Cora laughed, and Frazer felt a glow in her chest at the sound. Tia simply snorted.

Frazer followed behind Cora and Tia, keys in hand. Cora was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans that hugged everything nicely. As she always did, she looked put together, beautiful, a fact that had definitely left annoying months ago and had wound up all the way at enthralling.

Damn Jemma and Meg for getting inside her head.

As Frazer locked up the front shutter, Cora asked Tia, “Point Bar, down the road?”

“Sure.” Tia answered. “Frazer?”

As always, she had to jiggle the key to get it out of the lock. “Sounds good.”

She and Cora stepped left, while Tia started walking right.

“Uh—Tia! Bar’s this way.” Frazer pointed, just to make sure she got it.

Tia turned, cocking her head to watch them. “I know.”

“Didn’t you want to go for a drink?” Frazer asked.

“I never said that. I have a hubby waiting for me at home. Figure out your stuff!” Tia gave them a cheerful wave and walked off.

Cora turned to Frazer, brow furrowed. “Did we just get played by Tia? Again?”

That woman was a genius. “We really did.”

They stood for a moment, watching each other as evening traffic passed them just meters away.

“Did you want to get a drink?” Frazer asked.

Cora nodded. “Yeah, sure.” Frazer made to keep walking, but stopped when Cora added, “As what, Frazer?”

“What do you mean?”

Frazer knew what she meant. But she didn’t want a conversation which could be misinterpreted. She didn’t want to go home wondering what Cora had really wanted to say. She didn’t want to kick herself for saying the wrong thing. Frazer was tired of swimming herself into a stupor, going home, and then still playing over their last conversation in the canteen—or, lately, their conversations at the clinic, which felt lingering and too fast all at the same time.

“Are we going as friends?”

Ever so slightly, Frazer felt her shoulders sag. If that was what Cora wanted, she could go along with that. She had been for months. She’d been kidding herself when Cora took the position that they were just friends again. But Frazer was happy, and the clinic and her friends could be enough. “Yeah. Friends.”

“I don’t want to be friends, Frazer.”

For a moment, it felt as if Cora had slapped her. But then her tone sank in, the soft look in her eye. Everything slowed around her and Frazer, tired of always waiting, took a step towards her.

That was all they needed. Cora was stepping into Frazer’s space, taking up all of her air and running soft fingertips down her cheek. Her eyes were deep, watching Frazer’s every movement. There was no hesitation in Cora’s movements, no trepidation.