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She squinted at the bottle. Did it bring him joy to keep his enemies hydrated, or was it just some gentlemanly act to charm her into submission? ‘What’s the catch? Did you poison it?’

He snorted. ‘If anyone’s doing the poisoning, it’s you.’

He had a point, but he hadn’t exactly been happy with her after their meet-up at the café. She was beginning to suspect that she needed him to hate her as much as she did him, just to even the ground between them. Unfortunately, it seemed they were forever going to be on different hills, hers rocky, his paved smooth.

Begrudgingly, she took the drink and sipped, letting the fizz take her mind off the utterly terrible time she was having. ‘If this is you trying to be friends, you’ll have to do better than a drink that was already free.’

‘What about…’ He stuck his tongue out as he reached into the back pocket of his jeans – at least, she hoped that’s where he produced the packet from. ‘Mini Cheddars?’

She brightened, and then felt like she was betraying herself – but she was hungry, and she loved cheese-flavoured carbohydrates, and Tom was a terrible host who had only put out a few trays of food that had already been gone when Juniper had shimmied into the kitchen. ‘Where did you find them?’

‘Weird thing happened. They just fell out of Tom’s cupboards right into my hands.’

Her laugh surprised even her, and she covered her mouth quickly to stop it. But when she reached for the orange packet, he tore it out of reach, leaving her to stand on her tiptoes desperately.

He waggled his finger. ‘Not until you call a truce. C’mon, Hodge. Be my friend. Or at least a civil acquaintance.’

Using snacks as leverage only made him eviller. She crossed her arms over her chest, glowering from under her lashes. ‘No.’

Currently, he was not her least favourite person in this house, but she would never let herself forget all the reasons why he was terrible and untrustworthy.

She wouldn’t be fooled by him the way everyone else was. She was better than that.

‘Fine.’ He shrugged and ripped open the packet. ‘More for me.’

The smell of salty cheddar flooded the room as he threw a disc up into the air and just about caught it in his mouth, not without a little help from his nose. Her stomach grumbled, and she was certain that he heard it when his smile spread wide enough to make his cheeks dimple. The light outside glinted off his canines, making him look half-beast. ‘C’mon, Hodge. I’m trying here.’

‘No, you’re not. You’re tormenting me. And with my greatest love:snacks.’

‘I’m giving you a chance to put this little grudge behind you. You only have to say please.’

She rolled her eyes.Little grudge.She wished it was little. These days, it took up all the space in her life, including that meant for pottery. She might have gotten everything she wanted, but it was two years later than planned thanks to him. ‘I wouldn’t beg you for anything, Whittaker, and I certainly won’t play your games. You’re so used to getting what you want, aren’t you?’

‘Maybe.’ He licked the salt from his lips with his usual confidence, leaving them pink and difficult to look away from.

‘Well, you can’t get me.’ She ripped the bag from his hands, her breath falling heavier. She didn’t know why, didn’t want to,so she shoved a cracker into her mouth. It was as tasty and cheesy as she knew it would be. ‘People like you and me’ – she sprayed out crumbs – ‘we’re not supposed to be friends.’

‘That’s bullshit and you know it,’ he replied. ‘What does that even mean,people like you and me? We’re not different bloody species.’

They might as well have been. She didn’t have the energy to spell it out, so she turned her back on him to look out of the window. It was nice to see London in the dark. With only lights and outlines to paint the cityscape, it didn’t feel as big and daunting as in the day. She might actually have a place in this version of it, might be able to blend in with the shadows until she felt like she belonged.

The warmth of Aiden’s body grazed her back. She shivered.

‘Are you just going to stay up here in the dark, then?’ he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

‘Depends if you’re staying here, too. If you couldn’t tell, I was actually trying to get away from everyone. Especially you.’

‘Or you could just have fun, Juni,’ he suggested drily. ‘Y’know, like most people came here to do.’

‘You didn’t look like you were having that much fun, yourself, but then, it doesn’t surprise me that you’re a hypocrite as well as a snob.’ She put down the Cheddars finally, whirling to face him, to tell him that having fun was easier said than done, but when she realised how close he was, the air whooshed from her lungs, the words catching in her throat.

She leaned back against the windowsill, the cold pane of glass an extra, confusing sensation in an already teeming swarm of them. As a fat woman of fairly average height, it wasn’t often that she felt small,dainty, but he towered over her like the Shard over the city, and she had to look up at him to really see him.

She gulped despite herself, her body pleading for friction, for something, as though she didn’t already feel more than enough. She could feel him there, pressing on her skin, even without him touching her. Her nipples tightened in her bra, heat burning in her core.

She shouldn’t have wanted him. She shouldn’t have wanted anybody when she was trying to combat sensory overload, but especially not him. It was the drink, she told herself, though she felt more sober than ever. It had to be the drink.

‘It doesn’t need to be like this between us,’ he said finally. ‘I don’t want it to be.’