‘I’m kind of feeling guilty,’ she said. ‘My mum’s fab. And she’s single and she’s still quite young. If she wants to have men over, I should totally not object. I mean, I don’t object. I justreallydon’t like having to have breakfast with strangers in my own kitchen, or bumping into strangers on my way to the bathroom. And, at the risk of sounding like a five-year-old, Ireallydon’t want to have to do that on mybirthday, but it’s fine, I won’t have to, because he’ll be gone by the time I get up. I shouldn’t be laughing about my mum.’
‘I know.’ Dan had felt guilty too. ‘We weren’t laughing at her, though; we were laughing at the situation. Whichwasfarcical.’ Dan really wanted to make Evie feel better. ‘And clichés are there for a reason. It’s true that no-one wants to know about their own parents having sex. I walked in on my parents doing it once, when I was about ten.’
‘Really? Selfishly, I’mverypleased. Also, weirded out to think ofyourparents having sex.’ Evie clapped her hands over her mouth. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.’
She was right, actually. Dan would be astonished if they did nowadays. He’d stumbled upon some texts on his father’s phone a few years ago which had indicated that he was having an affair, and he was sure there’d been others; there was a definite ongoing polite distance between his parents. He’d always been pretty sure that his father had known that he’d seen the texts, but nothing had ever been mentioned. In Dan’s family, no-one ever talked about anything bad, like, if they ignored it, it wouldn’t be true. It didn’t work.
‘Hey,’ he said, ‘it didn’t sound bad. I know what you mean. Everything in my house is always so neat and tidy. Clinical.’ That sounded bitter, and Evie was shaking her head. He needed to try for something a bit lighter. ‘I mean, they’re in their fifties. And they’ve been married for thirty years.’ Evie was still looking unsure. He needed to be jokey. ‘Whenwe’vebeen married for thirty years it’ll be your sixtieth birthday.’
Evie laughed. ‘That’s true. Wow. It really isn’t going to be that long until we’re old.’
‘You’re right. One minute it’s the early hours of your twenty-second birthday and the next it’s your ninetieth.’
‘Yeah. In fact, I’d better get inside and get my nearly-elderly self upstairs. It sounds quiet, like they’ve gone to bed. Thank you so much for walking me back.’ She fumbled in her pocket for her key.
‘Hey. Not a problem. Happy birthday again.’
‘Got it.’ Evie held her key up and smiled at him.
Dan smiled back.
And neither of them moved.
And then, like some invisible force was propelling him, he lifted his hand and traced the line of her cheek, carefully, because it felt like she was precious. Her beautiful smile grew and her lips parted. She tipped her face up towards his, and, slowly, he lowered his head and kissed her, like there was no other possible course of action.
The kiss was only fleeting, and it wasn’t enough. He leaned down again, and she reached up to meet him.
He pulled her into him, one hand on her back and the other in her thick, soft hair, and felt her arms go round his neck.
They kissed for a long time. So good.
He wished she didn’t have her coat done up so tightly or such a thick scarf around her neck. He moved backwards a little and started to unwind the scarf and undo her coat buttons. Evie sighed and slid her arms around him, inside his open jacket.
He let her scarf fall to the ground and kissed her lips again, and then kissed across her jawline, and inside the curve of her neck. He heard her gasp a little as his hands moved up, and felt her grip his back.
He shifted a little so that they could reach each other better, and heard something.
It took him a moment to focus, and then he realised that someone was calling, ‘Good evening,’ from somewhere quite high. He looked up and saw a face at an upstairs window of the cottage at the bottom of the lane, the house on the corner. That would be Mrs Bird.
Evie moaned slightly, reached up to kiss his lips again and began to loosen his belt.
‘Mmhmm,’ he said, and pulled away.
Evie opened her eyes, but didn’t stop with the belt-loosening. She had the most gorgeous just-been-kissed look on her face.
‘Evening, Mrs Bird,’ Dan said loudly, letting go of Evie and putting his hands on hers over his belt, to stop her.
Evie froze. Dan indicated towards the corner with his head.
Evie pulled her hands away from his jeans, really fast, and then turned round, really slowly.
‘Don’t let me disturb you.’ Mrs Bird’s cackle carried very well in the still air. ‘Happy Christmas.’
Evie turned back round to face him again and screwed her face up. ‘Oof,’ she said.
‘Yep.’
‘So.’ Evie didn’t move. She looked dazed. Like he felt. It was hugely tempting to suggest going for a walk somewhere a little less overlooked, to carry on where they’d left off. It was also hugely ridiculous, because Evie was Sasha’s best friend and he’d known her forever, and in three days’ time he was going back to London. Plus he really wasn’t up for any kind of relationship right now, and she’d pretty much just said that she only wanted serious relationships. So they should just say goodnight to each other now.
