Page 40 of Thrill

She laid her feet out on his lap. He remembered they would do this when he was a kid and he’d paint her nails.

“It’s nothing like that,” he said. “Tyler made it perfectly clear, it’s nothing serious.”

“And you don’t agree with that?”

“I don’t know. This time last week I hadn’t even set eyes on him.”

“Oh, son,” she said. “That’s not how it works. When your dad came to give Grandma and Grandpa a valuation on the old house, I watched him go and I just felt something special had happened. I made him work for it, mind.”

“No regrets?”

“Never.”

“Not even?—”

“Never.”

He had seen his parents go to hell and back over the years. Yet, they had never faltered. They had faced everything together. Was it so wrong to want that too?

His mother sat up. “I know. Let’s have one of Lisa’s world-famous cocktails.”

That was never good news. She’d been to a cocktail-making class as part of one of her mates’ hen parties and ever since, considered herself an expert.

“Mum, it’s late.”

“Come on,” she said, getting up. “Resistance is futile. Why should the others have all the fun?”

He dutifully got to his feet and followed her into the kitchen.

“I don’t think we’ve much in,” she said, opening the booze cupboard. They didn’t drink much as a family so it tended to contain strange concoctions that people had brought them from on holiday and an out-of-date bottle of sherry from Christmas.

Gleefully she produced a bottle of Malibu.

“Pina Coladas,” she declared.

“We haven’t any pineapple juice.”

“We’ll put it with milk. It’s the same thing.”

“Malibu and milk?”

“Me and your Auntie Vi used to drink that all the time before we went out. Sit.”

He sank down at the kitchen table. This did not seem like a good idea. However, after everything that had happened that evening, a drink, no matter what form, would be nice.

“So,” Lisa said, opening the bottle. “You like Tyler but he only wants you for sex?”

“I’m not entirely comfortable with this conversation.”

“Fucking hell, Danny. Fine. You like Tyler but he doesn’t want anything serious.”

“That’s better.”

While she busied herself finishing the drinks, Danny tried to order his thoughts.

“I don’t know how it works with guys. Maybe that’s the thing. None of them want anything more.”

“Nonsense. Geoffrey from work has been with his fella since millennium night.”