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If he could fit in here, it could be considered proof that he hadn’t made the wrong decision.

‘Please,’ he said, the word echoing as they entered the large gallery. It was a miniature museum, dozens of sculptures housed within protective glass cases, descriptions and information about the students who had created them beneath. He waited for that usual ease to come,the one that made him feel at home in places where art was displayed. Galleries had basically been his second home growing up, his father always dragging him around the country on work trips as an art dealer. He’d probably been introduced to Monet before the Teletubbies.

It didn’t come this time. Just more of that shuddery coldness, the one he’d felt at Elmington. The one that told him he wasn’t supposed to be here. It left a knot in his belly, one he tried hard to ignore as he began to admire the work. While he was glad to dive into pottery, he wanted to get to know its history better, hopefully prepare for a job his father would approve of on the business side of things.

Luc squatted down to read an inscription about a piece inspired by the London skyline, then finally offered some insight. ‘Just be quiet. Sometimes, it’s very okay to be quiet.’

Aiden paused, brows knitting together. ‘What do you mean? I’m not loud, am I?’

‘Well, how do I say this? You react to her a lot.’

The tips of his ears began to burn. Did he? He was trying to react a normal amount, but she was just… ‘She’s a lot to react to!’

Luc hummed, adjusting their necklace. It was their initial,L, on a golden chain, and Aiden wondered who it had been gifted by, if anyone. ‘I will be honest. Sitting in a room with the two of you is like sitting in a kiln. And when one cracks, the other does. You see?’

‘Not at all.’ That was a lie. He could see past the terrible pottery metaphors to what Luc meant. All day, he and Juniper had been back and forth, like a tennis match he hadn’t even noticed he’d been playing.But how was that his fault? She’d started it. He’d been just fine before she’d scuttled in, all breathless and angry ateverything.

Luc sighed. ‘Men.’

‘Oh, come on. She kept attacking me. What was I supposed to do?’

‘Did you two ever have sex?’ Luc questioned bluntly.

Aiden spluttered on thin air. ‘What? No!’

‘You act like you did.’

‘No. No, definitely not.’ And he certainly wasn’t going to think about her like that now. Legs wrapped around his waist while she used that mouth for more than just insults. Nope. He was not thinking about what it would be like to see all of her, touch her—

No.

Jesus, what was wrong with him?

It was the pottery, he decided. All that hand motion mixed with her barbed words was basically like foreplay.

Luc was right. He needed to stop engaging. If Juniper wanted to hate him, she could, but he’d tried to make it right and she’d shut him down. From now on, she’d have to start arguing with herself – something he wouldn’t put past her after today.

Besides, he wasn’t here forthat. He was here to fall back in love with art, and not just the paintings hung in the National Gallery. He wanted tomakesomething. Something important, something that would prove both to himself and to his father that he didn’t have to follow the same path to be worth something.

He would forget Juniper altogether.

6

‘Juni!’

Juniper wiped her tears with the sleeve of her jumper at the sound of her name floating down the corridor of Chaplin House. She knew it was silly to get emotional over one terrible penis-shaped creation, but she was so sick of failing.

Maybe you’re just bitter that you mucked up your first day and you need someone to blame.

Aiden’s words crooned over and over again in her ears. What if he was right? What if some of her hatred towards him was only born from her own insecurities?

What if coming here, believing she could be successful, was a mistake?

She swallowed the lump in her throat and turned to find Tilly ambling to catch up with her. Concern was etched on her brow, which only made Juniper feel more embarrassed. Day one, and she’d already revealed herself as the weakest link in the classroom. The two lads at the front had asserted themselves as strong potters, vying for Christopher’s attention during the whole lesson, and one of the mature students sitting behind Luc, Diane, had known more than the rest of the class combined.

‘Hi.’ She sniffled and forced a smile, but it did nothing to wipe away Tilly’s frown.

‘Are you okay? I saw you bouling the head off Aiden outside, and you looked pretty upset. Also, you walk too fast.’ Tilly leaned against the pale blue walls for support, hunching to catch her breath.