Page 51 of Happiness Under a Summer Skye

He patted his flat, lean stomach. ‘I’m a growing lad.’

‘Oh aye, and it’s a wonder you’re not growing outwards with the amount of scran you put away; you wee gundy-guts.’

They set up their two-man tent and Angelia took the old picnic blanket she’d bought in a charity shop and laid it on the ground. They then ate grilled sausages dipped in the sachets of ketchup Ed had pocketed on a trip to a fast-food restaurant at lunchtime. At said restaurant he had eaten two burgers, a portion of fries, a doughnut and had guzzled down a large cup of cola in the time it had taken Angelia to eat one solitary burger.

Once they had polished off the remaining barbecued sausages, Ed produced two bottles of merlot from his backpack which they proceeded to drink straight from the bottles. Then, as the sun descended beyond the distant mountains, Ed retrieved both of their guitars from the boot of his car, and they sat side by side strumming a variety of tunes together by the glow of the fire.

‘We should write a song together,’ he blurted as if a light bulb had just pinged on above his head.

Angelia giggled. ‘All right, Bob Dylan.’

‘No! I mean it. How cool would that be? We could play it for Fee when we get back.’

She shook her head, a little giddy from the alcohol she had imbibed. ‘What would we write about?’

He fell silent and gazed up at the canopy of stars twinkling above them. ‘The night sky, the universe, the cosmos.’ He lowered his face and fixed his bright green eyes on her. ‘Us.’

She tilted her head. ‘Us?’

He placed down his guitar and slid closer to her. ‘There could be an us.’

She smiled and nudged him with her shoulder. ‘There already is an us, you wee dafty,’ she said, the heat of the fire, or more likely the wine, warming her from inside.

His face remained stoic and his lips parted as he gazed deep into her eyes. ‘A different kind of us,’ he whispered as she watched the reflection of the flames dance in his irises.

She had always thought Ed was handsome. He was stereotypically good-looking with his thick mop of wavy brown hair, tall lean body and dreamy green eyes that could hypnotise if you stared into them too long. She had always admired Ed’s sense of humour and love of adventure. His ability to lift her mood when she was feeling down. She had found him very attractive too and had harboured more than just a crush for a long while, if she was completely honest. But there was a line you didn’t cross with friends, wasn’t there?

Okay, so his lips looked incredibly kissable in that moment, and he smelled deliciously masculine, a mixture of fire smoke and red wine, but if they kissed there would be no going back. What would Fee think, when she found out? Would she feel like a third wheel? A spare part? That wouldn’t be fair. Kissing Ed would be selfish. She had thought about it on many occasions but had always assumed he was keen on Fiona, and saw her as bestie and nothing more, so she had managed to gloss over her attraction; push it to the back of her mind for the greater good. For The Three Amigos.

Until now, that is.

And as his lips closed in on hers, she felt helpless to stop it. In fact, she wanted it. She didn’t fight. She didn’t keep Fiona in her mind. She simply let him kiss her, and she kissed him back with just as much fervency. As her heart pounded and skin heated, he slipped his hands into her hair and inhaled as if pulling her deep into his body. He moaned against her mouth and whispered something about wanting this for so, so long. It dawned on her that she felt the same. This deep need for him. Someone she had fantasised about kissing, and more, if the truth be told. And now it was happening. But what would happen when the alcohol wore off? Would they still be the same? Could they work as much more than friends? She tried to fight that fear and push it down, as far down as it would go and just relished the feeling of his hands on her body, his lips on hers.

Riiiiing! Riiiing!

The kiss was interrupted by both of their phones alerting an incoming group call on WhatsApp.

Fiona.

They each picked up their phones and stared at their individual screens. Then they simultaneously looked to each other. There was a shared gaze. A split second and an infinitesimal shake of his head, followed by an apologetic frown.

‘Hey, Fee! How are you feeling?’ Ed asked as he accepted the call, stood and ran his hand back through his hair.

‘Like my stomach is trying to vacate my body through my throat,’ Fiona replied. ‘I’ve never felt so ill. I wish I could be with you guys. Don’t have too much fun without me, will you? You can’t be the two amigos. It doesn’t have the same ring to it.’

With his pained eyes fixed on Angelia for a brief moment, Ed replied, ‘Don’t be daft, Fee. The Three Amigos are forever, right, Angelia?’

Without realising, somehow on autopilot, Angelia had also accepted the group call. She forced a smile and nodded. ‘Absolutely… forever.’ But a stinging sensation began behind her eyes. It was over before it began. The Three Amigos, she thought. Was he actually in love with Fiona as she had always suspected? She had never commented on it because it was clear Fiona didn’t feel the same. But it would explain his change in mood as soon as he heard her voice. Maybe the alcohol had played a bigger part than she cared to admit and she had been a substitute for the one he really wanted to kiss.

She concluded that must be the case because it was like a switch had been flicked and what had happened in the seconds before had been a dream. There may have been a physical attraction there but evidently it wasn’t enough. The subject was never broached again and Angelia often wondered if she had in fact imagined it.

And they never did write that song.

22

On Monday morning, Angelia got up extra early to wave her parents off on their trip. Her head was still fuzzy from sleep, but she had awoken to an exciting message from Bella saying she was going to meet with a contractor at the shop in the afternoon, and asking if she’d like to come down to Glentorrin to be present. Angelia had replied to say Bella could go ahead without her. She had already given her a spare key and had approved all the plans they had discussed, so her being there wasn’t really necessary. She had read the reviews so she knew she could trust Bella.

Now here she stood at the front door, in her pyjamas trying not to yawn as her mum clung to her hand.