Sam took another glug on his pint. ‘I felt so guilty when she said that which was, of course, exactly what she wanted. And the reason I felt so guilty was because it’s true. Unexpectedly, I have moved on. I’ll always love Nikki and I’ll never forget her but I’ve met someone else recently and I can’t stop thinking about her.’

My stomach flipped again and I felt my heart race. I didn’t mean to say it, but the word just popped out. ‘Who?’

That intense look was there again. ‘You, Jemma.’

I knew that’s what he was going to say. Hoped, even.

Time seemed to slow down. The chatter, laughter and clinks of glasses faded into the background and it felt like there were just the two of us in a bubble on our own as he waited for my reaction, an expression of hope tinged with fear in his eyes.

Like a movie montage, key moments from our brief acquaintance flashed through my mind – the first time I saw him in The George and Dragon, huddled over his pint and looking lost, his kindness in reassuring me about Mum, his calming influence when Mum went AWOL, his welcome presence when Drew lost it over Luukas, and laughing hysterically as he drove me home in the campervan.

The butterflies in my stomach swooped and soared as I imagined all the times he’d held me and how safe I’d felt in his arms. And I thought about that moment on the beach before Kirsty appeared and that daydream I’d had of him kissing me – the one that had continually nudged at me until I’d admitted to myself that I hadn’t just looked up to ask him how he was feeling.

But he’d run off. He’d got spooked. How could I be sure he wasn’t going to do that again if I admitted I had some tentative feelings for him too? Then where would I be? Last Sunday had been bad enough. I wasn’t daft. I knew exactly why he’d fled. There’d been a definite moment of chemistry and, if Kirsty hadn’t appeared, the kiss would have been reality instead of a daydream.

It took nearly an hour to compose that enormous text to him. I’d wavered between admitting I’d felt something and running a mile from it before settling on the path of least humiliation and emphasising that we were just friends. My main objective had been not to lose him from my life. And not just because of Mum.

‘Say something. Please,’ he urged.