Chapters (203)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Praise for Amanda Robson
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
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- 8
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- 31
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- 189
- ONE YEAR LATER
- 190
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- 194
- Acknowledgements
- Keep Reading …
- About the Author
- Also by Amanda Robson
- About the Publisher
Aiden is sitting on the sofa next to me. The gin has gone to my head. I shouldn’t have drunk so much on an empty stomach, but Aiden kept topping me up. A film is running on the TV in front of us. I don’t know what film. I’m not following it; I can’t understand the dialogue. I’m muzzy-headed, as if I’m viewing the world through misted glass.
Miles loves Julie. Julie loves Miles. Miles wasn’t at the gym. He is out with her tonight. He is so late back they must have booked into a hotel.
These words keep repeating in my head, growing louder and louder, faster and faster. Aiden is pressing against me. His arm slips around me. He is trying to kiss me.
Miles loves Julie. Julie loves Miles. Trying to kiss me. My mouth is closed. I open it. I’m kissing him back now. It’s so long since I have kissed anyone except Miles. It feels good. Different. Harder. Sexy.
We continue to kiss but suddenly I’m not enjoying it. It is too hard, too ferocious. Aiden is not the gentle man I love. I pull away and look up. Miles is standing in the doorway watching us. I see him through a window of mist.
28
Miles
I’m standing in the doorway of our drawing room. Watching you, Saffron. Is it really you? The woman I love, snogging my brother. Stuck to him like glue. It can’t be real. But you open your azure eyes to look at me, and my heart stops as I realise it is true.
‘Miles, you’re back,’ you say, slurring your words.
You disentangle yourself and stand up. You walk towards me, eyes glazed. As you move closer you stumble. You are drunk. Very drunk.
‘I’m going to bed,’ you mumble as you push past me.
29
Saffron
The room spins around me as I stand up and walk towards Miles. Slowly. Slowly. Faster. Faster.
‘I’m going to bed,’ I mutter.
Slowly. Slowly. Faster. Faster. I am moving through a vortex. I negotiate the hallway, and holding on to the banister, I drag myself upstairs. Fully clothed I collapse onto our bed. Our bedroom is no longer a room, but a lightship taking me into space.
30
Miles
‘All right, mate?’ Aiden says as he stands up. The shifty bastard. Cocky. Smug.
All right, mate? It’s not all right. He is no longer my mate. The world turns red as I step towards him and punch him in the face.
31
Aiden
I fall back on the sofa, writhing in pain. I do not punch him back. I know I deserve this. It was worth it, Saffron, for the feel of your soft, sweet lips against mine.
‘Don’t blame me,’ I yelp. ‘You need to talk to Saffron.’