She leaned back on her chair and let her eyes wander over every inch of him that she could see. His skin glistened with the heat of the evening sun. His T-shirt hugged his torso and she could see his muscle definition underneath. She could also see the chain he wore around his neck going into his T-shirt and a pendant of some kind under the surface. It was still so warm and now her drink was too. Jasmine stood up and went inside to pour herself another vodka and Coke, but this time she put some ice in it. She needed to cool herself down and she felt like a third wheel anyway.

‘You OK?’ Tim asked. She turned around to find he was standing behind her.

‘Do you always sneak around like that?’

‘You have no idea,’ he said with a hint of menace. This was the first time all evening Jasmine had felt like he was focused on her and it made her uncomfortable. She hunched forward a little to make her chest seem smaller. He swayed a little, leaning forward. She could feel his breath against her forehead. She glanced up and their eyes connected for a moment. She had never been very good at reading the opposite sex, her history with Mr Morrell had proved that, but looking at Tim right now, there was an anger in him that scared her, even when he was being nice.

He seemed surprised at the way she looked at him. He pulled back and looked down apologetically. Maybe he sensed her fear, or maybe it was something else, but he stepped away, the connection broken.

‘Can I get you something?’ she asked, eager for him to go back outside. There was a part of her that just wanted to be the wallflower.

‘Just checking you’re OK. Your parents will kill me if anything happens to you.’ He reverted to the nice Tim he was in front of her parents, pretending to be someone he wasn’t. She knew there was something else under there, though. Something inside him that he wanted to stay hidden; she had just seen a flicker of it.

‘You’re not the babysitter and I’m not a baby.’

‘Hey, I didn’t say that. Just pace yourself, OK? You’re knocking that vodka back pretty quickly.’

‘What do you think my parents would do if I told them you were getting me high in the garden?’

He thought for a moment and then before he spoke, he wet his lips with the tip of his tongue. ‘I trust you not to say anything, just like I didn’t say anything about you and that teacher the night of the fair.’

‘Do you like Felicity?’

‘She’s funny. I like her fine.’