Page 38 of Brighter Together

Olivia smiles at me. “I question that decision daily.”

“Ah,” Rob says. “What I heard are words of true love.”

“That’s your painkillers messing with your hearing,” she replies before letting him pull her close for a kiss.

I laugh.

Tommy leans slightly towards me.

“And if any of them tell you embarrassing stories about me, they’re lying.”

“He once turned up to a fancy-dress party looking like a budget Jack Sparrow,” Alex says immediately, a cheeky smile on his lips.

Tommy turns towards him. “I was nine.”

“Pirates of the Caribbean didn’t come out until you were twenty-four,” Alex laughs.

“It wasn't that bad,” I mumble.

Nick looks at me. “There are photographs,” he whisper-shouts.

“I hate all of you,” Tommy says, with a grin on his lips.

“No, you don’t,” Emma says.

Tommy lifts his pint. “Unfortunately.”

Within minutes I’m being pulled into three conversations at once.

Charlotte tops up my Prosecco.

Phil is trying to explain why Tommy should never be allowed to organise anything involving fancy dress.

Rob is arguing that being on crutches does not mean he can’t come climbing as long as he is careful.

“You are not going climbing,” Olivia shuts down that conversation.

“See what I’m dealing with?” Rob asks me.

“A woman with common sense?” I laugh.

Olivia points at me. “I like her.”

“So do I,” Christina says.

Tommy says nothing.

But when I glance sideways, he’s smiling into his pint.

He looks proud, like he wants to say, “Yes, they are my friends.”

There’s banter, mild insults and heavy teasing.

And I love it.

Tommy is different here.

That’s the first thing I notice.