Page 36 of The Mismatch

‘Yes,’ he said slowly. ‘But I know you better than she does. You aren’t the type to just use a guy for sex—’

Soraya opened her mouth to protest but he waved his hand in front of her.

‘OK, not sex. “Kissing practice” as you so eloquently put it. But what happens when he wants to do more? What’s your plan then, exactly? Because I’m sure if you asked Priya, she’d say to “Just do it!”’

‘I’ve already thought of that, actually.’

‘Oh, really. Pray do tell.’ He turned around, giving her his full attention.

She hadn’t thought of that.

‘You know what,’ she said, picking the dress back up again, ‘it doesn’t even matter. I’m trying this on.’

Before she turned away she caught Oliver smirking and rolling his eyes.

**

It was the first time she had been to Magnus’s house.

She was wearing the newly purchased velvet dress; it was tight on her waist, and flared out in the skirt. She dressed it down with Doc Martens so he didn’t think she was making any special effort for him.

She knocked once, lightly, but no one came to the door. Shifting on her feet, she was debating whether to knock again when she saw a figure approaching behind the stained-glass door panel.

‘Hey, you,’ Magnus said, once he’d opened the door. ‘You look amazing.’

‘Thanks,’ she said, avoiding his gaze.

This time she hadn’t asked to see him, he’d messaged her to come over for dinner. It struck her as an odd, couple-like thing to do, and she almost said no, wondering if she had taken this experiment too far. But another part of her was intrigued; no man had ever made her dinner before.

As he led her into the house, she noticed how messy it was. Two bikes cluttered the hallway, making it a tight squeeze to get into the living room and kitchen. The floorboards had holes in them, and the walls were painted a strange shade of off-white. The house had a masculine smell to it that she wasn’t that fond of.

She heard voices coming from the living room and her stomach clenched. She had hoped he would have an empty house.

As they entered the living room, three athletic-looking boys stood there with their jackets on.

‘This is Soraya,’ Magnus said. ‘Soraya, this is Henry, Luke and Callum.’

She wasn’t sure who was who, but waved awkwardly in their direction.

‘So this is her,’ one of them said. He had blond hair with patchy facial hair. ‘Don’t worry, we’re off to the pub so you have the place to yourselves.’

The others looked like they were repressing laughter. She grimaced, and when Magnus put his hand on the small of her back, resisted the urge to move away from it.

‘All right, all right,’ he said. ‘We’re going to make dinner anyway.’ With his hand still on her back, Magnus gently propelled her in the direction of the kitchen.

It was rectangular and tidy but not necessarily clean.

She heard the front door slam shut.

‘Why were they laughing at me?’ she said, her eyes narrowed.

Magnus was busy pouring pasta into a pan, so the silence was broken by the hard shells hitting the aluminium. On the table was a packet of Quorn mince. She’d half thought he was joking when he said he was considering becoming a vegetarian like her the last time they’d spoken.

‘They weren’t. What are you talking about?’

She said she needed to use the toilet.

It was upstairs. Safely inside, she told herself to stop acting crazy.