You Owe Me a Murder(57)

Alex kept up a nonstop chatter as we went, talking about what we were seeing and random bits of related trivia. His words trickled into one ear and then disappeared in a fog, but they were still comforting. He didn’t pause for me to say anything. He seemed to know that I needed him to keep talking.

When we reached the top, I closed my eyes briefly. I was doing this. Then a zap of joy ran through me. I was doing this! I turned and noticed that Alex was watching me.

“Okay?” he asked.

I smiled. “Yeah. I am.”

At least I would be, as long as I kept my eyes on the horizon and not down on the ground.

He squeezed my hand. “You’re more than okay.”

“What is it Yoda says? ‘Do, not try’?” I said, getting the expression wrong on purpose to make Alex smile.

He shook his head in fake annoyance. “Close enough. I’m proud of you.”

I flushed. “Proud of me for basically doing a jazzed-up carnival ride?” I tried to wave off his compliment.

“No, for doing what scares you.”

I smiled back and stood up straighter.

After the ride, we walked across the river and ducked into a pub. We lucked out—?there was an empty table just inside the door. Alex tossed his jacket onto the back of one of the chairs.

“Is this okay? You sit on the far side so you don’t get cold with people going in and out. I’ll go get us something to drink. Coke okay?”

I nodded and sat, wiping off the damp table with my sleeve. I felt almost high from the experience on the London Eye—?no pun intended. I’d done it.

Alex was back a minute later, putting down two glasses. “I ordered some fries, too.”

“Chips,” I corrected him, grinning. “They call them chips here. If you’re going to collect slang, you’ve got to get that right.”

The pub was loud. A crowd of rowdy guys at the bar were cheering on a soccer—?oops, football—?game on the TV. Every few seconds they would scream out advice or heap scorn onto the players. Alex and I sat side by side at the tiny table, holding hands underneath it.

The waitress dropped a basket in front of us. The fries were molten lava hot, burning the top of my mouth right behind my front teeth when I bit into one. I sucked in a breath, trying to cool down my mouth.

“That’s what you get for being greedy,” Alex said.

I picked up two more fries, held them up in front of his face, and then stuffed them into my mouth, knowing it would make him laugh. Alex snorted, his shoulders shaking. I felt my heart surge.

Then something caught his eye and he waved madly at the far end of the bar, trying to get someone’s attention. “Do you know Erin?”

I shook my head. “Erin who?”

“She’s at Metford too. I’ve met her a couple of times. I want to thank her—?she gave me the idea for tonight. I saw her in the laundry room and she mentioned how there was the VIP option.”

I turned, scanning the crowd for a familiar face from the cafeteria. “Is she from the U.S.?”

“No, she’s Scottish. Down here for a term doing something with art history before she starts university up there next year. You’ll like her.” He waved again.

I wasn’t really interested in having to make nice with a stranger. I wanted Alex to myself.

“Hey-ho, you came,” drawled a Scottish brogue. “Did you love the views?”

“It was gr—?” My tongue locked into place. It was Nicki. I felt off balance, as if I were back on top of the Eye, spinning slowly over the city.

She held out her hand. “I’m Erin.” She squeezed into a chair. She smiled at me across the table.

“I owe you—?it was a fantastic idea,” Alex said.

“Did you like it too?” she asked me. “Some people find it a bit too tall.”

I just sat there. What the hell was she doing?

“They overthink things, imagining risk where there isn’t any. You’re more likely to be hit by a train than fall off that thing.” Nicki smirked.

I’d told her at the airport I feared heights. She found ways to use everything I’d ever said. It was as if she could see into my brain.

Nicki shook her glass, the ice rattling at the bottom. Then she slowly wrapped her mouth around the straw, drawing in her cheeks as she drank the last of the liquid from the bottom. “I think I’ve sucked this dry,” she said, with a wink at Alex. And then she licked her lips.

My hands underneath the table clenched into tight fists.

Alex flushed. “I’ll get you another.” He took a few steps away and then came back to my side. “Sorry—?did you want anything, Kim?” He motioned to my half-empty glass.

I managed to shake my head and waited until he was gone. Then I grabbed Nicki by the arm, yanking her close. “So now your name is Erin?”

She shrugged and then picked my fingers off her sleeve. “He’s adorable, by the way. Geek chic. I kept seeing you together, out and about, and I said to myself, Now, that right there might be what has Kim all aflutter. I made a point to meet him.”

“Leave him alone,” I hissed.

“Are you afraid I’m going to steal him away?” She let her mouth curl up and then patted my hand. “Don’t worry, he’s crazy about you. He makes moon eyes when your name comes up—?I swear. It’s the cutest thing ever. Is this why you haven’t had your eye on the ball?”