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‘I need to head to Manchester for a few hours. Can you cover for me? Tell Chris I’ve got a migraine or something?’

‘Okay.’ A little divot formed between her brows, hands edging closer to his across the table. ‘Am I allowed to ask why?’

‘Dunno. Are you? You’re not my girlfriend, after all, as you love to keep reminding me.’

She scoffed, making to lean away, but he caught her fingers on the scraped, lacquered wood. ‘I’ve got to show my face for a lunch with my dad, otherwise I’ll never hear the end of it.’

Concern remained etched in her, enough to make him fall for her again, again, again. She could keep lying to him, but she cared, and she was as bad as he was at concealing it these days. ‘Will you be okay? Isn’t he, like, awful?’

‘Whatever gave you that impression?’ His cheeks cracked with the force of his feigned smile.

She saw right through it, thumb gliding over his knuckles. ‘Was he even there to support you when you were struggling?’

He was afraid that if he spoke, his voice would betray how much it hurt, so he only shook his head.

‘You don’t have to go. You don’t have to do anything for him if you don’t want to,’ she said.

He wished that were true. He squeezed her hand, admitting, ‘I sometimes hope one day it’ll be different. That he’ll accept me. I’m sure I’ll stop torturing myself at some point, but I’m not quite ready to cut him off completely yet.’

‘I get that.’ She surprised him by bringing his hand to her mouth and kissing his knuckles, the coolness of her lips leaving him tingling. And then she mimicked biting him, causing him to laugh again. She was always good at that. ‘I’ll be here when you get back. Okay?’

‘Okay.’ He leaned closer, dragging her chair around, and her with it. Her breath caught in her throat as their foreheads knocked together. ‘I’ve been wanting to kiss you all night. All year, really.’

She wrinkled her nose. ‘A New Year’s joke? Really?’

‘Really.’ His nose nestled against hers, lips inches apart, and he could already feel his cock stirring. ‘I miss you, Juni.’

She kissed him for not nearly long enough, then replaced her lips with a finger. ‘I can’t.’

‘You say that a lot.’

‘Because it’s true.’ And yet her knees were still slotted between his, her breath fluttering on his lips. ‘Kissing is never just kissing with you, and we don’t exactly have much privacy here.’

‘Never stopped us before.’ He looked up, finding Tilly and Coco making out at the bar. ‘Isn’t stopping them, either.’

She giggled upon seeing them, then pecked his nose just once before finally opening the distance between them again. ‘When we get back to London. Maybe. I’ll consider it.’

Fine. He could wait for her.

It felt like something he’d been doing his whole life.

31

Juniper had stepped out into a crisp day, the sky bright enough she could almost convince herself she was in a good mood. As long as she didn’t think too hard, she was, though she couldn’t help but check her phone every five minutes in case Aiden texted. He hadn’t told her too much about Jonathan, but enough for her to know he was a shitty parent. The mention of him always cast a shadow in their conversations, and she didn’t want that for him. Nobody deserved it, but especially not him.

As Chris led the group down a shopping street in the city centre, Juniper turned her attention to Tilly.

‘You got home awfully late last night.’ She knew, because she’d gotten home around midnight and Tilly hadn’t been there. She’d fallen asleep next to an empty bed, the sound of Aiden getting comfortable next door plaguing her through paper thin walls. She wasn’t sure she’d be strong enough to resist if he asked her to kiss him a second time.

The beaming smile on Tilly’s face was a dead giveaway for what had transpired between she and Coco. ‘Well, let’s just say your man did a decent job.’

Juniper tutted bitterly. That poor autumn goddess deserved better, though she’d admit Coco was equally as gorgeous and clearly had made her friend happy. ‘Who knew Aiden had a fully functioning gaydar?’

‘I know. Maybe you should keep him after all.’

She shrugged. ‘Thinking about it.’

Tilly stopped in her tracks, then squealed, much to the alarm of their other classmates. Juniper shushed her, tugging her to one side.