Page 10 of A Cornish Love Story
‘It’s fine,’ he said gruffly, and got on with cleaning my palm. ‘I’ll get it for you in a second. You OK?’
‘Absolutely.’ Except it suddenly seemed as if everything was spinning out of control. Mum, waiting for my reply to her message, her patience running down, and me, standing in the girls’ toilets while a boy I didn’t know took care of me, and I’d just slid my hand into his jeans pocket like I was inPretty Little Liarsor something. ‘No, actually.’
Ethan looked up at me. For some reason I decided to elaborate.
‘It’s my mum. She’s not very well, and it’s … been a bit of a juggling act, recently. School and looking after her, I mean.’ I hoped I sounded competent, like I was taking it all in my stride.
‘I’m sorry,’ Ethan said, turning his attention back to my hand. ‘That sounds tough. Does your dad help? Brothers or sisters?’
‘No dad or siblings. It’s fine, really.’
‘It sounds like it’s not. Though I guess siblings don’t always make things easier.’
‘Do you have brothers and sisters, then?’
‘A sister, Sarah.’ His voice tightened. ‘She’s going through a rough time at the moment.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said softly. ‘Also, I’m not having to dealwith being the new guy at school, with people speculating about me all over the place.’
‘What have you been speculating about me?’ Ethan asked without looking up. His voice had dropped, and I could feel his breath on my skin. It was as if he was putting me under some kind of spell, and I wouldn’t be able to lie even if I wanted to.
‘That you’re an expensive Easter egg,’ I said. ‘Rich and bitter, really hard to get into.’ I wrinkled my nose, because that wasn’t how I’d meant it to come out. ‘Not that I’m sayi—’
‘Might add that to my uni application,’ Ethan said lightly, then hedidlook up. ‘Unless I can change your mind about some of those things? I’m not rich, for example.’
‘I didn’t mean—’
‘And can you really say I’m hard to get into, when you haven’t tried yet?’
‘Yet?’ I echoed. I had been expecting him to be annoyed at my (Kira’s) assessment, but he seemed quietly amused.
‘This is the first time we’ve met. It’s natural to be guarded at the beginning.’
‘I didn’t even say …’ I started, but I lost my train of thought when he lowered my left hand and lifted my right one, where there was barely a scratch. I felt a sharp sting and he caught my eye, triumphant, as he held a minuscule bit of gravel between his thumb and forefinger. ‘There. You would have left that in there to fester.’
‘It would have fallen out by itself,’ I said dismissively.
Ethan laughed, a low, rusty sound that I felt in the pit of my stomach, like the swoop of a rollercoaster.
‘I knew it,’ he said. ‘I justknew.’
‘All right, smarty pants.’ I grinned at him, but it faded when he dropped into a crouch and I felt his fingers brush against my knee, his hot breath on my thigh through my dress. My ‘Oh’ was involuntary, and then it was joined by another chorus of ‘ohs’ as, inevitably, a group of girls in my year burst into the toilet, all Tommy Girl perfume and bubblegum lip gloss, and came to a crashing halt when they saw Ethan crouching in front of me, leaning his head of tousled, auburn hair towards the lower half of my body.
I should have been mortified, desperate to flee the school grounds and never return, but I felt the opposite, especially when Ethan looked up and gave them such a confident, gorgeous grin thatIhad to lean against the porcelain sink, even though it wasn’t directed at me, then went back to cleaning my knee, entirely unruffled.
‘Won’t be long,’ he said loudly into the skirt of my dress, and I was given the kind of gawping, envious looks by my perfumed, shiny-haired peers that I had never dreamed, in a million years, I’d be worthy of.
Chapter Five
Now
‘Georgie.’ It was Sarah who strode down the front path to greet me. ‘It’s so lovely to see you.’
She was even more polished close up, with thick, groomed eyebrows and the sort of sheer makeup that looked effortless, a brush of subtle shimmer on her cheekbones. Her dark eyes were twinkling – her colouring was a few shades darker than her brother’s – and I was caught off guard by her warm smile and outstretched hand.
‘Sarah,’ I said. ‘I didn’t … how are you?’
‘I’m thriving, actually – thank you. Working for Ethan now, as you can see.’ She gestured behind her, her laugh soft and melodic. I’d hardly heard her laugh at all when we were teenagers. ‘I’m so proud of everything he’s achieved.’
