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‘You’re quitting? How come?’
Rob shrugged off his rucksack and put it on the floor next to his suitcase and tennis bag, then gave Hannah a penetrating look. ‘Shit, I can’t believe this.’ He took a couple of deep breaths. ‘It didn’t feel right. You being here and me being there. I feel like I’ve lost an arm or something, and I can’t stop thinking about you. And that makes me think that maybe we should stop being dicks and tell each other how we feel.’
Hannah smiled, wondering how long he’d spent working on that little speech. ‘You’ve never even kissed me,’ she said, reaching out to take his hand.
‘Can I kiss you now?’ he asked, his eyes wide as he softly wove his fingers into hers.
‘No, I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m not kissing you for the first time outside WHSmith in Bristol Airport.’ She was buying herself time, trying to control the cage of butterflies in her stomach. Everything felt like it was moving too fast and she wanted to remember every moment.
‘Why not?’ said Rob, taking her other hand and running his thumb across the back of it in a way that made her knees feel like they were made of sponge. ‘Airports are romantic.’
‘Still no,’ laughed Hannah. ‘But we should probably book another flight back to Spain.’
‘Why?’ asked Rob. ‘I’ve quit my job.’
‘I thought we’d just established that you haven’t actually quit your job. Technically this could be a day trip to England.’
‘I suppose.’
‘But I HAVE quit mine.’
‘Whoah, really?’
Hannah nodded happily. ‘Yeah. I’ve been there ten years and need to do something different.’
‘So what’s your plan?’ They were still holding hands, their fingers clasped together like that’s where they’d always belonged.
‘Take the rest of the summer off, think about what I want to do next. Luke and Dan want to properly rent my place, so I don’t need to make any big decisions right now.’
‘And what if I told you I’m crazy about you and want us to be together?’ said Rob quickly. ‘Would that make any difference to your plans?’ His eyes were full of love and hope, and Hannah couldn’t believe she’d nearly let this man slip through her fingers.
‘Yes,’ she said, nodding furiously. ‘That was what I was coming to talk to you about. Whether you and I could give things a go, and maybe I could stay in Spain until the end of the season. Hang out with you, spend some time with my dad and Scrumpy, see how things pan out.’
‘And what if I’d said no?’ said Rob, smiling playfully.
‘Then I’d have headed off somewhere else,’ said Hannah emphatically. ‘This decision is mostly about me, Rob; I don’t want you to think I’m dropping everything just for you. But I also think maybe there could be an us, if we really want it. ARE you saying no?’
‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ Rob laughed. ‘I’ve just flown back at the crack of dawn so I could tell you in person that I love you. I just wish I’d done it weeks ago.’
‘I left a message with the hotel last night,’ said Hannah, her brow furrowed, pushing aside the fact that Rob had just told her he loved her. It felt too huge to process right now. ‘I told them to take it to Room one-four-two, but clearly you didn’t get it.’
‘I’ve moved rooms,’ Rob said quickly. ‘I think there’s another coach in there now.’
‘Weird,’ said Hannah. ‘The message had your name on it, you’d have thought he’d have passed it on.’
Rob gave a manic laugh, looking vaguely flustered. ‘So what do we do now?’
Hannah smiled and shrugged. ‘Book two seats back to Spain on the next flight, I guess.’
‘Christ, that’s going to be expensive,’ said Rob.
Hannah shrugged. ‘Yeah, but I’ve still got that money we won playing tennis. The bit we never spent staying in amazing places.’
‘Yeah, sorry about that,’ said Rob with a grin, leaning in hopefully for a kiss. Hannah pulled away, eternally conscious of the bustle and crowds of people around them. Nobody was looking at them, but it still felt too public for their first kiss. She let go of one hand and led him to a bench by the window, where Rob sat with his arm around her while she scrolled through Skyscanner. She could feel his fingers in her hair and his warm breath on her neck, and resisted the temptation to turn her face to his. He felt so close, and he couldn’t fail to notice the goosebumps on her arms.
‘Here,’ she said. ‘Ryanair at three thirty. Wow, that’s expensive.’
‘How much?’ asked Rob.
