I could have moved away, but I didn’t. Adam leaned forward and hesitated. Waiting for me to tell him to stop. To slow down. To speed up. But my objections, my desire, my logic and my desperate need to be touched were stuck in my throat.

His mouth feathered across mine and the world fell away. He tasted of sangria and kindness, and long after our kiss had ended, I kept my eyes closed to savour it. For one perfect moment I released my thoughts that whispered this was only temporary. That soon I’d have to let him go. That one day this would be packed away tightly in the memory box labelled ‘holiday romance’ – transient and meaningless.

Already, I didn’t want to be without him.

Chapter Six

Adam

Our time together had been a whirlwind. Since that first night on the beach when I’d kissed Anna, we had been inseparable. Josh and Nell were happy for us, they’d formed a friendship of their own so I was living out my very own romcom. We’d done all the touristy things: visited the volcano, the lava tunnel, the underground lake. We’d strolled hand in hand around the markets. We’d watched the sun rise and set. We’d talked about anything and everything, everything except the future. But more important than any of that, we’d laughed. Proper belly laughs that made my stomach muscles ache.

Every evening we’d eat together before retreating to the cove where we would lie on the sand, always touching. I loved that she was so tactile. Now, her leg was slung across mine, her fingers playing with the buttons on my shirt, her head on my shoulder. I told her about Roxanne. About the itch to travel the way my parents always had. Stories of when Josh and I were growing up and we’d made a hole in the fence between our gardens so we could slip through day or night, sharing comics and sweets. Later, cans of Strongbow and porn. She had laughed at that.

‘When I first met you and Josh, I didn’t get why you were friends – you both seemed so different – but I can see how much he means to you,’ she had said.

‘He’s family.’ I hadn’t told Anna about my parents, not wanting to evoke that look of pity, but we were almost at the end of our holiday and it seemed like the right time. ‘Nine years ago my parents moved to Australia.’

‘Without you?’ Her fingers tightened around mine. I could hardly bear to look at her face but when I did, I could see a desire to understand. Her eyes searching mine.

‘Yeah. Well, they wanted me to go with them. Dad’s family are from there and his dad wasn’t well. It’s too far to keep visiting so…’ I shrugged.