Page 53 of Kiss Me Like You Mean It

‘Like a romance novel,’ Kat puts in, as if that clears anything up.

‘He’s also…’ Lee leans in towards Kat, ‘my brother’s best friend.’ She half whispers the words like an admission of guilt.

‘Nooooooo!’ Kat yells, clearly delighted. I have no idea what the fuck is going on, but as Lee seems to be relaxing and enjoying herself and she and Kat are bonding, I have no problem with it.

‘So you two go way back, then?’ Luke asks.

‘Yep.’ Lee sips her drink. ‘I’ve known Nico since I was five.’

‘Okay,’ Mei rubs her hands together, an evil glint in her eye, ‘so you have all the good embarrassing stories.’

‘Please tell us that Mr Smooth here had an awkward adolescence,’ Luke says and settles back in his seat.

‘Oh yes,’ she replies. ‘Let’s begin with the saga of Tansy Bennet and Nico’s ill-advised foray into amateur BMXing.’

‘Let’s not.’ I choke on a laugh. I can’t believe she even remembers that. Fortunately, I’m saved from that particular story by the arrival of Randall with a giant plate of loaded nachos. As we all dig in, the others pepper Lee for more details and she seems to relax more with every answer.

‘Shall I get us another round?’ she asks, a little shyly, a few minutes later.

‘Yes!’ Kat exclaims, twirling her finger in the air. ‘Let’s keep this party going.’

When Lee disappears into the crowd, Kat reaches across the table and grabs my hand.

‘I’m sorry, but I have a massive crush on your wife.’

I choke on the last of my beer.

‘Join the club,’ Mei says. ‘She’s gorgeous… and that accent! She’s so hot.’

‘So hot!’ Kat echoes.

I look at Luke, who smiles and shrugs. ‘You’ve got to admit that she’s a very attractive woman.’ My face must do something that I’m not in control of then because his smile widens and he holds his hands up in a gesture of surrender. ‘Objectively speaking, man. I’m obviously not going to hit on her when she’s married.’

‘Good,’ I say, and the word comes out a lot more snarly than I’d anticipated. ‘Let’s keep it that way. Lee’s off limits,’ I gesture to them with my empty bottle, ‘to all of you.’

‘Oh my god!’ Kat hisses, leaning in again, her eyes darting over her shoulder to make sure the coast is clear. ‘Nico. Do you have a massive crush on your wife?’

If I had any beer left, I’d be choking again. I actually wish everyone would stop referring to Lee as my wife all the fucking time.

‘Lee?’ I laugh. ‘Of course not. We grew up together, I care about her a lot. She’s… like a little sister to me.’

‘If you really felt that way, you wouldn’t be going all growly caveman about Luke,’ Mei says. ‘He’s a genuinely good guy and a catch.’

‘Thanks, Mei.’ Luke lifts his drink in a small salute.

‘If I wasn’t exclusively attracted to women, I’d have locked him down years ago,’ Mei continues breezily.

‘The point is,’ I say stubbornly, ‘Lee is doing me a huge favour. It’s a complicated situation and I’m not going to make it any worse. And neither are you,’ I say firmly, shooting all three of them a pointed look. Luke flashes me a boy scout salute, but Mei and Kat only smirk.

‘Sorry, it took a minute,’ Lee reappears, carrying a tray full of drinks.

‘Hey, Randall,’ Kat catches the man by the arm as he speeds by, ‘will you take a photo of all of us to commemorate Lee’s first night?’ She brandishes her phone at him.

We pose for the photo and when Randall hands her phone back, Kat coos over the picture, leaning over to show it to Lee.

‘Such a good one of all of us, even if the lighting is terrible,’ Kat says.

‘Yes, we need Nico to take one on his proper camera.’ Lee sends me a quick smile, and my heart sinks.