Page 39 of You Only Live Once
He bumped his own knee back against mine. ‘I’m in full control of my faculties, I’ll have you know.’
‘Good to hear.’
‘As for Edward, if you are interested, I think he’s already half in love with you, so just give me the word.’
‘Oh, shut up.’
He laughed, his whole being relaxed for the first time that night.
‘But the honest answer is, I don’t know. I don’t think he would, but Ed is also keen for a quiet life. He’s managed to avoid too much pressure so far by seeing people who generally fit the mould my parents approve of, but obviously nothing serious has come of any of his liaisons yet. I’m sure they’ll start dropping hints and making comments before long, if they haven’t already.’
‘Do you think he’ll be as strong as you have at resisting?’
Jack gave a sort of snort. ‘I’m not sure running away to the other side of the world counts as being strong.’
‘Don’t beat yourself up. You did what you had to do for your own sanity. I get that.’
I could feel his eyes on me but stayed looking out at the garden.
‘Yeah. I think you do.’ His words were soft, and I knew then that he, even if nobody else, understood the steps I’d taken after Mike’s death. ‘But I guess we can’t run away for ever.’
‘We can give it a good shot.’
The laugh was deep and rumbled in his chest before I felt him shift beside me. A soft kiss brushed the top of my hair. ‘Thank you for coming tonight. I know it can’t have been easy for you, but I appreciate it more than you know. Just knowing there was a friendly face there made all the difference.’ He pushed himself up.
‘There were plenty of friendly faces there.’ I grinned, looking up at him. ‘All exceedingly glad to have you back in the fold. Persephone, for one. I’m sorry, Lady Persephone.’
‘Percy is married.’
‘You told me once that doesn’t make a lot of difference much of the time in your world.’
‘It doesn’t feel like my world and it makes a difference to me.’
I made an effort to stand, and Jack reached out a hand which I took, and he pulled me up, which apparently took less effort than he thought as I was suddenly extremely close to his chest, placing a hand on it to steady myself as his own hand went to my waist. The fading scent of his aftershave lingered, and for a split second, I wanted to pause there, breathe it in. But then reality gave me a hard prod.
‘Whoops!’ I said, a little over-brightly and stepped away, turning as I did so.
‘Lily?’
‘Yes?’ I looked round briefly, but kept walking, heading over to the hob to warm some milk for a drink. When nothing more had been said by the time I got there, I glanced across at him. He was studying his feet. ‘Jack?’
His head snapped up. ‘Huh?’
‘Was there something you wanted to say?’
There was a pause before he shook his head and smiled. ‘No. Nothing. Sorry. Not used to alcohol so much these days, but I needed the fortification tonight.’
‘It’s fine. You’re not drunk.’
He laughed. ‘I’m not sober, either.’
‘This is true. Go on, get up to bed. You look like you’re about to fall down asleep anyway. Get some rest. It’s been an emotionally exhausting night for you, I’m sure.’
‘I don’t suppose it was a picnic for you either.’
‘We’re not talking about me, but I’m fine.’ He looked uncertain. ‘Really. As you say, it’s good practice for the London do.’
‘Yeah, I guess. And at least you won’t have my mother to deal with at that one, so it should be a breeze.’
