It was almost lunchtime the next time she woke up. She still felt anxious and disappointed, but she was also a little hungry so she went down into the kitchen. There was no sign of Tim anywhere, which was a relief, but she could see that he had been up already. The garden was marked up and he had begun digging a hole for a resistance pool. After her dad’s surgery, the doctor had told him that swimming would be a good way to stay fit. They didn’t have room in the old garden for anything like this but at their new house there was space for a modest pool. There was a half-drunk glass of water resting on the garden wall so she knew he was around somewhere. Jasmine opened the fridge and looked at the contents; nothing really appealed to her so she grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl instead. There was a knock on the French doors and she looked up to see Tim standing outside, looking down at his feet. That familiar feeling washed over her like an uninvited wave. Something about the way he stood made her swallow hard. She didn’t want to open the door, but she did anyway.

‘What is it?’ she said bluntly; she didn’t really want to talk to him. She was still angry, still disappointed.

‘Just checking that you’re OK.’

‘Felicity left if that’s who you’re looking for.’

‘It isn’t. I was looking for you.’

‘Well, I’m fine; I don’t need you to check up on me.’

‘Your dad called and asked me to check in on you. He said he called the house earlier and you didn’t answer.’

‘He wouldn’t have asked you to check on me if he knew what kind of guy you are,’ Jasmine said, surprised by the words that came out of her mouth. She was never confrontational but there was something about his demeanour that she couldn’t lie to. She could say what she liked to him. Especially now that she wasn’t concerned with impressing him anymore.

‘I’m not a bad person. You’ve got me all wrong,’ he said with a heavy sigh.

‘Why her? Why not me? You said you saw the way I look at you which makes me think you were trying to hurt my feelings.’

‘I like you more than I like her,’ he said, confusing her.

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means yesterday, with Felicity, didn’t mean anything. Is that all you want from me? A quick fumble in the garden?’

‘Am I supposed to be grateful that you used my friend to get off?’

‘We can do that if you want, Jasmine. A quick one and done. Is that what you want?’

He moved in closer and she tilted her head back a little, the gap between them closing. She felt so small when he was close to her.

‘No.’