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I take a deep breath.

‘Just thought you should know,’ Becka says. She doesn’t look very pleased about all this, but I’m grateful that she has told me.

‘Well, thank you,’ I say coolly.

Of course, I have no idea what any of this means, or what to do with the information. I’m hoping that will come to me later.

35

With the revelation that Adam’s new special friend was only here to prove some kind of point, I feel oddly confident. It’s just me and Adam in the house now, so I’m sitting at the kitchen table, sipping my tea. Let’s see what he has to say for himself when he surfaces.

‘Good morning for a third time,’ Adam says when he finally comes downstairs.

‘Hello again,’ I reply.

Adam grabs a couple of slices of bread and pops them in the toaster before filling the kettle, clicking it on and grabbing a mug from the cupboard.

‘My God,’ Adam starts before yawning and stretching out in front of me again. ‘I am so tired. What a night I had last night.’

‘Yeah, I thought Si and I got in pretty late after dinner, but you sure showed us,’ I say, which only makes him up his game.

‘What do you think of Becky?’ he asks.

‘Becka,’ I correct him. ‘She’s lovely.’

If this is all for my benefit then the last thing I’m going to do is let him see that I’m jealous, but now I know that they didn’t get up to anything I’m just intrigued, and I like to think that I’m better at playing these games than any man could ever be.

‘We’re not serious or anything,’ he tells me coolly. ‘We’re just having fun, you know?’

‘Oh, I know,’ I tell him casually, ‘but she’s really nice, you should invite her out with the gang one night.’

I can see that Adam is getting annoyed because I’m not getting jealous. I actually feel quite sorry for him because he’s trying so hard, but why?

‘Well, I’ve got to get to work,’ Adam says, defeated.

‘No worries, I was about to leave anyway,’ I reply. ‘See you later.’

And with that, as cool as you like, I grab my bag and head for the door. I’ll teach you to play games with me, Adam.

36

It’s Friday today and I’ve got a busy weekend ahead of me. I’ve got one last band to check out for the Bonfire Night Festival, so I’m going to one of their gigs tonight. Adam has agreed to come with me, but things are still a little weird between us. It’s strange, because we’re being perfectly polite, everything seems fine on the surface, but it’s almost like we’re both wishing the time would pass quicker, so we can go our separate ways.

Hopefully tonight won’t be too bad, because Mel, Angie, Tim and Si are coming along with us too. The whole gang; strength in numbers. I can avoid some people, stick with others. It should be a fun night out, which is just what I need right now.

Tomorrow we’ve got the fundraiser for the festival, which is going to be held on the beach. There’s going to be a Halloween party theme, with food stalls, roasted nuts, toffee apples and spooky games (and thankfully the weather forecast says it’s going to be dry and not too cold), but it isn’t just an excuse to schmooze the local businessmen and women who have sponsored the event; they are also going to be finishing the last piece of the backstage area, even if it’s just hammering a nail for a photo opportunity. And then the countdown to the event begins. The real work starts on the stage, all the plans are in place, all of the pieces of the puzzle are there and waiting to be clicked into place.

Kerry is obsessed with the Bonfire Night Festival being a community thing – probably because it’s really easy to infuriate the locals, who are generally resistant to new things – so that’s why we’re having this get-together of the ‘festival family’ (as she calls it) tomorrow, and why she wants it to seem like everyone is doing their bit.

The fundraiser is only for the VIPs though, important figures in the village, people who have contributed lots of money and those involved in making it happen, which is why I’m lucky enough to be invited. One thing that is worrying me a little is the fact that Si and Adam’s mum is going to be there, because her husband owns the local garden centre, and they’re sponsoring the event. I’m sure I’m worrying unnecessarily, and we’ll get on just fine, but I just feel… I don’t know… weird about it.

After successfully hogging the bathroom for the best part of an hour I am all dolled up and ready to head out to the gig.

‘You look good,’ Adam says brightly as we bump into each other on the landing.

‘You too,’ I reply with a smile. He’s wearing one of his trademark tight-fitting T-shirts and a trendy pair of jeans, and, of course, he’s looking devastatingly handsome.

I wish things felt like they did before the awkwardness, when it was exciting, like anything could happen.