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When I look over at Jamie he isn’t looking at me, or Asher. He’s getting to his feet and walking away.
“J?” I shove Asher out of my way, ignoring when he swears at me, and move to follow.
“It’s fine, Ben. I’m gonna head home before I smack one of my closest friends for being an ass.”
“You sure?” We’re at the door and Jamie is shrugging into his jacket.
“Yeah.” He forces a smile when he looks at me. “Seriously, it’s all good. Thanks for jumping in. And I want to meet this mystery girl soon, okay? Might need to keep Asher away from her though.” He chuckles as he runs a hand over his face.
Okay. So this is guilt; a gnawing, nauseating, scratching sensation in the very pit of my stomach that seems to creep its way up into my throat.Nice.
“Yeah.” I nod. “Soon.”
Mikaela
My body aches as I stretch my arms above my head and hit something soft. Jolting upright, I whip my head around to face the person above me and laugh when I find Max sprawled out against the top of the bed. At some point in the night I must have shifted to curl into a ball directly in the middle of the double in his spare room, and at some other point Max clearly decided to climb in with me.
“Max?” I prod him gently in his side and he grunts in return. “Max. Wake up.”
“No. We don’t have work today. Let me sleep.”
I laugh again and push him roughly.
“Max.” My voice is whiney and he opens his eyes. “Whatcha doing?”
Something in the grogginess of an unexpected wake up seems to shift in his eyes and Max takes in his surroundings.
“Oh.” He smiles a little impishly and I grin. There it is; my best friend is still hiding in there. “I thought you might want company?” He’s sheepish as he shuffles along the edge of the pillows he’s hogging with his whole body.
“Is that so?”
“Yep.” He nods, pushing himself to sit up. “Totally didn’t lay there worrying about you until I decided I needed to make sure you weren’t alone and upset.”
My grin softens and I crawl up the bed beside him, resting my head on his shoulder and settling down next to him. “You’re a sweetheart, you know that?”
He weaves his fingers in with mine. “I try.”
“So,” I clear my throat of the thickness of sleep. “What did you have to tell me yesterday?”
“What?”
“You invited me over to gossip and I derailed it all with my drama.”
“Mikaela Wilcox, you did no such thing.” His grin is clear in his voice and I nudge him gently.
“Spill your guts, Kingford.” I laugh when he groans.
“You’ve been spending too much time with that boyfriend of yours.”
My blush is furious and burns beneath my skin as I scramble for a change in topic.
“What was barman Alex doing in your kitchen yesterday morning?”
“What?” He pulls back to look at me. “How did you -?”
“I recognised his voice from his sage advice that lovely afternoon.” I grin when he rolls his eyes. “So Alex, huh?”
“Yep.” Max shrugs in feigned nonchalance but his eyes are shining and I stifle a laugh.
