“No one’s gonna go to all that trouble for a leg over.”
Tasha shrugged. “True. You ain’t that good-looking. And I’ve seen your kecks. I’ve washed your kecks.” She made a face.
“Cheers, love. You really know how to make a bloke feel special. Oi, you still ain’t said nothing to Dev about Jory, have you?”
“Not yet. Wasn’t sure what to say. But we’d better, hadn’t we? What if he gets Dev’s address from that cow and gets in touch?”
“He won’t. I got him to agree not to. Not until Dev and Kyle get down here.”
“You told him Dev’s coming down? What did you bloody go and do that for?”
“Come on, they’re gonna be staying literally just down the road from where Jory lives. It ain’t like he’s gonna be able to miss him.”
“S’pose. Least it means we ain’t gotta rake all that shit up again before we have to. And Dev won’t have to worry about it till he gets here.”
Mal frowned. “D’you think . . . Do you think he’d, like, not come here if he knew?” The minute he’d said it, he wished he could take it back, cos what if she said yes? Then they’d have to tell him, and maybe he wouldn’t come here, and Mal wasn’t sure he could handle that.
It wasn’t like he needed Dev or nothing. But he’d been looking forward to a couple of weeks with his best mate, pissing about, having fun. Like, after he’d had that, he’d be strong enough to go back to London. Maybe even back to work.
“Nah, he’d still come.” Tasha said it firmly, but then she turned her face away. “Shit. I dunno. Maybe we oughtta tell him. Give him a chance to make up his own mind. It’s just . . . I don’t wanna put him off, yeah? I haven’t seen him for like months. Am I being a selfish cow?”
Mal gave her a hug. “If you are, that’s two of us. Moo.”
She giggled. “Fucking moo to you too.”
“Mooooooooooooo.”
“MOOOOOO . . . Oh, all right, Jago? Didn’t see you there. What you after?”
“Milk,” Jago said, deadpan, and Mal and Tasha cracked up.
That night, Tasha barged into the bathroom while Mal was flossing his teeth in his boxer shorts. She stood there with her arms folded and watched for a minute or so before she spoke. “Are you gonna see that Jory bloke again?”
“Maybe. But I ain’t seeing him.”
“Good.” She didn’t move.
Mal chucked the floss in the bin and got out his mouthwash, thought sod it, and offered her a capful with a sarcastic bow.
She made a face. “It’s all yours.”
“Suit yourself. Dental hygiene’s very important.”
Tasha waited while he gargled and spat. “Gonna shag him?” Her tone was sharp.
Mal rolled his eyes and shook his head firmly. “No. I’m not gonna risk messing things up with him and Dev. They got enough to deal with, with that bloody family.”
“Good.”
“Why you got such a problem with him, though? Seriously, he’s all right.” He was more than all right, which was why Mal needed to steer well clear of him.
“The problem I got is you saw him today, didn’t you? And you came in looking worse than you did when your rat died, and don’t think I didn’t notice you never told me why. So what did he do to you?”
“What? Nothing.” Mal caught her disbelieving expression in the mirror and sighed, slinging his towel round his neck. “It wasn’t his fault, okay? I was in his car and . . . I had a dodgy moment, that’s all. Sorta flashback thing.”
“Oh, babe. Did anything, like, happen?”
“No. No thanks to me. Shit. I grabbed the wheel, didn’t I? Thought he was gonna hit someone, but it was all in my fucked-up head.”
“Fuck.” Tasha came up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist. Her hair tickled his neck, and her bare arms were a bit too warm on his skin for comfort. It still felt good, though. Like when he was a little kid and his mum would give him a cuddle.
Or when he was not so little, for that matter. Mum had wanted him to stay with her and Dad while he got over stuff, but he just . . . couldn’t.
“I don’t get it, Tash.” His voice sounded thick. It was from the gargling, wasn’t it? “Dad was on the Tubes for twenty years. I know he had stuff happen. But he never . . . He just went for a few pints with the lads and then went back to work next day. How come I’m such a fuckup?”
She squeezed him then, so tight it actually hurt. “You’re fucking well not a fuckup, Mal Thomas. You ain’t your dad, babe, that’s all. Everyone’s different.” Then she loosened her hold, and he could breathe again. So it was stupid how he was sort of disappointed she’d stopped squeezing the life out of him. “Your Jory bloke, was he okay about it?” Her words were hot puffs of breath on his skin.
“Yeah. He was great.” Mal couldn’t help smiling at the memory.
She stuck her bushy head out from behind him and met his eye in the mirror with a teasing grin. “Looked after you, did he? Give you a little cuddle? Did you manage to cop a feel while he was at it?”
Mal laughed. “It wasn’t like that. We had a cup of tea with his old school mate’s nan, all right?”
“You’re shitting me.”
“No, swear to God. There was chocolate biscuits and everything. He’s a good bloke, Tash. You’d like him if you gave him a chance.” Probably. Tasha could be funny about blokes. “Now are you gonna let me get to bed or what?”
“Yeah . . .” She didn’t let go of him, though, and a minute later she spoke again. “Got a text from Ceri.”
“She okay?”
“Yeah. Sounds like she’s having a great time.”
“That’s good, then, innit?”
“S’pose.” She stepped back, letting her arms fall from around his
