Page 35 of The Unforgiven

Clearly, Vinny and Lachy had decided that constituted an invite.

“Are you buzzing us in?” Vinny shouted up to me as soon as he saw my head poking over. “You looked weird from this angle.”

“You haven’t had an invite.”

“We’ve worked together for six years. It goes without saying I have an invite. I always have an invite from you.” He’d really made an effort with his hair. Maybe the geography teacher would be in luck after all.

“You really, really don’t.” I sighed. This conversation could go on all night, which would be a shame. “I’ll buzz you in. But do this again and something horrid will happen to you.”

“Like what?”

“I haven’t decided yet, but I’ll take great pleasure in coming up with something.” Which wasn’t true and I’d long since resolved not to waste any time on Vinny. “Give me two minutes – hang on, have you brought drinks?” I was aware that as I was a couple of storeys up, we were both shouting.

Nothing like a couple of cops being busted for breaching the peace.

“Yep. Beers for me and Lachy and a bottle of piss for you.” He held up a bag.

By piss, he meant prosecco. Vinny hated the stuff having drank too much of it one night and chundering his guts up, waking in a pool of his own vomit.

It was a highlight of my twenties.

“I’ll come down.” That was safer than making their own way up. The other apartments housed young professionals and Vinny and Lachy could be charming enough to talk their way in somewhere else and get up to god knows what.

They were waiting patiently at the main door when I got there. Lachy handed me over a big bar of chocolate.

“Was this a freebie?”

“Yeah.” I already knew him so well. “I filled out a form and got this for entering. Didn’t give them my real details though.”

“At least Vinny’s taught you something.” Vinny could never pass up on a freebie. I’d told him several times he was tight enough to be a Yorkshireman in disguise. “Why are you both here?”

“We wanted something to do.” That was Lachy.

“We wanted to check on your welfare. Is your housemate still single, by the way?” And of course, that was Vinny.

“The same rules still apply. My housemate is out of bounds to anyone I work with. There is, however, a lovely geography teacher.”

Vinny’s ears pricked up like an Alsatian’s at the thought of sausages. “Is she hot?”

“You might not be hot enough for her, but at least I’ll be entertained.”

They followed me up the stairs, not bothering with the lift, discussing something a colleague in another department had been dealing with, up to the apartment.

“Is that fella of yours here?” Vinny stopped before we entered the apartment door.

“He’s called Cavan, and yes, he is. Be polite.” It was like giving instructions to a toddler.

“He wasn’t polite when he stood you up last week.”

Oh no, this wasn’t what I needed tonight. I turned to Vinny and jabbed him in his chest with my finger, surprised at quite how solid it was. “No, it wasn’t, but life happens, and I’m not bothered by it, so you shouldn’t be.”

He managed to look almost apologetic. “Fine, I won’t say anything. But if he does piss you off, you know I’ll have a word.”

I could fight my own battles, which Vinny knew well because I had several ongoing ones with him, but it did feel good to have someone in my corner.

“If I need you, I will ask.”

“Now, where’s this geography teacher?”