Page 97 of The Reboot
‘Seriously?’
‘All that time we were friends… I mean, we hardly even saw each other.’
‘Come on! I mean, you were a girl. I was a horny teenager. You honestly think I never thought about getting naked with you?’
‘No. This is a total revelation to me.’
‘Didn’t you ever think about me … like that?’
‘Maybe sometimes … subconsciously.’ She smiled teasingly.
‘You didn’t fancy me, even a little bit?’
‘Of course I fancied you. Everyone fancied you.’
He smiled smugly.
‘But I never thought anything would happen between us.’
‘Why not?’
She didn’t want to say he’d been out of her league because that would only make him more smug. Besides, she didn’t believe that anymore. ‘We were just … so different,’ she said instead.
‘Yeah, but you know what they say – opposites attract.’
She took his hand, playing with his fingers. ‘So, do you still feel the same way?’ she asked. ‘Is it like your life’s over? Do we have to get married now, buy a house and have some kids?’
‘Well, maybe not right away.’ A slow smile spread across his face. ‘I mean, I have some stuff to do today. But how are you fixed for next week?’
‘I’m pretty free next week.’
‘And in the meantime,’ he said, pulling her in for a kiss, ‘I think we should keep doing lots of this.’
24
They spent almostall of Saturday in bed, only venturing out for food when they got hungry – which was often. Sex seemed to give Ella an enormous appetite, and she couldn’t remember when she’d enjoyed food more. When they finally dragged themselves out of bed that evening, they were too impatient to cook, and instead went for an early dinner at a local bistro.
‘Sex would have to burn off a serious amount of calories to justify this,’ she said as an enormous burger was placed in front of her with a silver bucket of golden, crisp fries with mouth-wateringly frayed edges. All the sex was going to play havoc with her diet, but she found it impossible to care.
‘It’s still your birthday weekend,’ Roly said, grinning. ‘So we’re off the hook until Monday. We’ll have one last big blowout at Nan’s tomorrow.’ They were regulars at Sunday dinner now with Christine and Loretta.
‘They don’t know it’s my birthday, do they?’ Ella asked, the thought suddenly occurring to her.
‘I may have mentioned it,’ he said with a smug grin.
‘Oh, you shouldn’t have,’ she gasped, mortified.
‘Don’t worry. You didn’t tell them, so no one’s going to think you’re angling for a present.’
It was obvious as soon as they walked through the door at Christine’s the next day that it was a celebration. The table was decorated with balloons and flowers, and before dinner they had prosecco in the tiny terrace garden, all squeezed around the little wrought-iron table. There were cards and gifts – a Molton Brown bath set from Loretta, a beautiful hand-painted silk scarf from Christine that had been made by an artist friend of hers.
‘Oh, it’s gorgeous,’ she said, clutching the scarf to her chest. ‘Thank you so much. Thank you, both.’ She turned to Loretta, who smiled and pulled her into a hug.
‘Happy birthday, pet.’
Ella wiped tears from her eyes. She was so touched. A few weeks ago, she hadn’t even known these people, and now they’d welcomed her into their family and were treating her as one of their own.
Roly took her hand and squeezed it, and she returned the pressure, feeling giddy with prosecco, love and happiness. She noticed Loretta follow the motion of their hands, a knowing smile playing around her lips.
