on that front. We can still have a drink at home, but that’s it. So I don’t know why you’re so happy.”
He just sits, grinning at me. “I’m going to ask Evie to date me, before my party.”
Ah now we’re getting to it.
“She’s not sixteen until November. You can’t touch her, Marcus.” My voice is getting higher pitched the more concerned I get. “If you do, it will?—”
“I’m not going to touch her,” he scoffs. “What do you think I am? I don’t want to die young. And besides, I'm happy to wait. I just want to make sure she knows my intentions.” He’s rubbing his hands like he’s some villain cooking up a cunning plot.
“Your fucking intentions. You sound like you’re proposing.”
He carries on smiling at me, but his eyes are not focused on me. He’s thinking about a beautiful, grey-eyed girl.
“Do you think she’ll say yes?” he asks me. “To the dating, not the sex,” he adds as an afterthought.
I nod.
“I know we help her out with her homelife issues, and she stays here sometimes. I don’t want her to think I want her here just to date her, though.” He looks worried. “She was talking about moving in with the Greystones. One of the nosey villagers is on her case, about her dad not being here all the time. I think I might have to get my dad to shut the villagers down, or try to help her. Do you think he will? I don’t want to make it worse.”
He’s trying to decide what to do for the best. We both are. We don’t want her to have to leave. I get a pain in my chest just thinking about that.
“We need to speak to Jonno and see what the plan is. They’ll definitely have one. They’re always borrowing law books out of your library. I know it’s for research, what they can and can’t do. I asked my dad, from a lawyer's point of view, in a roundabout way a few months ago. He said if a person under sixteen is living alone, they will be taken into the care system.”
“Is the house hers? Do you know?” Marcus queries.
I shake my head. “No idea. She’s never said. She told me she has a friend who helps her. He’s practically moved in with her. He’s generally able to keep the village quiet.”
“Well, we only have eight months to go, so we better keep her safe,” he says.
“Is she coming to your party, the dinner? You have a lot of friends coming. Is she coming as your girlfriend?”
“I hope so. That’s why I’m asking her beforehand, this afternoon. I want her to come with me.” He looks so happy, but I feel a little twinge of jealousy.
“I’m fucking jealous. Oh my god. I am,” I tell him. We’ve always been honest with each other, and I won’t ever stop. He needs to know.
He stops dead and looks at me, intently. “Xander, I?—”
I blow out a breath. “I know, but I’m still fucking jealous. She’s drop dead gorgeous, and as wild as that river you pulled her into. I don’t envy you mostly, but I do her.”
We stare at each other. “She loves you, Xander. She told me she did,” he says quietly, confirming what I already know.
I nod. “I know, but she’ll still date you. She loves you as well.” I can’t get any more words out.
He pats my back. “I love you, Xan. You know that, don’t you? And I won’t stop just because of her. I’m not going anywhere.”
I can see he’s telling the truth, but I’m still conflicted. “I know, Marcus. Just take care of her, because it won’t be popular with your other friends. They don’t like the Greystones. They think they’re too cocky for ‘just farmers.’”
He acknowledges that he knows the score. “I know. I’ve told Issy I’m asking her out, so she knows to look after Evie for me.”
