“Have you done that at work before? I can’t say I’ve ever noticed.”

He elbows me and chortles, and I watch him affectionately. We’ve been friends since the day we met as green newbies, and I’ve never met anyone who seems less suited for the world of banking and investment. He’s perennially cheerful, laidback, and easygoing. He’s also extremely posh and would probably be at his happiest pottering around on his country estate with an equally posh wife and twenty kids running everywhere. However, his father decreed that he had to have a career, and Rupert drifted into finance. Luckily, he’s excellent at it. He’s got a genius for the markets.

He leans closer. “Eat your cake,” he murmurs. “Your scowl is attracting attention.”

I look up and find Charlie watching me anxiously while Harry hangs on him and shoots me a smug smile. Harry seems to think that by going out with Charlie he’s won some sort of contest with me. If I didn’t know how brilliant Charlie is, I’d have suspected Harry was with him to get back at me. As if we were still at school. But I know he’s mad on Charlie with the emphasis on the word mad.

He’s obsessed with Charlie’s looks to the extent that he ignores everything else that makes Charlie brilliant. And, yes, Charlie has a face that makes people take second and third looks, with high wide cheekbones and full lips and all that hair. But his face is also full of kindness and an easy acceptance, and that’s the true source of his beauty. It certainly brings all the boys to his yard.

I also have the unpleasant knowledge that if it came down to a competition between Harry and me with Charlie, then Harry would win. I’d found that out when I voiced my opinion of him too loudly, and Charlie had turned on me.

People might think that Charlie’s soft and gentle, and he’s certainly all that, but he’s also the most loyal person you can meet. Of course, the person to whom he’s most loyal is his boyfriend—a fact that, as his best friend, was hard for me take. It had been a horrible realisation that one day someone would take my special place at his side, and I’d be relegated to the support acts.

“Hello, Harry,” says Jesse over-enthusiastically. “I haven’t seen you since quiz night at the King’s Head.” Zeb nudges him, and Jesse obviously recalls that it was the night that Charlie and I had the stand-up row at the bar about Harry. “Such a nice night amongst good friends,” he says vaguely, and Zeb snorts.

“Harry,” I say in a smooth voice. “How lovely to see you.” I pause. “In my flat. And not at work. With your shoes off. Getting comfortable. In my flat.”