‘I don’t think you’ll have to worry about the greasy part,’ Mark replied, settling on a takeaway place with the third-highest rating. ‘Here you go.’

He watched her as she chose something on the menu and handed the phone back to him. Mark went for something similar and paid for it quickly. ‘I best get dressed.’

‘So, were you deciding whether or not to call me?’

Mark paused, boxers on but trousers still halfway down his legs. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Outside, when you were sitting in the car for five minutes. Was that what you were trying to decide?’

‘No… well… yeah, I guess you caught me. Only because I didn’t know if I should, you know?’

He managed to get his trousers up but couldn’t see his socks anywhere. Probably balled up at the end of his bed. Or on the landing. He couldn’t remember taking them off now. He was just glad that he had.

‘That’s okay, I know we’ve been moving a bit more quickly lately. I just wondered if the line you gave me at the start was real or not.’

‘What line?’

‘The whole shy thing,’ Natasha said, waving it off as she spoke, as if it didn’t matter. ‘I suppose I just wasn’t sure if you were telling the truth or not.’

Mark grimaced, his teeth coming together and grinding against each other. ‘It wasn’t a line. And things aren’t moving too quick. I would have called. Eventually. It just takes me a bit of time. Courage and that.’

‘It’s fine, honestly, I get it. I’m just used to men who look the way you do being overly confident. Arrogant, even. It’s not often you see someone who has everything together but doesn’t realise it.’

‘Now you’re just trying to make me blush.’

Natasha laughed and it filled the room. ‘Maybe so. Doesn’t mean I’m not right though.’

‘You’re… you’re really good-looking too, you know.’

Mark waited for Natasha to respond, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she smiled at him then left him to put on more clothes. He heard her going downstairs.

That time, he was sure he’d said the right thing.

He found her sitting in his living room, legs tucked underneath her on the sofa. He stood in the doorway, unsure what to do next. Would she want to cuddle? They hadn’t really done much of that but he’d like to. He wanted to know if they were boyfriend and girlfriend in her mind, as they were in his. He hated that there was no way of knowing these things without asking.

‘Stop hovering and sit down,’ Natasha said, making the decision for him. Mark made his way into the room proper and perched on the edge of the sofa next to her.