Page 161 of Falling for You

‘I was going to take a shower and go to bed,’ I say. ‘Why?’

‘I thought you might want to watch a film with me or something.’

I look at him, feeling like I’m back looking at six-year-old Stevie, asking if I’ll play hide and seek with him after school. ‘Yeah, of course,’ I say. ‘And have you eaten?’

He looks up at me and I know the answer.

‘I’ll order us some food,’ I laugh, ruffling his head as I walk towards the kitchen.

‘I’ll do it,’ Stevie calls after me. ‘I can’t have you getting robbed again by a shitty burger joint. I’m supposed to be looking after you.’

I poke my head out of the kitchen, frowning at the back of his bleached head. ‘I thought I was meant to be the one looking after you.’

He waves a hand at me, scrolling through Just Eat. ‘You look after enough people already, Nate.’

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Annie

As I crash through the door of our flat, I make the mistake of glancing at myself in the hallway mirror and feel the instant surge of dismay I get every time I look at it. Penny put it up and she’s about two inches shorter than me, so when she looks in it she can see her lovely sunny reflection beaming back and then leave the house with the comfort of knowing that she’s about to have a great day. When I look, I only catch sight of my chins and neck and leave the house knowing that if I walk into Waitrose at Christmas then some tweedy toff might mistake me for one of the turkeys.

I fling open the suitcase in my room and start chucking things inside it. Clothes, make-up, pyjamas. I have about forty minutes until I need to leave the house to get the train back to Mum’s and Dad’s house.

‘Hello!’

I look round to see Penny and Tanya standing at my door, both looking a little pink-cheeked and suspicious. They climb onto my bed, Penny immediately burrowing her way under the covers like she always does (she says I have the bestbedding in the flat, which is true) and Tanya perches alongside her, in a far more respectful manner.

‘Hey,’ I say back.

‘What are you doing?’ Tanya asks. ‘Are you leaving us?’

‘Just for the weekend.’ I reach out and grab an electric-blue jumper I knitted last winter, swiftly throwing it into the suitcase. ‘Apparently I’ve been invited to my cousin’s christening.’ I look up at them both. ‘You don’t want to come, do you? Mum’s doing a stew tonight.’

Penny groans. ‘I’d love to, but I’m seeing Mike.’

‘I’ve got plans tomorrow,’ Tanya says apologetically. ‘You’ll have fun, though. Tell your parents I say hi.’

‘Me too.’

I smile, taking a handful of socks and lobbing them onto the pile of clothes. ‘I will.’

‘And before you go,’ Tanya adds, the suspicious look back on her face, ‘we’ve got something to tell you.’

‘We’ve been doing some detective work,’ Penny grins.

I raise my eyebrows at them. ‘What does that mean?’

I’m not sure I like where this is going.

‘Well,’ Tanya starts, clearly desperate to share. ‘We were both sad about your missed opportunity with American Boy.’

I feel a pang in my heart.

For God’s sake, get a grip, heart. You’ve met him once, for ten minutes!

‘And about him leaving without a trace and you never seeing him again,’ Penny adds.

‘So, we thought we’d help you find him,’ Tanya bursts, practically bouncing up and down at the idea.