“Stupid bloody tosser.” She opened her door.
“You said it, not me.”
We both hopped out and followed him down the road.
“Stewart, don’t be an idiot,” I bit out.
“If you know Stewart at all, you know that’s an impossibility.” Andy rolled her eyes.
“I can hear you,” he threw over his shoulder.
“I know,” she sang back.
I’d missed this. The love bombs coated in insults flying between them. None of their ammo was ever intended to inflict any damage. I could kick back with some popcorn and watch for hours. I hadn’t known what my life had been lacking until she’d shown up again. And weirdly, this was a part of it.
“Andy, you cover the spotlight.” He let out a ripper of a burp, taking a second before the rest of his instructions tumbled from his mouth. “Ben, help me out with the cutters. My arms aren’t workin’ right.”
“Gee, I wonder why?” Andy returned.
His legs seemed to tangle as he crossed the road to get to the middle of the roundabout.
“Jesus, we might be scraping him off the bitumen if a car comes screaming around the bend.” I shook my head, grabbed Andy’s hand, and dashed after him. Luckily the road was pretty deserted at this time of night.
Finding him hunched over with his head between the bull’s back legs, he worked the bolt cutter on the chain that attached the balls to the statue.
Andy propped her hands on her hips. “I thought they were putting steel rods through all the boy’s bits?”
“They are. This one hasn’t been done yet.” I scanned the area, looking for a camera. Maybe they were hidden. If I copped a fine, Stewart was going to be the one paying it.
“Lucky me!” Stewart chimed as he finally broke through the metal and held up his prize.
“Congratulations, Stewart. You finally have a set of balls,” Andy said in the driest tone.
“Oi.” Stewart held the concrete set to his chest
I snorted, a smile splitting my face. This girl.
“Let’s go.” Andy took off back to the car.
“You guys are killjoys.” Stewart tripped over his own feet, just catching himself before he fell.
I spun my keys on my finger as we crossed the road. “Feel free to walk home, Stew.”
“Nah, I’m good.”
His sister coughed. “Biggest lie I’ve heard in a while.”
We got to the car. “Don’t step in the vomit, Spew,” his sister reminded him.
Love bomb.
“Ah, shit. Too late.”
Fuck.
“Sit your arse on the seat and take your shoes off.” I tossed a plastic bag onto his lap.
“I got it, I got it.”
“He got spew on his shoe, is what he got.” Andy giggled. “Stew got spew on his shoe.” She put a hand over her face, pressing her temples. “Ah, I crack myself up.”
“All good.” Stewart dropped the bag on the floor and shut his door before pointing at the road ahead. “Home, James.”
I dropped Stewart at his dad’s, personally depositing him face down on his mattress. Making my way back to the ute, I swiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. Andy was changing the CD when I shut us inside with a snap.
It was just me and Andy, and a palpable tension so thick it needed its own name. Visions of slick palms pressed against fogged windows entered my mind and I had to adjust my jeans to give myself more room. The way the seat belt cut across her chest accentuated her assets even more. Cranking the engine, I dialled up the air conditioning and pointed the vents right at my face.
I cleared my throat, turning down the music as we drove to her mum’s. “I had a good time tonight. Thanks to you.”
“Me too, thanks to me. You had absolutely nothing to do with it.” She smiled at her interlaced fingers in her lap.
“Harsh.”
“Okay, you might’ve had a little bit to do with it.”
“My performance alone should warrant a higher rating than that.”
“You want a score out of five stars?” She raised her brows, a smirk on her face.
“Hit me.”
“Four and a half.”
Hm, not bad. But ... “Where’d the half a star go?”
She giggled, the sound revving me up even more. “The universe doesn’t allow perfection.”
“That depends on your idea of perfect.”
“What’s your idea of perfect?”
You. “I like things a little unpredictable. I like a bit of colour mixed in with my black and white. I like aiming for left of centre. That odd bit of something special thrown in to set me off balance—that’s my perfect.”
I waited for the comeback.
She was quiet. Too quiet.
I glanced over and caught her looking at me with hooded eyes, her chest rising and falling rapidly. My cock twitched. My lungs cramped. Clenching the steering wheel, I focused back on the road to avoid crashing the car.
Kelly had never made me react like this. Never.
I had been so fucking blind.
The timing hadn’t been right before. Maybe now ...
Pulling up to the curb in front of her house, I turned off the engine.
“Here we are.”
“Home sweet home.” She smiled.
“Can we—” My throat closed off the sentence without warning. I swallowed, twisting towards her. “I’d like to start over. Take you on a date. Maybe a movie?”
Her smile spread slowly. Beautifully. “That depends. What are we watching?”
Elation hit me like a Mack truck. Was that a yes? “Whatever you want to watch—I don’t care.” My eyes would no doubt be straying to the girl sitting beside me. She could tell me she wanted to watch My Little Pony and I’d agree.
“Quantum of Solace?”
My grin was instant.
And her taste in movies is badass.
Perfect.
Emmeline
Hampshire, England
16th of August, 1866
I lifted my shoulders, deliberately pushing my stomach out
