Page 71 of In the Same Boat

I notice his vibe shift. When he first walked in the room he looked stunned to see us in bed together – uneasy, I thought – but now that he’s been in here for a couple of minutes, talking to us, he looks nothing short of delighted.

‘I only popped in to say good morning, and that breakfast will be ready soon,’ he says far too casually for a man witnessing whatever this is. ‘If you want to join me and your mum.’

He’s obviously only talking to Sammie when he says that, but I could swear I feel her flinch.

Neither of us moves.

Dad chuckles as he heads for the door.

‘No rush though,’ he says before he leaves us to it – or thinks he does, at least. The only thing he’s leaving us to is one hell of an awkward conversation.

The door closes, plunging us into silence. Sammie still hasn’t moved. Neither have I. Someone needs to do something, to?—

Sammie makes the first move, quickly edging away from me.

‘Oh my gosh, Nico, sorry, I don’t know what I… I must have…’

‘It’s okay,’ I assure her.

‘No, it’s not, I was literally on top of you,’ she insists.

Oh, she doesn’t know how right she is.

‘You were asleep, it’s okay…’

‘I never do… that, get in people’s space,’ she says, horrified. ‘I barely moved, sharing with Mum. I usually stay completely on my side. I… I know it’s hard.’

My brain short-circuits.

‘You were sort of on top of me,’ I say in my defence.

Sammie blinks.

‘What?’

There’s a horrible beat where I realise she means the situation is hard.

‘I mean, you were only sort of on top of me, I hardly noticed, it’s nothing to worry about,’ I assure her. I 180 so fast it almost gives me whiplash. I almost embarrassed myself in a way that I could never have recovered from there.

She exhales deeply.

‘It’s not all bad, I guess,’ she says. ‘Your dad definitely thinks we slept together – he’s probably already told my mum.’

‘Words I never thought I would hear anyone say,’ I point out. ‘And things I never thought I would be pleased to hear.’

‘It’s definitely a weird one,’ she agrees, climbing carefully out of bed now. ‘I really didn’t mean to cuddle you. That’s genuinely horrifying for both of us.’

‘You were deep in character,’ I reassure her.

‘Yeah, I think maybe that’s what it was.’ She pauses for a second, as though she might be about to say something, but she doesn’t. ‘Anyway, it sounds like breakfast is nearly ready, so I’d better head to my room, get changed into my own clothes, brush my teeth – see you at breakfast? We’ll see if our plan really did work…’

‘Sounds good,’ I reply.

I’m still in bed, the covers still firmly over my body.

‘You okay?’ she asks.

I nod.