Distracted By You: Book 1 in The Exeter Running Girls Series, стр. 21

By the time I walked into Tye’s flat in the city centre, I was fuming. If I could have seen either of my parents that day, they would have been stood on the wrong end of the most outrageous hissy fit.

“Whoa, you alright?” Tye stepped back as I walked into the open plan kitchen and living room. It was a nice place, smart, must have been pricey.

“Fine,” I lied. I had been breathing heavy all afternoon. A bit like a cartoon bull breathing smoke through his nostrils before charging the matador.

Sam and Savannah walked out of the corridor that led to the bedrooms and stopped laughing when they saw my face set like thunder.

“Who died?” Sam joked, pointing to my obvious mood. Tye was not stood so far behind me that I couldn’t see his sudden hand gesture to Sam to shut the hell up.

“Sam, you’re an idiot,” Savannah didn’t mind putting it straight into words – she elbowed him sharply in the stomach. She must be a strong girl as the muscle man doubled up as if in pain. “Ivy, girl, what do you need?” She stepped forward and collected me from my position at the back of the settee, dragging me to sit down as she held my hands. “Chocolate, alcohol, cake, tv or clubbing? Each of them are infallible recipes for feeling better about something shit.”

“There’s one other thing you forgot to mention that could do the same,” Sam walked past and narrowly missed another elbow from Savannah.

“You need to forget whatever it is that’s on your mind,” she wriggled my hands in the air. “Pick one?”

I looked back at Tye who was stood with his arms folded, his face quite unreadable.

“Can I pick more than one?” I suddenly dreamed of forgetting all my troubles. Ignoring my mum and dad, ignoring Kyle, forgetting about the ladybugs.

“You can pick as many as you want,” Tye turned to the kitchen and rifled through one of the cupboards, coming back seconds later with a box of chocolates. “We keep this for such emergencies, and I think this was the first on the list.”

“How about all of them?” I smiled for the first time that day.

Between the four of us, the box of chocolates hadn’t lasted very long, just about as far as pre-drinks. When ten o’clock came round, Tye had drank too much to drive so we called a taxi to take us to the Circle, one of the cheesiest clubs in town. Tye paid for my share of the taxi, not to mention most of my drinks too.

The Circle was having a nineties evening, playing all the songs from the years we were born. Most of my memories from the night were of Savannah and I dancing in the centre of the floor. Probably swaying from drink more than attempting to dance. After our particularly out-of-tune rendition of Manic Monday, we headed back to the guys by the bar. They were laughing about something, so I took advantage of the distraction and snatched a shot from Tye’s hand, downing it just as he realised what had happened.

“Can you still remember why you were upset?” He leaned down into my ear so I could hear him above the music, tickling my neck with his short hair.

“No,” I lied. I knew exactly why I was upset, but the smile on my face was real, so there was no point in ruining a good time. I was enjoying the distraction, the pursuit of a great night rather than wallowing in sadness and as Tye prised the shot glass back from my hand to replace on the bar top, my imagination went wandering. I’m fairly certain my eyes were undressing him too – I was certainly thinking of what he would look like not wearing so much. Fortunately, Savannah gave me a light elbow to stop before he turned back and could notice. “Don’t you two dance?” I asked the guys who exchanged dark looks at the mere suggestion.

“I only dance with her,” Sam pointed to Savannah, much to her delight.

“Then come dance,” she spoke seductively before pulling him towards the floor. They disappeared easily between the mass of people.

“And you?” I turned back to Tye, a little bob in my step with hope.

“Rarely.”

The music suddenly turned up in volume, making any snippet of conversation impossible. Some people covered their ears briefly before the drink could dull the pain.

I took Tye’s arm and tried to pull him away from the bar towards the dance floor, but he planted his feet into the ground. I was determined to continue my fun night, with him. I pulled again, but still he didn’t move. I wasn’t going to give up so easily. Indulging in my fantasies of being alone with him, dancing with him, suddenly sounded like the best idea Tipsy Ivy had ever had. Was that so bad?

He shook his head, his dark eyes barely visible in the navy blue and dark purple lighting.

I dropped my hand down his arm and laced our fingers together, trying one more time to pull him towards the dancers. This time, he followed.

I remember finding a space on the floor and as the music shifted tempo, we began moving together, his hands trained on my waist.

My eyes felt grainy and heavy when I tried to blink them open. I wiped the sleep dust from my eyelids and looked up to see my face covered by a duvet. A grey duvet cover?

That was not my bedding! I pushed the duvet off my face and sharply sat up to look around, but I hadn’t noticed just how close to the edge of the bed I’d been – my butt slipped off the side and I fell on my back off