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I open the door again. No sign of Gail, so I gesture for Declan to leave.
‘We’ll see,’ he says through a grin.
I close my door behind me. It never occurred to me to put locks on the bedroom doors because I never realised I’d be running a Christmas B&B for so many people so clearly unable to keep it in their pants for a bloody week.
I sigh as I lean back on the door. Fantastic, now I need to blow out all these candles, which is going to make the room absolutely stink, I’m so tired, there are rose petals everywhere – and the fact that he didn’t do things like this when we were together makes it all the more annoying.
I am slightly concerned about the look in his eye, when he practically threatened ‘we’ll see’ as he left the room. It makes me worry he might have more tricks up his sleeve. If we can just get through Christmas, and Declan signs the house back over to me, then hopefully all of this will be over. There is a limit to what I’m willing to do to get him out of the house, though, and it absolutely does not involve rose petals and ‘Freak Me’ while my parents are in the next rooms. Here’s hoping he backs down – or God knows what it’s going to take to get rid of him.
24
The best thing about the mornings is that, with each one that comes, this whole mess is a day closer to being over.
I open my eyes to see Jess lying in bed next to me.
‘Jess, are you awake?’ I ask.
‘Just about,’ she replies through closed eyes.
‘I didn’t even hear you come in last night,’ I tell her. ‘I must have been out like a light.’
Thank God it was Jess who got in bed with me and not Declan – although I like to think I would have noticed him being in my bed, although historically he never did make much of an impact when he was.
‘I know you’re in my bad books, but did you really think rose petals were going to win me over?’ she asks through a laugh.
‘Oh, they’re not for you, don’t worry,’ I reply. ‘Declan put the moves on me last night.’
‘Do I need to jump out of this bed screaming?’ she asks.
‘No, you’re okay,’ I reply. ‘Hopefully he’s got the message that I’m not interested but somehow, I doubt it. I am sorry, though. Last night super backfired.’
‘I’m sorry too,’ Jess replies. ‘You’ve got to laugh at how it blew up in our faces, though, haven’t you?’
‘You do,’ I reply. ‘Although Mum and Dad seemed to be getting on better than ever when I came up to bed.’
‘You left them unattended?’ she replies, rolling onto her side to face me.
‘Gail got back from her work thing last night, so they weren’t alone for long,’ I reply. ‘They’re not horny teenagers that we need to keep separate – even if it feels like they are. I think we might need to just accept that things are what they are, and let them make their own mistakes.’
‘I don’t know, parents, who’d have them?’ Jess jokes.
‘Sharing a room together like this reminds me of old times, when we shared a room together growing up – even after Mum gave us separate rooms, we would still go in each other’s rooms and chat like this,’ I remind her.
‘I know, it’s kind of nice,’ she replies as she closes her eyes again. ‘Oh, by the way, not to ruin a beautiful moment, but I figured you need to make it up to me after last night, so I’ve invited Kenny to have Christmas dinner with us. I hope you don’t mind.’
‘Of course I mind,’ I reply. ‘I hate the guy.’
‘Well, I like him,’ she says firmly, as though I have no say in the matter.
I don’t have the energy for a fight right now. I also don’t think I’d win, regardless.
Well, there’s already going to be enough people at the Christmas dinner table who I don’t like, will one more really make a difference? Probably, but I’ll figure out how to deal with this one later.
25
There’s nothing like spending time away from someone to make you realise how much you like being around them. I don’t know if it’s because I had the day from hell yesterday, or if it’s because the feelings I’m developing for Rocco are much stronger than I’m daring to admit, but absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
Either way, as Rocco pulls up to pick me up in his car, I can’t contain my excitement.
