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Back Afterlove Save as PDF
Chapters (86)
  1. Title Page
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Love
  4. Before
  5. One
  6. ONE
  7. Two
  8. TWO
  9. Three
  10. THREE
  11. Four
  12. FOUR
  13. Five
  14. FIVE
  15. Six
  16. SIX
  17. Seven
  18. SEVEN
  19. Eight
  20. EIGHT
  21. Nine
  22. NINE
  23. Ten
  24. TEN
  25. Eleven
  26. ELEVEN
  27. After
  28. One
  29. ONE
  30. Two
  31. TWO
  32. Three
  33. THREE
  34. Four
  35. FOUR
  36. Five
  37. FIVE
  38. Six
  39. SIX
  40. Seven
  41. SEVEN
  42. Eight
  43. EIGHT
  44. Nine
  45. NINE
  46. Ten
  47. TEN
  48. Eleven
  49. ELEVEN
  50. Twelve
  51. TWELVE
  52. Thirteen
  53. THIRTEEN
  54. Fourteen
  55. FOURTEEN
  56. Fifteen
  57. FIFTEEN
  58. Sixteen
  59. SIXTEEN
  60. Seventeen
  61. SEVENTEEN
  62. Eighteen
  63. EIGHTEEN
  64. Nineteen
  65. NINETEEN
  66. Twenty
  67. TWENTY
  68. Twenty-One
  69. TWENTY-ONE
  70. Twenty-Two
  71. TWENTY-TWO
  72. Twenty-Three
  73. TWENTY-THREE
  74. Twenty-Four
  75. TWENTY-FOUR
  76. Twenty-Five
  77. TWENTY-FIVE
  78. Twenty-Six
  79. TWENTY-SIX
  80. Twenty-Seven
  81. TWENTY-SEVEN
  82. Twenty-Eight
  83. TWENTY-EIGHT
  84. Eleven Months Later
  85. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  86. Copyright

Rosh was supposed to call when they were leaving Aunty Lalita’s so I could get home in time.

What the hell happened?

When I check my messages, sure enough, there’s one from Rosh that she sent fifty-one minutes ago.

Phone on 1% and about to die so can’t call. Dad has a headache so we’re leaving the party now. GET HOME.

Followed by another one, a minute later.

Really hope you get this, Ash.

Bollocks.

I was so distracted by Poppy that I forgot to check my phone.

When I turn to look at her, she’s smiling grimly. ‘You got busted.’

‘Yep.’

‘But it’s New Year’s Eve,’ she reminds me with a pout. ‘It’s our year.’

‘I know.’ I sigh, getting to my feet then helping her up.

We’ve been sitting on her coat and when I reach down and pick it up off the pebbles, she puts it on with a determined frown. ‘You’re already in trouble, though. You may as well stay until midnight. It’s only . . .’ she stops to take her phone out of the pocket of her coat, ‘. . . 11:21. That’s, what, thirty-nine minutes?’

I’m tempted. When she says it like that it doesn’t feel like that big of a deal. I know what my parents are like, though: thirty-nine minutes now and I’ll pay for it for weeks.

She reaches for my hand and I immediately feel heavy with sadness. It’s our year and we’re starting it with me getting annihilated by my parents and no doubt grounded until the next one.

This is not how I wanted this evening to go. At all. I was going to kiss her at midnight, tell her that I love her, tell her that I told my mother about her, that she wants her to come for dinner in the New Year.

That’s not going to happen now, is it?

When she squeezes my hand, I look up to find her grinning. ‘Can I tell you a secret before you go?’

I grin back. ‘Always.’

She leans in and presses her mouth to my ear. ‘I was going to tell you that I love you at midnight.’

‘I love you too.’ The words are out before I can stop them, as though I can’t keep them in my mouth a moment longer. ‘I told my mum that I loved you before Christmas.’

Her eyes widen. They look almost neon blue in the dark. ‘You did?’

‘Yeah. The night we first, you know.’ I waggle my eyebrows.

‘You told your mother we had sex?’

‘Of course not!’ I shudder, horrified at the thought. ‘I told her about you.’

‘What did you tell her?’

‘That you were kind and smart and funny.’

‘And what did she say?’

‘She’s concerned about the vegan thing.’