Girls Night Out 3 E-Book Bundle. Gemma Burgess

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      As I walk down the stairs, I try to ignore the tiny thrill from (a) going to a club I’ve never been to before (b) going to a club at all because Peter and I never ever did and (c) skipping the queue.

      A few intrepid smokers are down in the courtyard, risking the rain.

      ‘I hope I get a thank you for that,’ says the same voice, and I look up into the eyes of a rather handsome blonde guy smoking a cigarette.

      ‘Thank you,’ I say. ‘That was you?’

      ‘Indeed,’ he nods. He talks like Roger Moore, sort of posh and knowing. ‘Cigarette?’ Why not. ‘Imma isn’t the friendliest, but that’s her job.’

      ‘I bet she’s a real bleeding heart the rest of the time,’ I nod, trying to smoke coolly and ignore the headrush.

      ‘Oh, she is,’ he says. ‘Nurses a sick grandmother. Adopts kittens. The works.’

      ‘I should get her number. We could hang out.’

      He grins. ‘I’m Toby, by the way.’

      ‘Abigail.’

      We smile at each other. I’m enjoying this, somehow I feel far less nervous than usual. All I have to do is maintain steady eye contact and not babble.

      The rain intensifies, and Toby pulls an umbrella out of his blazer pocket.

      ‘You were a Boy Scout, weren’t you,’ I say, arching an eyebrow.

      ‘Well, I tried to be a Brownie, but they wouldn’t let me. Bastards,’ he says sadly. I can’t help but smirk. (Darn, flirting is easy tonight!) ‘So, Miss Abigail. What brings you here?’ he asks.

      ‘My friends are inside,’ I reply. ‘We were at a party earlier but I had to tend to someone who was unexpectedly taken drunk. I mean, ill.’

      Toby grins. ‘I hate it when my friends do that. Let them sleep on the street, I say. Teaches them a lesson.’

      I nod. I don’t know what else to say, so I think I’ll end the conversation. How’s that for detached? ‘Well, I’d better go and find everyone,’ I say, stubbing out my cigarette. ‘Thanks again for the door help. And the cigarette.’

      ‘My pleasure,’ he says.

      I walk away, not looking back. I am bulletproof. Hell yeah.

      Once I’m inside, it doesn’t take long to find everyone.

      ‘AbiGAY!’

      Ah. Henry and Plum are standing near the bar in a big group of people that I recognise from the Hollywood Arms earlier.

      ‘What the fuck happened to you?’ says Plum. ‘We thought you’d been kidnapped.’

      ‘Sorry,’ I say apologetically. ‘Robert needed to be taken home.’

      ‘Are you sexing your flatmate?’ asks Henry loudly.

      ‘No,’ I say. ‘And that’s not a verb, Henry.’

      ‘I thought verbs were doing words,’ he replies. ‘And sex is a DOING word.’ He turns to high-five one of his rugby friends.

      ‘What have I missed, then?’ I say, rolling my eyes as I turn back to Plum. At about midnight, Henry always goes from puppy to smutty. I glance quickly around the bar, lock eyes with Rich, and nod in greeting. He looks like he expects me to go over and say hi, but I’m quite happy here for now. If he wants to talk to me, I suddenly realise, he’ll come over. Then my attention is taken by Plum telling me all about Dan, the cute guy she was talking to at the party earlier.

      ‘He’s from Yorkshire! Can you believe it? And he asked for my number, so I gave it to him,’ finishes Plum proudly, and then pauses. ‘Not like that.’

      ‘Good for you,’ I say. ‘Bulletproof!’

      ‘I know!’ says Plum. ‘We haven’t spoken in over an hour, though. Maybe I should go and find him and talk to him some more,’ she adds worriedly. ‘What if he finds someone he likes more than me?’

      She never used to be like this. Where did this insecurity come from? Years of disappointing singledom, comes the answer right back. ‘Don’t stalk him. Do a lap of the club, and if you see him, grin or raise an eyebrow, but don’t stop. Go straight to the bar. I bet Dan follows you and starts talking to you.’

      ‘Who made you the queen of pulling?’ says Plum.

      I do sound extremely sure of myself. And I feel it, too. How strange. I shrug. ‘What have you got to lose?’

      ‘Absolutely nothing,’ says Plum cheerfully. ‘Back in five.’ Hmm.

      I think I’ve just learned how to be single.

      I look around the bar, make eye contact with Rich, raise an eyebrow, and then turn back to my drink. I bet you five pounds he comes over within 10 seconds.

      ‘I hope you came back to the party just to see me,’ says a voice five seconds later. I look up at Rich, stifling a victorious grin. Ha! ‘But I wouldn’t be so egotistical as to assume so.’

      ‘Humble, yes, that’s how I’d describe you,’ I nod. ‘So are you learning Cantonese for Hong Kong?’

      ‘Come on, everyone knows other languages don’t actually exist,’ he says conspiratorially. ‘We go travelling and hear them speaking Italian and Japanese and so on, but the minute we turn our backs they’re all talking in good old English. It’s all pretend!’

      I smile at him. He’s very cute.

      ‘I like your hair,’ I say thoughtfully. ‘You look like Henry will when he’s a big boy.’

      Rich smiles at me and leans forward, and for a second I think he’s going to kiss me, when out of the corner of my eye I see Plum returning from her lap around the club, and quickly turn my head to watch her. To the outside observer, she’s another leggy, nonchalant girl wandering to the bar. But I can tell that she’s melting inside, thinking Dan hasn’t followed her. Fuck it, I think, sighing. I want to fix things for her.

      ‘Plum!’ shouts a voice, and Plum and I both turn and see Dan striding over towards her. ‘There you are. Can I buy you a drink?’

      Yes! I want to punch the air. I am the singledom coach! I am the love sage! Move over, Robert!

      ‘Love Is A Battlefield’ comes on, and I look up at Rich and grin. ‘If you’ll excuse me . . . I need to watch your brother dance to this song,’ I say.

      Henry likes Pat Benetar. No, Henry loves Pat Benetar. And he has a handful of dance moves (the Shopping Trolley, the Sprinkler, the Reverse Park, the Tennis Serve, the Ear Cleaner and the Cake Mix) that I love. He and I also have a special dance move called The Fisherman, where he pretends to have a fishing rod and I pretend to be a fish and have to get hooked from across the dance floor; and the Skipping Rope, where another person and I mime СКАЧАТЬ