I matched his gaze, searching his face for the answer to a question I wasn’t sure I’d asked.

‘This is what you call a birthday party?’

Almost three hours late and carrying a white cardboard box in his arms, Patrick appeared at the top of the stairs.

‘You’re here!’ I cried, jumping to my feet. ‘I thought you weren’t coming.’

‘I’m so sorry, I got caught up in work and lost track of the time,’ he said as my heart thudded in my chest. The drink, the staring contest, the Patrick of it all. It was too much. ‘Where is everyone? Did I miss dinner?’

‘They’ve gone and you did,’ I said, breathless. He pressed his lips to mine, catching the side of my mouth as he turned his head at the last moment to look at John.

‘Oh, um, Patrick, this is Sumi’s friend, John. John, this is Patrick.’ I touched the side of my lips with my fingers, covering up our almost kiss. It was always awkward to have an audience.

‘You must be the boyfriend,’ John said, holding out his hand without standing up.

‘John runs the bar,’ I added before Patrick could answer.

‘Owns the bar,’ he corrected from his seat.

‘Nice place,’ Patrick replied, ignoring John’s hand and turning his attention back to me. ‘I can’t believe I missed the party, I brought cupcakes as well.’

He placed the big white pastry box on the table and opened it up to reveal a rainbow of sugary goodness.

‘This is what happens when I try to make a good impression,’ he said, showing off his easy smile. ‘They really went home already? Even Sumi?’

‘See?’ I said, grinning at John. ‘I told you! This is very out of character for her.’

He replied with a short, sharp shrug. ‘I wouldn’t say that. Yes, Sumi likes a drink but she also likes to be in bed before Love Island.’

‘Sumi doesn’t watch Love Island,’ I scoffed before doubt softened my voice. ‘Does she?’

‘I can’t believe I came all this way and they’re not even here,’ Patrick said with a groan, flipping the lid of the box up and down. ‘What are we going to do with all these bloody cupcakes? Even you couldn’t eat all of them.’

‘That’s what you think. I could take care of more of them than would make you comfortable,’ I promised. ‘Seriously, at first you’d be impressed, but by the end of it you’d just be worried about my blood sugar levels.’

‘I don’t want you to eat yourself into type two diabetes, I can’t stand needles. How about we leave them here?’ he suggested, pushing the box towards John. ‘You can give them out to the staff, if you’d like?’

‘Very generous of you,’ John replied. ‘Why don’t you take a photo of them to send to Sumi?’