‘Come on, Edie! Wouldn’t it be nice to do something that was just our little secret? Something that would immortalise us and this summer forever.’

I rolled my eyes at him again at first, but there was something in the way that he was talking that got me.

‘OK, but you can’t do a handprint; it’s not the Hollywood Walk of Fame, you know. Plus, it’s way too obvious. Let’s do something subtle.’ I bent down next to him and I placed my thumb in the edge of the cement.

‘Oh, sneaky, OK,’ he said, and he overlapped my imprint with his.

I turned my head to the side to look at what we’d done. It looked like a heart, but I was too embarrassed to say; I didn’t want him to think that I was reading too much into it.

We got back on our feet and we walked to our accommodation block.

‘So, goodnight,’ said Joel, leaning over and giving me a long hug goodbye. I wanted to kiss him, or to at least grab his arm to stop him from walking away, but I didn’t. I watched him go up to his floor and then I went into my flat, cursing myself.

I could hear Soph giggling from her room and I hurried into mine after a quick brush of my teeth and I slipped into my pyjamas. I got into bed just as the giggling morphed into moaning. I pulled the pillow over my head, but it did nothing to drown out the sound.

I thought of Joel in the bed upstairs and I picked up my phone and texted him.

Me:

Things are pretty noisy down here with Soph and Green Eyes. I don’t suppose I could sleep on your floor?

Joel:

Yes. Come on up.

I slipped a cardigan round me and took my pillow before I crept up the stairs; I didn’t want anyone to know what I was doing. Joel held the door open for me when I arrived and I hurried into his room. I was embarrassed seeing him in his tight boxers, despite the fact that I’d spent most of the summer seeing him in swimming trunks. I should have been used to seeing his torso, but in that moment it felt different.

‘I’ll just sleep on the floor,’ I said.

‘Don’t be silly, you can sleep in the bed. There’s plenty of room for the both of us.’

‘Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to impose.’

‘You wouldn’t be.’

I knew he was probably just being a gentleman, but I was hoping it was a sign he felt the same way.

We climbed into bed and he pushed the cover towards me making sure that it was covering us equally.

‘Quieter?’

‘Much,’ I said.