‘You’re pissed off,’ said Rav as Chloe wiped the garden table. Lissy and Guy had finally left. They had talked a lot about being exhausted but seemed to think it would be more fun to stay and get stuck into the wine than to take the baby home and get some sleep.

‘I’m fine,’ Chloe snapped. She wasn’t sure why she said it. It was such a cliché, claiming she was fine when she was so clearly angry.

‘I know you’re not his biggest fan …’

Chloe wheeled around to glare at him. ‘So why did you say we’d see him? Why didn’t you ask me?’

‘I didn’t think it would be a big deal.’

‘Well, it is.’

‘He was a mate, and he feels bad that we lost touch when he went to Australia. Now he’s back in London and he wants to see us. He’s got a new girl on the go, they’re getting married, and he wants the four of us to have dinner. Don’t you think it’s possible that he might have changed in over a decade?’

Chloe turned, knowing that what she was about to say would hurt Rav but no longer inclined to care. ‘Mates? You think standing on the side-lines laughing at his jokes and telling him how brilliant he is makes you “mates”?’

Rav blinked slowly and pushed his eyebrows together, clearly stung. She was being cruel. It shouldn’t hurt him, to think that someone he hadn’t seen since his early twenties hadn’t rated him. Hadn’t thought he was especially ‘cool’. But Rav was easily bruised.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean it.’

‘It’s fine.’

‘No, it’s not. It doesn’t matter whether he liked us or not – it was years ago. I should let it go.’

‘I can cancel. Tell him we’re double-booked. It’s just that—’ He stopped.

‘What?’

‘He was hinting at there being some work. Said he’d bought a big building near Melbourne and he was looking for someone to sort it out.’ He swallowed. ‘It’d be a lot of cash, Chlo.’

Chloe could hear the yearning in Rav’s voice and knew that it wasn’t just about the project. Of course he wanted the money and the prestige, but it was more than that. It was about wanting to be back in Max’s world, illuminated by his reflected glory. He’d always loved it when they’d first known him, and while she might try to convince herself that they’d both grown out of it, the desire for Max’s attention, she knew in Rav’s case it wasn’t true.

‘It’s okay,’ she said, wishing she had the willpower to deny him. ‘We’ll go.’