At the end of the spring term, Catrin went to see Lana in her college production of West Side Story. Judith didn’t go. She blamed it on revision but all three of them knew this was just an excuse.

‘She’s still pissed off with me, isn’t she?’ Lana said sadly.

Catrin tried to reassure her, but was aware that she had no conviction in her voice. ‘You know Jude,’ she said, ‘she can never stay cross with anyone for long.’

‘When I ring the flat, she always answers, not Gareth. And she’s never unfriendly or anything, but there’s just this … tension. And if I ask to speak to Gar she says he’s out, or on a couple of occasions that he simply won’t come to the phone. So humiliating,’ Lana sighed. ‘I’ve really messed up, haven’t I?’

Catrin couldn’t disagree, so she just squeezed her friend’s arm.

‘Did you ever see him again? The builder fella?’ she asked Lana when they were topping and tailing in Lana’s bed that night. In the darkness, Lana didn’t respond. ‘Oh my God, Larn, you’re not still seeing him?’

‘I can’t explain it … He’s just—’

Catrin interrupted, shocked. ‘Please don’t say you’re in love with him.’

Lana sat bolt upright and switched on the light. ‘What? No! If anything, I hate him. He’s a completely dreadful person.’

‘So I don’t understand,’ said Catrin, genuinely puzzled.

‘Look, I tried to put an end to it, I really did – Can I smoke?’

‘No.’

‘But sex with him is … it’s addictive. I don’t want to keep doing it, but I have to keep doing it … I can’t stop.’

‘Flippin’ heck, Lana,’ Catrin whispered, trying not to show the loss of respect she was feeling for her friend.

They fell silent for a moment, then Catrin offered a solution. ‘Remember when we all gave up chocolate for Lent?’ she said. ‘And sometimes it was really hard to say no, but we did it – all three of us – didn’t we? Well, why don’t you just treat it like that? Learn to resist, to say no to the builder.’

‘He’s not a fucking Mars bar!’ snapped Lana. ‘Sorry.’

‘It’s OK. I’m just worried about you, that’s all.’

‘Look, his contract is coming to an end soon and he’ll be gone. And then I’ll have to stop seeing him. I’ll have no choice.’

‘Sure.’

‘Right, enough of the sad stuff,’ Lana said with forced jollity. ‘Let’s talk about your hen party!’

‘Oh Larn, it’s ages away yet,’ yawned Catrin, feeling guilty for nipping her friend’s enthusiasm so brutally in the bud. ‘D’you mind if we don’t?’

Lana hesitated. ‘Course not! ’Night, babe,’ she said.

But they both knew that the real reason why Catrin’s wedding was off the agenda was because it was strictly a subject for when the three of them were together. Two out of three was no good.

Tonight, though, at last, the three of them were all together. Huddled round two big pizza boxes in the middle of Catrin’s bedroom floor, pyjama’d and free of make-up. It reminded Catrin of the sleepover nights they’d enjoyed when they were younger.