Page 87 of Unapologetic Love Story

‘We don’t actually have to go,’ Tom told Raina as they walked arm-in-arm along the river embankment towards the pier by the Tate Britain. Seb and Ottie’s boat had departed from Blackfriars and was headed west. They’d demanded Tom join them but he would much rather head home with Raina. By home, he realized, he meant her house in Barnes. Or maybe just her.

He wasn’t entirely sure when that distinction had become fact.

‘Look, that’s it there,’ Raina said, pointing at the bow of a riverboat, heading towards them. ‘It looks fun.’

Tom noticed her shoulders were jutted forward and she was crossing her arms. Despite it being late May, the air by the water was cold. Tom watched as the boat began to dock. He shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over Raina’s shoulders.

‘Sorry, am I too indecent?’ she asked jovially, pulling at her dress to make sure her breasts were tastefully concealed.

‘No, you look perfect. I just don’t want you cold.’

Her face was unreadable. Possible surprise. He hadn’t time to find out, as the gangplank was dropped and they were ushered aboard by the boat’s captain.

‘Tommy!’ Seb yelled from the upper level of the boat. He was dressed like a sailor and had clearly been on the rum. Tom gave a small wave before turning to make sure Raina was all right. She was already pressed up against the starboard side, looking perfectly at home.

‘You’re here!’ Ottie appeared before Seb did. She kissed Tom on both cheeks and ignored Raina with a deliberateness that irritated Tom. He pulled Raina to his side and relaxed by a margin as she slid an arm around his waist. Ottie’s eyes followed the action and widened at the sight of them both.

‘Are you . . .?’ She glanced between Tom and Raina. ‘What . . .?’

‘Yes,’ Tom said. Factual and firm.

‘Okay,’ Ottie replied, her voice suddenly small.

‘What are we celebrating?’ Tom asked her, nodding at Seb as he weaved his way through the crowd of people on the deck.

‘You’ll find out at exactly eleven o’clock,’ Ottie said triumphantly.

‘You brought the podcaster,’ crowed Seb as he finally reached them, a bottle of vodka in his left paw.

‘Yes,’ Tom said, giving him a hard stare. ‘And her name is Raina.’

He felt Raina squeeze him, a subtle reminder that she knew what to expect from his friends and that she could take care of herself.

‘We’re turning around at Putney and heading east,’ Ottie warned them. ‘But the announcement will be before then. Make sure you post about it, Tom.’

Tom frowned. ‘Why’s that, Ottie?’

She threw him a look of disbelief. ‘That’s what a good friend would do. You have, like, ridiculous numbers of people following you.’

‘Yeah, for work.’

‘This is work,’ Ottie insisted. She pointed to Raina. ‘You’re with her. That’s work.’

Tom felt Raina bristle and his skin heated with anger. ‘It’s not, actually.’

Seb made a face of surprise, a slightly characterized performance. ‘You’re out on a date? The anti-social writer left his work cave for something other than a story?’

‘He took me to a nice seafood shack actually,’ Raina said jauntily, smiling up at Tom.

He smiled back. He loved looking at her. Loved having her pressed up next to him.

He wished they’d gone straight home.

Raina was so fun. She made him laugh, the same way that his family made him laugh. She teased the serious side of him and forced him to drop his grown-up, London facade. She had no interest in hearing about the fires of social media; she just wanted to laugh. It was a contagious attitude that rubbed off on him and sandpapered away his daily grievances.

She was teaching him to acknowledge the dark without staring into it for hours on end.

Another boat was coming from the other side of the Thames, heading east. It was lit up like a Christmas tree and ABBA music was blasting, making it seem like a maritime jukebox.