‘No Luke, Robbie.’ She shrank back in her seat behind him, pulling him back with her. ‘He’s here, at the door.’
Robbie was standing there, talking to one of the partygoers. Evan. He was a nice guy. Rebecca had got the impression before that he wasn’t one of Robbie’s biggest fans. She wondered idly if they were friends now. She didn’t know who Robbie hung out with these days. She hadn’t wanted to know either. Evan looked a little uncomfortable, but chatted back to her ex and turned his back to Rebecca, shielding her. She glanced across at Holly and Hans, but they were still laughing with Mina.
‘Luke, we need to go.’ She went to stand up, and Luke tensed at the side of her. ‘Luke, I’m not scared. I don’t care about him at all. I just don’t want a scene.’
A second later, Luke took her hand in his and they stood up, heading to the back patio doors and the outside. As they pulled the door curtain closed a little and headed out into the night air, Rebecca glanced back. Robbie was still talking to Evan.
‘We left our coats inside, you got your bag?’ Luke asked as they felt the cold air hit them full in the face.
She shook her head. It was with their coats on Holly’s bed now.
‘Shit.’ He kicked the ground in front of them, crossing his arms in front of himself. His white shirt was long sleeved, and he came and rubbed his hands down her arms, trying to keep her warm.
‘We can’t stay long out here. Why did he come?’ Rebecca kept an ear out, but the place hadn’t exploded yet. Thank God for Evan. ‘Hans would never have invited him.’ The photos. ‘He saw it online, didn’t he?’ She looked at Luke, and he was already on his phone.
‘Nothing I can see online,’ he said, scrolling through his notifications. Rebecca took the phone from his hands, and brought up her own Facebook profile. There it was – a photo of the pair of them, bowing on the slopes that morning. Somebody had put it online, and then someone else had tagged her in it.
Luke’s eyes narrowed when he saw the screen. ‘Nosy calculating bastard.’ He glared at the house, as though his laser eyes had come back, and he was trying to pop Robbie through the walls of Hans’s home.
That had to be it, the photo. Robbie knew enough people to get wind of Hans’s get-together. He still knew her well enough to know that she would be at any party of Hans’s. He’d come to fan the flames. Taking the phone from Luke, she scrolled down to the comments. Lots of people commenting on where she’d been, who Luke was. Why she was ‘back’ in France. They thought Robbie and her were maybe back together. Someone had even asked whether she was involved with both men. ‘Where do they get off, talking about a stranger like that? This makes me sound like the village bike.’ She removed the tag, deleted it from her timeline and blocked the random poster for good measure. He’d done enough damage with his bloody snapping.
‘Mountain bike,’ Luke quipped.
‘Luke!’
‘Sorry, bad joke. It’s a defence mechanism. I’m mad too, but we’re not standing out here all night freezing to death because of him, or any of those keyboard warriors.’ He took his phone back and headed back inside. ‘Come on.’
As they neared the doors, Rebecca saw Hans at the other side. He was still talking to Holly and Mina, but she could see that Evan was losing the battle of distracting Robbie. He was alone too, sans whatever girl he was boinking at the moment, which meant he was on a mission.
‘Want me to go get our stuff?’ Luke asked, pausing by the door. He didn’t take his eyes off Robbie. Just as she was going to say, Yes, please ninja in and sneak back out so we can run back to the café and hide under the covers, Hans spotted Luke, and clocked what he was scowling about. He must have looked like an angry bear, growling and fogging up the glass with his breath.
‘No, we’d better go in.’ They walked in just in time to stop Hans from getting up. Luke jumped on him, pinning him to the huge corner sofa. Mina smacked Luke on the behind as he went past.
‘Hey, watch the drinks!’
Luke snuck in between Hans and Holly, checking on her like a midwife. ‘You okay, no crowning or anything?’ Holly elbowed him, laughing.
‘No crowning, gross! What’s wrong with you?’ Hans tried to stand up, and Luke sat on him again.
‘Hans?’ Rebecca was barely audible in the room, but Luke heard.
‘Bec, come and sit down,’ Luke said, breaking into her dazed thoughts. Robbie was on his way, Evan mouthing sorry at them. Rebecca sat down, Mina moving up for her.
‘Oh God, not again,’ Mina said, clocking Robbie a second before he stood before them. He pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket, smiling at Holly. Hans looked like he wanted to murder him, but he stayed where he was. Luke was clinging to him like a rider would a rodeo bull.
‘Congratulations to you both. Evan tells me it’s a boy!’ That was a bit of a moot statement, given that the ‘it’s a boy’ banner was still up outside, after their announcement that afternoon. No one said anything. Holly was looking at him as if he’d rocked up in a chicken costume to a vegan party.
‘This is for you.’ Robbie offered the envelope to her, but she didn’t move, so he put it down on her leg and left it there. ‘So, we all ready for the competition? Becks?’
He addressed her directly now, all small talk gone. Rebecca looked him in the eye, and glared at him.
‘This is a private party Robbie, you weren’t invited. Don’t cause a
