Reya shrugged. “I don’t really get hangovers.”
“Just you wait,” said Alexis, pointing to me. “A few years, and you’ll be as bad as this one.”
“Yeah, no offence,” I added, “but I kind of hate you right now. I’m going to take a shower.”
When I came back out, clean and dressed, I found breakfast waiting for me. Apparently, Reya felt guilty for her lack of a hangover and decided to cook me bacon to make up for it. She was such a gem. Sitting down at the table, I dug into my food. Her phone went off with a text, and she hurried to check it. I was willing to bet I knew who it was.
“Trevor?” I asked between bites.
She nodded sheepishly and put her phone back down. “He wants to hang out today.”
“Really? You should go.”
She shook her head. “It’s more of a group hangout. He and a few of his buddies are practicing for some free-running competition. He wanted to know if I was interested in coming to watch.”
“That sounds exciting. I could think of worse ways to spend a Saturday.”
“So why don’t you come with me?” she put in eagerly. “It’ll be fun, and I’ll buy you ice cream.”
There was something about the innocent look in her eyes that I couldn’t say no to. “Sure, I’ll come. Got nothing else planned anyway.”
“You’re the best,” she said, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand.
A half hour later we were on the Tube, heading toward Hyde Park. Trevor texted Reya, telling her to meet him at the Albert monument. When we got there, we found him, Liam and a bunch of their friends leaping up and down ten steps at a time, like they were running drills. There were also lots of people hanging about watching; not surprisingly, they were mostly female. That wasn’t what caught my attention most, though, because sitting off to the side and shouting encouragement was Lee.
I grabbed Reya’s arm, my voice tight as I said, “You never told me he’d be here.”
She shrugged out of my hold, smiling at me like butter wouldn’t melt. “Trev never mentioned it.”
I knew she was lying when I caught the both of them sharing a secret little smile as Trevor waved to her from the steps. They were trying to play Cupid, I could tell. Deciding not to let it get to me, I continued walking toward Lee.
“Hey,” I said tentatively, and sat down next to him on the steps. “So what are you, their coach or something?”
He looked up at me, eyes moving down my body before settling on my face. “Or something. How’s the head?”
“Thumping. I’m sorry about, uh, last night,” I said, fiddling awkwardly with the zipper of my jacket.
Unfortunately, I remembered every second of my embarrassing attempt to kiss him and his subsequent rejection. I wished I could scrub the humiliating behaviour from my brain, but they hadn’t created a pill for selective memory loss yet.
I knew from the set of his mouth that he was trying not to smile. “Nothing to be sorry about.” Leaning forward, he nodded to Reya.
“Good to see you again.”
“You, too,” she replied shyly. My friend tended to get quiet around good-looking men, which explained her behaviour with Lee. What it didn’t explain was her friendship with his brother. Then again, when Trevor decided he was going to be friends with someone, they didn’t really get a say in the matter. I’d learned that firsthand.
“So what are they all practicing for?” I asked in an effort to make conversation.
Lee rubbed a hand over his jaw, where an attractive bit of stubble was growing. “Big competition up in Brighton next week. The winning team gets a round trip to Thailand to climb the Doi Inthanon Mountain.”
“And that’s their idea of a good time?” I said. “I’d rather stay on the beach.”
Lee chuckled. “That’s you and me both.”
I noticed Trevor and the rest of them stopping to take a break, and he ran over to us, plopping down next to Reya. Waggling his brow at her, he teased, “I know I’m delectably sweaty right now, but do try to resist.” He leaned closer, but she pushed him away.
“Eww, get off. You need to take a shower.”
“I’ll just go hop in the pond, shall I?” he joked, lifting the end of his T-shirt to reveal an inch of toned stomach.
Reya laughed tightly. “I dare you.”
“And I’ll second that dare,” I added, goading him. “Crack on.”
Trevor scowled at us both playfully. “It’s a good thing I’m immune to peer pressure. There’s probably typhoid in that water.”
“And cholera,” said Lee. “So don’t even think about it. I’m not taking you to the hospital.”
“You just don’t want to clean up after I get the shits.” Trevor grinned, trying to gross him out. Lee stared at him, expressionless, which was kind of funny.
“Can we leave bowel movements out of the conversation, please?” I grimaced.
“You don’t know what he’s like,” said Lee, still eyeing his brother. “He’s off his nut. Can’t back away from a challenge.”
Trevor scoffed. “Jumping into a pond is no challenge. Now, if you’d asked me to climb atop old Albert, strip off all my clothes, and jump to the ground while crying out the lyrics to ‘Dancing Queen,’ I might have to take you up on it.”
Reya stared at the monument. “You’d break your neck.”
He leaned closer to her. “Is that a dare?”
Her eyes flared with worry. “No! Absolutely not.”
“Too bad. Could’ve been fun.”
“I think there might be something wrong with you,” I said, my brow furrowing.
Lee smirked and shook his head. “Nah, he’s just flirting with your friend.”
“Hey, now, bruv, don’t be tellin’ porkies. Reya here’s a good buddy of mine,” said Trevor, throwing his arm around her shoulders. Reya looked away for a second, and I thought she might be feeling awkward. It was clear that she fancied him, so maybe she was embarrassed that her crush was unrequited.
Lee eyeballed his brother, his pull the other one expression pure comedy gold.
Reya caught my attention, a pleading look in her eyes. “Do you want to go get ice cream now? I spotted a stand on our way into the park.”
“I’ll go,” Lee said. “You stay where you are, love.”
Reya frowned, annoyed that he’d thwarted her escape plan, and settled back onto the grass beside Trevor. I was about to lie back and enjoy the unseasonably sunny weather when I felt Lee nudge me with the toe of his shoe. “Come help,” he said, eyeing me pointedly.
“Oh, sure,” I replied, and got up to follow him. I waited until we were a good enough distance away to whisper, “They’re trying to set us up.”
Lee smiled. “I know. You like how I turned it back around on them?”
“I do. You’re an evil mastermind.”
“Just giving them a taste of their own medicine. See how they like it. By the way, I never got to congratulate you properly last night, what with you being shitfaced drunk and all.”
“I do believe that’s the technical term for it, yes.”
He laughed. “Well, I heard you passed your exam, so, well done.” Reaching out, he gave my hand a small squeeze. My skin tingled where he touched me. It wasn’t long before his hand was on me again, this time when we reached the ice cream stand. He placed his flattened-out palm to the base of my spine, standing beside me as I scanned the choices. His warmth spread through me, both soothing and disconcerting.
Slipping his other hand inside his jeans, he pulled out a small business card and handed it to me. Glancing down, I saw it was for his restaurant.
“Address is on there,” he said. “You should come see the place.”
“You already invited me, remember? At the hospital.”
“Just wanted to make sure you knew the invitation was still open,” he replied, eyeing me intensely. I swallowed back the lump in my throat that always seemed to come when I was around him these days.
“I’ll come next week on my day off.”