I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened between us if Soph hadn’t interrupted us.

‘There’s Elizabeth coming back,’ he said, peering over the balcony. ‘You better get Soph inside.’

He ushered us in to our flat and shut the door behind us. I barely had time to whisper a goodbye. Soph headed straight for my bed and after stealing the pillows off hers I climbed in beside her. I could hear the sounds of Elizabeth’s laughter through the cardboard-thin walls. I knew that she was talking to Joel and I felt the jealousy rise up inside me. I remembered Douglas teasing Joel about her fancying him. I tried to cling onto the moment we’d just had in his bed, but lying in mine, wide awake, I couldn’t help but feel so vulnerable. It was like he held my heart in his hands and had the power to cause it more happiness than I could ever imagine or to shatter it into a million tiny pieces.

Chapter 20

A faint knocking sound wakes me from my sleep. The bed feels unfamiliar and the room even more so and in my groggy state my brain’s slow to realise that I’m at the lodge at Hartland’s.

‘Joel?’ I rub my eyes, wondering what’s going on.

‘Hey, you’re awake,’ he calls through the door.

‘Are you OK? Did you want to come in?’ I pull the sheets close around me.

‘Are you decent?’

‘Always.’

The door opens and he pokes his head round the side and I blush when I see him. Nothing happened between us last night. After our dancing at the disco, we’d come home, and gone almost straight to our respective bedrooms, but as I lay in bed, I couldn’t help but think of that summer. I kept replaying over and over all the memories I have of me and Joel. Last night, our slow dance reminded me of the connection we once had, and since then I’ve been struggling against its pull.

‘What time is it?’ I ask.

‘Quarter to five.’

‘In the morning? What’s wrong? Is Douglas OK?’

His hair is sticking up in different directions and he tries to flatten it down.

‘No messages and it’s still going straight to answer phone. I’m thinking he got drunk at the station in London and went home.’

‘Sounds likely.’

‘Yeah, I’ll try him later on.’

‘So if it’s not Douglas, why the need to wake me up so early?’

‘I thought we’d go and see the sunrise.’

‘As nice as that sounds, I’m pretty comfortable here. Besides, you’ve seen one sunrise, you’ve practically seen them all.’

I slam my head back down on the pillow. I’d been worried about Douglas but now that I don’t need to get up, I’m more than happy to roll back over.