Page 113 of While I’m Still Here

“No bras?”

“Absolutely fucking none.”

I nod solemnly. “Seems reasonable.”

Her entire face lights up. “Marcus fucking Bennett approves.”

“I didn't say approve.”

“You said reasonable. That's basically a standing ovation from you.”

Danny lifts his glass. “To six days of free titties.”

“To six days,” Colin corrects quietly.

The laughter softens because those six days have an ending. Bea looks at the fire, then at her bare chest. “To my tits,” she says.

Colin raises his glass. “To your tits.”

Danny repeats it, quieter this time. I look at Bea. At the body she has spent thirty years living inside. The breasts she has dressed and criticised, enjoyed and ignored. The left one that betrayed her without ever meaning to. The right one that did absolutely nothing wrong and is still going with it.

Then I look at her face. “To Bea.”

Her eyes snap to mine. “Oh, you fucking bastard.”

“What?” I tilt my head.

“You made it emotional.”

“I apologise.”

“No, you don't.”

“No.”

She comes straight towards me and wraps her arms around my waist. For half a second I'm acutely aware that she's topless and pressed against me, then that thought disappears beneath the way she holds on. I wrap my arms around her properly. Colin steps in beside us, his hand settling against the back of her head. Danny's palm rests between her shoulder blades, and suddenly all four of us are standing in an absurd cluster in Bea's back garden while thousands of pounds' worth of underwear burns behind us.

Bea starts laughing against my chest.

“What?” Colin asks.

She lifts her head and looks between the three of us, tears on her cheeks and absolutely no attempt to cover herself. “I've just realised something.”

I already know I’ll regret asking. “What?”

Her smile turns wicked. “I have six days left with tits and three men.”

Danny slowly smiles. Colin points at him immediately. “Don't.”

“I haven't said anything.”

“You were about to.”

“I was going to offer emotional support.”

“With your penis?” Colin mutters.

Bea howls with laughter, and I close my eyes. This is my life now… Or, I suspect it might be, but I find that I don’t mind.