At the casino, we arranged ourselves into the same overstuffed gold and pink lounges we always occupied. I sat on Tom’s lap, even though I probably didn’t need to, even though it made Nic wrinkle his nose in disgust. I wanted to be closer to him, to savour the feeling of his hand on my waist, mine locked around his neck. Nic told him story after story, some of them silly and pointless and others ending with some nice thing I’d done or some way I’d saved his arse at work and I could tell he was trying to impress Tom, trying to make sure I impressed him. Tom would laugh and tease me and I watched him, my heart thundering at the look on his face, open, warm, bright. Happy, his earlier weariness fading away, replaced with the brightest light in the whole room, brighter than any thousand-bulb chandelier and all the pokie screens, and warmer than every single one of the fake fires that decorated the edges of the gaming floor. A word kept knocking around my stomach, a big word, almost too big.

When Tegan finished she came over and sat next to Holly and the two of them started talking softly and Tom pulled me closer and closer with every cocktail, his hands creeping under my shirt and his mouth seeking mine out more and more frequently. He was watching me even more intently than usual.

‘What?’ I asked at one point.

He shook his head. ‘You’re so beautiful,’ he said.

My whole body fizzed. ‘You too.’

He went on, as though I hadn’t spoken. ‘You know how I feel about you, don’t you?’

I smiled. ‘I think so.’

His hands tightened around my waist and he put his head on my shoulder.

‘You sure everything’s okay?’ I asked.

He exhaled. I felt it on my skin. ‘I hope so.’

I caught a frown flicker across his face. ‘Tom?’

He paused. ‘So before,’ he started. ‘At Sawyer’s. Who was that?’

‘What?’

‘The chef you were talking to.’

‘Oh.’ I felt myself straighten. ‘That’s just Dex.’

Tom laughed. ‘Wait? The Dex?’ I hesitated, unsure what he meant. ‘MasterChef Dex?’

I breathed out. ‘The one and only.’

He gave me a look. ‘You two seemed—’

‘No.’ I knew I sounded strange. ‘He’s just like that. It’s nothing.’

His jaw twitched. ‘You sure?’

I was vaguely aware of Nic sitting next to me, staring into the middle distance and not saying a word. ‘Of course,’ I said, smiling, not sure I felt like smiling.

Nic moved, leaned forward to pick up his drink, still not saying anything, but I felt his eyes on me.

‘Hey,’ Tom said softly, changing the subject as I leaned in closer to him. ‘It’s my sister’s birthday in a couple of weeks. Come for dinner?’

I blinked, momentarily disoriented. ‘To meet your sister?’

He shrugged. ‘Maybe my mum.’