Torn between feeling guilty for allowing himself to get sucked in by her, and angry with his dad for thinking he was the kind of man who would force himself on a woman, Evan decided to go home to try to sort things out with Marie. He only hoped she’d missed him enough to let him in, because it was too late to turn up at any of his mates’ houses, and way too cold to spend the night in the car. Then, tomorrow, when he’d had some sleep and calmed down, he would go back to his dad’s and apologize – even though he genuinely didn’t believe he’d done anything wrong.

Marie’s car was parked on the drive when Evan reached the house an hour later, and he could see a light flickering behind the bedroom curtains. Guessing that she must have fallen asleep watching TV when he rang the bell a couple of times and got no answer, he slotted his key into the lock.

He’d half expected her to have changed the locks, or at least put the bolt on, so it came as a surprise when the door opened. Evan stepped inside and wrinkled his nose as the stench of dog hit him in the face. Almost immediately, the landing light came on, and Marie appeared at the top of the stairs, her hair all over the place, her sleep-swollen eyes wide with fear.

‘Who is it?’ she yelled.

‘It’s me,’ he said. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.’

‘Who said you could let yourself in?’ she demanded, clomping down the stairs. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, you don’t live here any more.’

‘I rang the bell, but you didn’t answer,’ Evan said, pushing the dog’s snout away when it rushed down behind her and started sniffing his legs.

‘I was sleeping.’ She glared at him. ‘It’s two o’clock in the fucking morning, so what the hell are you doing here? Did you think you’d catch me with another man and use it as an excuse to take the house off me, or something?’

‘I’d never do that,’ he assured her, closing the door. ‘I want to talk, that’s all.’

‘Oh, I see . . .’ Her eyes narrowed and she gave him a knowing look. ‘She’s kicked you out, hasn’t she?’

‘There is no she. I’ve been at my dad’s.’

‘So you say.’

‘It’s true. And he’s spent the entire week telling me to stop being stupid and come home.’

‘As if!’ Marie gave a snort of disbelief. ‘He hates my guts, so he’ll have been made up that you left me.’

‘I didn’t leave, you chucked me out,’ Evan reminded her. ‘And he doesn’t hate you, he just doesn’t like the way we treat each other – and neither do I.’