‘Take my advice: be safe but have fun. Enjoy this time, because believe me it passes too soon. And then you get older and it gets even more complicated.’

The way his voice trailed off and the grim expression that had taken over his face made her wonder about Becca, about their marriage.

‘Right, I’m going to drop you home now,’ he said. ‘Do you feel up to that?’

She nodded and he started the engine and eased the Merc out on to the road.

‘You should talk to your mum about this,’ he suggested.

‘Are you crazy? There’s no way.’

‘Well, how about your dad then?’

‘My dad would have an aneurysm if he knew what just happened.’

Silence fell between them as the car moved in and out of pools of light thrown by the streetlamps. Her uneasiness fell away as she became distracted by the distorted light, the way it flashed across the bonnet of the car. Her legs stretched out into the footwell, warm air blowing around her knees and calves, quietening the shivering in her limbs. The car smelt of something minty, the dashboard was empty, the cabin scrupulously clean. She allowed herself to sneak the occasional glance at Ross, taking in the heft of his shoulders bunched in his sports jacket, the gleam of his head. There was something honest about his baldness, like he had nothing to hide. She imagined what it would feel like to place her hands on it, a charged sensation running through her at the thought.

‘What did you tell Becca when I rang?’ she asked as the car slowed and came to a halt at the side of the street.

‘I told her it was one of the lads from the Rugby Club needing a lift.’

He had turned off the engine and was looking at her now.

He lied to his wife for me, she thought.

There was something dangerous in the air between them as they approached goodbye.

‘I’m sorry for calling you. But I didn’t know who else to ask.’

‘That’s okay.’

‘I knew you’d come for me.’

‘You did?’