Players, Bumps and Cocktail Sausages (Silence #3)(13)

“No one.”

“Bull. Details. Now.” I pulled up a chair next to her, grateful that no customers had come in yet but the early seven a.m. classes had finished by now, and the next ones weren’t until nine. I had about twenty minutes being me before I had to act professional.

“Nothing happened, but I met this guy and we’re going to lunch.”

“Oh yeah, where’d you meet him?”

“At the library.”

“What were you doing there?” I shook my head. “Forget him, he’s boring.”

She tilted her head, and her golden hair fell in her face. She sat back up. “Just because he reads doesn’t mean he’s boring.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Would you prefer him to read about an orgasm or give you one?” Her face turned the colour of the Santa’s hat that still sat behind the monitor. Me and Kerry couldn’t work out who took the hat out of the Christmas decoration box – I said her and she said me – so now it’s a battle, and there was no way I was putting the damn thing in the loft.

“You’re so crude,” she hissed, pretending to look at the booking screen on the monitor so I wouldn’t see how embarrassed she was.

Was that crude? “Sorry,” I muttered, trying to keep a straight face. “What’s his name?”

“Harry.”

“And where is Harry taking you?”

“Carlton’s.”

“Ooh the stuffy, posh place. Wanna take my number so you can text me to save you when you’re so bored you want to stab yourself with their shiny, fancy silverware?” Carlton’s was bloody boring. I took Abby there once, and I regretted it the second I stepped into the place.

“I think I’ll be fine, thank you.”

“You’ll be bored. Get him to take you to the diner, eat crap and have an ice cream fight.”

“I’m not eleven,” she replied dryly.

“Nope, you were definitely born thirty.” She frowned, and I knew I’d gone too far. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way. You’re not boring; you’re just too shy and too scared to let your hair down. When was the last time you did anything impulsive?”

She opened her mouth and closed it again. “So what. So I don’t have ice cream fights or jump out of planes, that doesn’t mean I’m–”

“You want to jump out of a plane?” I asked, shocked.

“Yes.”

“With a parachute attached, right? You’re not that upset by what I said?”

She rolled her eyes, and a small smile tugged at the sides of her mouth. “Of course with a parachute.” I would never have guessed she would want to do anything even remotely dangerous.

“If things go well with Harry, get him to jump with you.” She needed someone that was going to challenge and push her. Brad was outgoing, an idiot and would do pretty much anything for a twenty or a shag. I had no idea why Holly was so reserved.

“I don’t know.”

“Why not. You want to do it, and you’re an adult so…”

“Uncle Jasper!” Everleigh screamed, coming to Holly’s rescue. I shoved my chair out in time for her to leap up and land on my lap.

“Hey,” I said, rustling her hair and grinning like a moron. I really missed her. Oakley walked in behind, carrying Eveleigh’s Snow White bag. “Wait, have you just got here? And after all the crap you give me about being late.”

She let the bags drop down on the table and raised her eyebrow. “I was here at seven. Cole went into work late today, so I let Everleigh stay at home for a bit longer. I’ve just been home to get her before Cole leaves.”

Damn it. “Holly has a date,” I said to get the spotlight off me.

Holly gave me an evil glare. Without all the eyeliner, she didn’t look that scary though. Her looks matched her personality when she wore only a little make-up. Perhaps that was why she wore so much black around the eyes, to appear more confident.

“Really? Quick work,” Oakley said, winking. “You’ve not been back long. Who is it?”

“Some boring dude she met at the library. By the way, what were you doing in a library?”

“Buying paint,” she replied sarcastically.

“Ha ha. I meant because you’re on break from uni. Surely being around books is the last thing you want to do now?”

“Shut up,” Oakley said, hitting the back of my head, making Everleigh gasp.

“You’re not allowed to hit, Mummy,” she said, shaking her head as if she was the parent and deeply disappointed.

“Go in the back office and watch TV for a minute,” Oakley said, lifting her off my lap. “I’ll come and get you when your class starts.”

Everleigh skipped off, pulling her bag, which fell to the floor and scraped along the ground behind her.

“It’s great that you have a date, Holly. Jasper, why don’t you make sure the gym is ready for the class?” She grinned. “Everleigh’ll only tell you off if it’s not.”

She bloody would too. If anyone came between her and her gymnastics time, she’d freak. It was like looking at Oakley when she was Everleigh’s age. I knew that although Oakley hoped Everleigh would carry it on, she didn’t think she would; the kid just liked climbing and jumping off stuff. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if in a year or so, she stopped wanting to go.