Helen sighed. “It’s just… how well do you know her? She seems to have come from nowhere.”

“I know her, alright? She was at my school. Dad taught her. Mills knows her.” His voiced dropped. “And it was brilliant when she finally paid me some attention.”

Bingo. He had finally revealed something. “You mean you haven’t actually known her for long?”

He flopped back down onto the couch and sighed. “No. She was just someone I had seen around, you know? She was in my art class last year, but we didn’t really talk. Then I saw her at college and she just starts talking to me and…” He shrugged nonchalantly, but his forehead was furrowed and his mouth pinched.

“So what’s the problem?”

“I guess I pushed her too hard.”

She thought about him leaning over her at the front door, his height and weight so much more than she could fight back against, his sheer physicality that could be threatening in certain circumstances.

No, he wouldn’t.

Would he?

Silver cars and blind corners.

“Matt, did you try to force her into—”

“Bloody hell, what do you think of me?” Spittle flew from his lips as he snarled at her.

“Sorry, I just… I misunderstood what you were saying.”

“That’s just it though. I haven’t tried anything until now.” His voice dropped low again and he looked down at his hands. “I haven’t pushed it. We’ve just been chatting, hanging out, talking about music and books and stuff. So tonight, I tried…” His voice was now barely above a whisper.

“You tried what? To kiss her? More than that?”

“To kiss her,” he mumbled. “But she knocked me back, said she’s just interested in being friends, nothing else.”

“Friend zone, huh?”

“Yup.”

“Well, that’s better than nothing, isn’t it? And maybe she’ll come around to your… charm.” She paused. “Where does she live?”

He looked up. “Why? What does that have to do with anything?”

“I just worry about her walking home, that’s all.”

“I don’t know where she lives,” he admitted.

“But…?”

“I usually drop her in the village and she catches the bus from there. I haven’t been to her house yet.”

“So you don’t really know her at all?”

“What are you getting at?”

“Well, you don’t know where she lives, who her parents are or anything. She seems quite keen to keep you at arm’s length from where I’m standing. Maybe there’s a reason for that. Maybe she isn’t the kind of girl you want to know after all. Maybe you’re better off without her. Mills doesn’t seem to like her very much.”

He lurched to his feet.