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I shake his hand.

‘Nice to meet you too, Adam,’ I reply.

I don’t know what else to say, so I turn to Si.

‘I didn’t know it was your birthday.’

Si waves it off.

‘I didn’t want a fuss, or for it to spoil our date,’ he tells me.

Internally, I wince at Si calling it a date in front of Adam.

‘A date?’ Adam starts, looking between us. ‘Well, I’ll go to my room and leave you to it.’

Si nods.

‘Thanks, but before you go, I have good news,’ Si tells him. ‘Lia is going to rent the spare room.’

Adam looks stunned, then amused, before getting his face under control again.

‘That’s great,’ he says, flashing me a quick, unreadable look. ‘Enjoy your dinner.’

‘Right, come on, let’s eat,’ Si says, heading back into the kitchen.

I sit down, still in a state of shock. How did I end up in this situation? Dinner with Si, my old crush, now my potential landlord, and his brother, Adam, the mystery man I’ve been searching for.

Oh, I’ve really outdone myself this time.

14

I actually had a nice time last night, having dinner with Si. The food was delicious, and our conversation flowed easily, despite the fact that Adam was upstairs.

When I mentioned I’d be seeing my friends at the pub the next day, Si said he’d love to join us. I didn’t know what to say, so I agreed, and now here I am in the pub toilets with Mel and Angie, telling them everything.

‘Wait, so Adam is Si’s brother?’ Mel asks, her eyes wide.

I nod, leaning against the sink.

‘Yeah, I was in shock when he turned up at the door,’ I reply.

Angie frowns, applying another layer of lip gloss.

‘Look, you can’t let Adam mess this up,’ she tells me. ‘Si seems like a great guy. Focus on that.’

She has a good point… maybe? I know that Rory was quick to warn me off him, but he was never going to like the idea of the two of us together, was he?

I’ve had a crush on Si for years. I’ve spent twenty minutes locked in a toilet with Adam. I hardly know him.

‘I know, but it’s just so weird,’ I say with a sigh. ‘I mean, Adam was the guy I was hoping to run into again, and now he’s, what? My roommate, and the brother of the guy I’ve sort of had a date with…’

‘It’s funny, Si is your brother’s best friend, so that makes Adam your brother’s best friend’s brother,’ Mel says, laughing her way through her sentence.

‘Yeah, well, at least they’re not friends any more, not that Rory will say why,’ I point out.

‘Messy,’ Angie says simply. ‘You’re too old to get involved with stuff like this.’

Mel shakes her head.