The side gate to the garden opened and Tim walked through holding a heavy-looking messenger bag which he put on the ground immediately as if to hide it from Jasmine. He looked surprised to see her in the kitchen but came to the door anyway. She hadn’t seen him since he’d looked up at her from the garden in the pouring rain; they hadn’t spoken since he’d whispered words of affection into her ears as they lay on her bed. Was he even going to try and explain himself?

He opened the door and stepped inside, looking through to the back of the house, presumably to check that she was alone. She had noticed he did that a lot. She was afraid to smile or be nice or anything. Which Tim was this?

‘How is your day going?’ he asked, his eyes boring into her, almost daring her to challenge him on what she had seen.

‘Felicity was asking after you. She’s got it bad,’ Jasmine said, partly to see how he reacted to the information and partly to make sure he knew she didn’t want to play his game.

‘Did you tell her? About us?’ he said, acknowledging what had happened between them. Was he just going to pretend that she hadn’t seen him in her parents’ bedroom? That wasn’t a dream, she knew it happened, and yet the way he was acting said otherwise. Either she was crazy or he was a very good liar.

‘No. I don’t want to make her feel bad.’

‘She didn’t mind making you feel bad.’

‘That’s on her. Where have you been?’ Jasmine nodded towards the bag on the ground.

He didn’t move his gaze once from her eyes and she found herself inhaling, preparing for a period of less air. She remembered kissing him and how it felt to have his lips on hers. He leaned towards her, stepping forward at the same time so she had no choice but to step back and rest her hands against the dining table. Standing so close to Jasmine, her only option was to lean right back and stare up at him. He didn’t kiss her immediately. She watched as the blues of his eyes moved slowly across her face. When his gaze finally reached her mouth, he moved towards her, his hot breath reaching her lips long before she felt his soft, wet lips on hers. She wanted to push him away but there was nowhere to go. Her heart thumped as she let it happen, scared to tell him no, hoping this would be enough.