Page 67

As if feeling his eyes on her, Liv turned and smiled at him, and his worries vanished almost immediately, blown away by the butterflies that had taken up residence in his stomach.

* * *

Liv groaned and pushed away the pizza box. ‘That’s it.’ She waved her kitchen-roll napkin as if it was a white flag. ‘I’m stuffed. I couldn’t eat another bite if you paid me to.’

‘I can!’ Sarah laughed and reached for the box.

‘You’ve already had three slices. You’ll turn into a pizza!’ Callum pulled the pizza away from her. ‘And you need to go upstairs and start getting ready for bed.’

‘Can I really turn into a pizza?’

‘Do you know for sure that you can’t?’

Sarah screwed up her mouth in thought. ‘Liv, can I really turn into a pizza?’

Callum’s eyes creased with amusement as he caught Liv’s gaze over the top of Sarah’s head. ‘Well, I’ve never heard of anyone turning into a pizza. But I haven’t read every single medical journal that has ever been written. And I do remember reading about a little girl who turned yellow from too much of her favourite drink. So it could be possible.’

‘What was she drinking?’ Sarah’s eyes were wide.

‘Some type of juice.’ Liv laughed. ‘But I can’t remember the name.’

‘Maybe I should have ice cream instead of pizza,’ Sarah mused. ‘Just to be safe.’

‘Maybe you should go and get your things ready for school tomorrow,’ Callum argued. ‘And if you’re still hungry then, I will consider dishing you up a small bowl of ice cream.’

‘But Liv’s here . . .’

‘And I’ll still be here when you’re done.’ Liv’s words popped out before she’d even thought to check with Callum. She cringed inwardly at her presumption. ‘If it’s OK with your dad.’

Callum nodded, and she felt herself having to bite back a sigh of relief. While they still hadn’t — officially — spoken about their relationship being anything more than “friends with benefits” or whatever the phrase was, it was becoming more and more obvious to her that they were behaving in a way that was a lot more than “just friendly”. And that Sarah and Callum had become hugely important to her, and probably her favourite part of being in Broclington. So much so, that she neither could, or wanted to, picture a future without them as part of her life.

Oblivious to her thought process, Sarah gave her a bright grin. ‘Then Livvy can read me my bedtime story.’

‘Only if it’s all right with Liv.’ Callum raised his eyebrows in question. ‘She might have to get home. The next few days are going to be really busy for everyone. It’s getting late. Did you think about that, fairy?’

‘Nope,’ Sarah admitted with a small frown. ‘But I’m not tired yet, and you say kids need more sleep than adults.’ She grinned as a thought occurred to her. ‘Maybe Livvy could sleep over. Then she could read me my bedtime story but still go to bed whenever she wanted.’

‘Erm . . .’

‘Ah . . .’

‘What?’ Sarah glanced between them. ‘It’s a good idea. Best friends have sleepovers all the time, and you are best friends.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Well, it’s obvious. You see each other all day at work and still want to see each other after work. Like me and Summer. And she’s my best friend.’

‘Right.’ Callum looked as panicked as Liv felt. This was rapidly racing towards the exact conversation they’d both agreed to avoid having with Sarah.

If it hadn’t been for years of experience in emergency situations, Liv didn’t think she would have been able to keep her racing pulse hidden. ‘I’m sure I can read you a story. But only if you hurry up. I think your dad said you were supposed to be getting your school things ready, didn’t he?’

‘Ugh.’ Sarah sighed as though the weight of the world was on her young shoulders, and Liv had to bite back a smile. ‘OK. But it had better be a good story.’

‘Fair deal.’ Liv watched as Sarah trailed out of the room, dragging her feet with every step.

‘I’m sorry she put you on the spot like that.’

‘It’s OK.’ Liv shrugged. ‘I’m happy to read her a story.’