Page 45 of Unapologetic Love Story

‘Sure do.’

‘Tommy!’

Tom closed his eyes for a brief second at the sound of Seb’s voice. They were certainly a consolation prize to a one-on-one with Raina. He nodded at her, smiling tightly, then made his way across the room to the group.

His friends greeted him, and Pepper watched him with deep distrust. But he felt something inside him settle when Raina sat down at the table.

‘We’re celebrating my wonderful friend tonight,’ Pepper said, already a little buzzed. She squeezed Raina and handed her a fresh flute of champagne. ‘She’s an icon.’

Ottie looked Raina up and down but said nothing. Seb was scrolling on his phone, oblivious.

‘Celebrating what?’ Tom asked. He was instantly concerned it could be a new relationship. Or a move. Perhaps she was relocating to a sleepy town where she could afford more space.

Both possibilities filled him with horror.

‘Raina’s been nominated for two Monday awards,’ Pepper told him curtly.

Tom channelled the pure relief he felt at her words into his genuine congratulations. ‘That’s fantastic. Well done.’

‘You can put it in your feature,’ Pepper said sneeringly. ‘How’s that going, by the way?’

Raina closed her eyes in mortification, and Tom found himself feeling a little heated. ‘Not really your business.’ He turned back to Raina, softening his voice as he repeated, ‘Well done. That’s amazing.’

Raina blushed slightly and opened her mouth to respond, but Pepper interjected once more.

‘It absolutely is my business if you’re going to try and trap my friend in some tedious hit piece that will trend on social media and get all the little bad faith losers to attack her and send death threats.’

Tom frowned. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever endorsed death threats. And I would never let that happen to Raina.’

‘Every think-piece that winds up on social media ends in death threats,’ Pepper retorted sharply. ‘So, be very careful what you write about my friend.’

‘I wouldn’t imagine there’s too much of a story,’ Ottie chimed in, topping up her empty gin glass with some of Raina and Pepper’s champagne. ‘No offence, babe.’

She was addressing Raina.

Seb smirked and Pepper’s eyes darkened as she looked in Ottie’s direction, all fragments of the friendly facade gone. Tom glanced at Raina, afraid to see her hurt by Ottie’s words. But there was no chance. Instead, her face was completely unreadable. She was staring into the distance, taking her time.

‘How did you two meet?’ she finally asked, changing the subject completely and smiling genuinely at Tom’s two friends.

‘We met at university,’ Seb said. ‘Cambridge.’

‘Oh, well, I’m from Oxford,’ Raina said teasingly.

To any well-adjusted couple, this casual and harmless remark, clearly meant to break the ice, would have worked wonders and bonded the group. To Seb and Ottie, who both worshipped at the altar of appearances, it was a slight.

‘Cambridge regularly beats Oxford,’ Seb said archly. ‘At just about everything.’

‘I just meant the town,’ Raina said gently. ‘I never went to university.’

Ottie and Seb shared a glance, as though Raina had just cavalierly mentioned that she had a grenade tucked into her cleavage. Tom felt embarrassed for them.

‘I suppose you don’t need a degree to run a podcast,’ Ottie said slyly, smiling at Raina.

Raina beamed back, like a bird taunting an indoor cat. ‘You sure don’t.’

‘And what do you even talk about? Autism? Do you have a special talent like the guy who counts toothpicks?’

‘You and that film,’ muttered Tom.