Bruno helped him out, before being pushed aside by Marie. ‘What is wrong with you?’ she shouted in his face. ‘You could have killed yourself!’

‘You were the ones who wanted me to swim,’ Simon said with a broad grin. ‘The last dip of the year – isn’t that what you said?’ This was directed at Alex, who was standing a short distance away with his arms folded. It was one of their standard jokes, but Simon regretted it as soon as he’d closed his mouth.

When Alex didn’t respond, Joe shone the torch right in his face. ‘Looks as if someone’s braver than you, Mr Alpha Male!’

‘Fuck off!’ Alex raised his hand to avoid being dazzled, and turned away.

Tanya came running down the track, pushed in between Bruno and Marie, and immediately made Simon forget about Alex’s bad mood.

‘You did it! How fucking cool was that!’

She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. She tasted sweet, of weed and something else, something exciting that made Simon pull her close. This was his second kiss in ten minutes, and coupled with the adrenaline kick from the jump, he felt as if his head was about to explode.

There was a brief embarrassing silence as the others looked away – except for Joe, who moved the spotlight onto the couple as they kissed with increasing intensity, as if he was encouraging everyone else to watch.

‘Congratulations to Simon, this evening’s winner,’ Joe said in a voice dripping with irony. ‘Many thanks to all those of you who took part, and goodnight!’

Tanya removed one hand from Simon’s neck and gave Joe the finger, then finished off the kiss.

‘Let’s get you out of those wet clothes,’ she said to Simon, taking him by the hand and heading up the track. Simon felt as if his face was frozen in a huge grin.

‘I’m so cold,’ he heard Marie say just before they left. She sounded pathetic.