‘Oh me too,’ says Mike. ‘I don’t want to leave these buggers anytime soon. But don’t you feel excited by it all?’
Just then Ollie appears, with Keeley and Scott at his side.
‘Hope you’re only telling them how I was the best neighbour ever, Selena,’ says Ollie.
‘Absolutely,’ I say.
‘Even more than Mr All-American?’
I flush. I feel a twinge of . . . I don’t know. Guilt? Confusion? ‘He’s fine,’ I say. I don’t want to talk about Ty to Ollie.
‘Well now both you and Ollie are here,’ says Mike. ‘You’ve got to tell us some stories about him as a kid. Was he always this cocky?’
‘Ollie . . . cocky,’ I say, tapping my finger on my chin, pretending to look contemplative. ‘It is a word that has been used to describe Ollie before, I guess.’ I get a lot of laughs.‘As for embarrassing childhood stories? Let me see . . . ’
‘Now this is what I’m here for,’ says Diane, appearing back from the bathroom.
Ollie groans.
‘Well, he had this little rabbit blanket he took absolutely everywhere, for one,’ I say. ‘It got so tattered its ears fell off so I had to convert it into a guinea-pig.’
‘I had a rabbit blanket too,’ says Keeley, touching Ollie’s arm. ‘When you come over, I’ll show you some photos. I wonder if it’s the same one!’
‘I don’t know if that’ll make the story better or worse,’ jokesScott.
‘Okay, I think that’s enough.’ Ollie laughs awkwardly. ‘Why can’t you tell everyone about some of my greater achievements? Like when I scaled that tree in front of the entire park. No need to ruin my reputation so early on. Keep some things a surprise.’
‘Well, the biggest surprise is that she was coming here at all,’ says Keeley, a bit too sweetly.
‘Oh, I think I mentioned it,’ says Ollie, putting his hand behind his head.
‘Not to me you didn’t,’ says Keeley. ‘I would have remembered.’
Ollie looks stricken. ‘Come on, Keels, why don’t you come with me to the bar and we can talk.’
Keeley gives me a smile as Ollie takes her by the arm.
As I watch him go, I feel the final pin of deflation. That look in his eye. The concern. I’ve seen it before. With me.
There’s nothing more to do here except to accept tonight is not going to be the night I tell Ollie about how I feel. I can’t, after I’ve seen him with Keeley. I need him on home ground, in the place where our connection feels the strongest.
I need to tell him back home.
Twenty-Eight
Friends grow old
Friends find each other
Friends never forget
Friends become lovers
‘Friends’ fromRoses
Ty meets me at Liverpool train station the next day. I’m feeling deflated. The rest of the night Keeley and Ollie laughed together like old friends, while I watched on.
‘What’s the matter?’ Ty asks, as we walk to the car park.
