“Sure, tell me when did Tye turn into a man slut? I’ve never seen him do that. I’m one hundred percent positive that Ivy was wearing those boots last night. So pay up, mister. I win the bet.”
“What bet?” I asked loudly, making both Savannah and Sam jump to high heaven and flick their heads round to realise we were there.
“What’s going on?” Tye asked as Savannah’s eyes drifted down to our linked hands.
“One second,” she gestured towards us. “Can we call this a thing now? Rather than will they, won’t they, get the hell on with it?”
“Savannah!” Sam tried to look angry and failed miserably.
“I’m sorry, but we were all thinking it. It took us just two days of knowing each other.”
“More like two hours.”
“Shut up. So?” She looked back at us.
Tye quickly looked at me, his face cracking into his handsome smile.
“Yes, it’s a thing.” He replied succinctly. Savannah screeched with delight.
“Dear god! I think my eardrums burst with that one,” my hands flew to my ears.
“Damn it, Tye,” Sam pulled his wallet from his pocket, offering Savannah an evil glare. “Couldn’t you have held out until after Easter?”
“What exactly was this bet?” Tye asked as he wandered over to the kitchen.
“I bet Sam you two would be together before Easter. You were cutting it close to the wire, but it still counts,” she stole Sam’s wallet and happily counted out a few notes. It suddenly explained their strange behaviour the night before and Sam’s keenness not to leave us alone for too long.
“They’re making money off of us,” I folded my arms in pretend anger.
“I know. I should have taken that bet,” Tye winked at me. The action had altogether changed from a joke to something much more seductive.
Savannah’s excited reaction was not the only one. When Tye kissed me goodbye outside the lecture theatre, lingering for a good few minutes, it was witnessed by my friends, who all started freaking out in their own way and demanding to know details over frappuccinos that afternoon.
“It’s only just happened; can you blame me for not telling you sooner?” I asked again as we found a table on the terrace outside of the coffee shop.
“I’m blaming you, definitely,” Cara offered as she sat down next to me, kicking me with her bright red heel for good measure.
“Okay, so kissing only started happening last night, but how long have you been ‘seeing’ him exactly?” Leonora tapped her long fingernails on the table excitedly like a cat.
“I guess we started talking the night of the house party where I bumped into you two outside under the fairy lights,” I pointed at Ellie. At this point, she face palmed.
“Oh sugar. I am such a bad friend,” her head shot up, her face pleading. “Ivy, believe me, I never would have gone after him if I knew you liked him. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“She knows that, hun,” Leonora waved her concerns away. “That is exactly why she didn’t want to tell you.”
At Ellie’s perplexed expression, Cara intervened.
“She wanted to see if he would go for you. If the man could be strong enough to resist temptation!” She explained dramatically, while eyeing up the Bakewell tart on Leonora’s plate. Speaking of resisting temptation…
“Can I have your brain please?” Ellie laughed, looking at me, yet somehow slapping Cara’s hand away as she reached for the tart. “I might be able to keep a guy then.”
“Keep him? Let’s slow down.” I piped up sharply.
“A little?” Ellie smiled, teasing me.
“More like a lot. Great huge marathon distances.” I picked up the frappuccino, using the spoon to wave in the air and illustrate my point. “It’s been less than twenty-four hours since he told me he liked me. I’m not going to be foolish here. I actually like what Savannah said. She called it a thing. So for now, there’s something, but no labels please.”
“Thing? We can work with that.” Cara said mischievously. “Boyfriend thing, kissing thing, wow thing.”
“Where’s the mute button on you?” I asked as the others laughed.
“Right here,” she leaned forward and tapped her own nose, so I dutifully bopped it gently.
“Alright, we’ll call it a thing for now,” Leonora came to my rescue, leaning her chin in her hand. “Hey, how did you do that, pixie?” Leonora sent a death glare to Cara who had a bite of Bakewell tart in her mouth.
I had the evening shift at the coffee shop when Kyle walked in. Following the interlude the other night at the pub, I had no wish to be alone with him and rather frustratingly, I was on lock-up duty. He was also hanging round. Making no sign of leaving.
He hadn’t spoken, but I wasn’t blind. He kept looking at me as I cleared away other tables. When he showed no signs of leaving, even when my co-worker Ally told him we were closing, fear started to creep into me.
I still wanted to think of him as the innocent-eyed boy who went on a few dates with Rosie, but he was doing his best not to resemble that kid.
As I went to cash up, I sent a quick text to Tye.
HEY – YOU STILL ON CAMPUS? I x
Tye replied within seconds as I counted out the cash.
YEP, JUST AT THE PHYSICS BUILDING. YOU FINISHED YOUR SHIFT? T x
AT 8. KYLE’S HERE AND SHOWING NO SIGN OF LEAVING. I x
?! T x
DON’T PANIC! HE HASN’T SAID ANYTHING. HE MIGHT BE HERE FOR A PERFECTLY INNOCENT REASON, BUT THIS IS MAKING ME UNCOMFORTABLE. FANCY WALKING THIS WAY TO KEEP ME COMPANY ON MY WALK HOME? I x
I just didn’t want to walk
