“Not if I got there first, but he isn’t violent.”
Cal lets out a breath. “I hope he’s good to you, even if it makes me fucking crazy to think of you with him.”
“He treats me well. You don’t need to worry. He only has one flaw.”
“What’s that?”
“He’s not you.”
“Steph.” His hands cup my cheeks as his lips touch mine, sucking and nipping at my bottom lip.
“Here, get your coffee.” I hand him a mug.
“Thanks.”
“So, where are you flying from?”
“Heathrow, London.”
“I know where Heathrow is.” I smile, rolling my eyes.
“You didn’t know where Sydney was.”
“Well, I didn’t imagine you’d move to the other side of the pissin’ world.”
“I’m getting the 6am train tomorrow morning. My flight is at 11am. I’ve sold my car. They’re picking it up from my mum’s tomorrow.”
“I can’t imagine you without your car.”
“I’ll get another in Australia.” He sips on his hot drink as we both stand in the kitchen leaning against the worktop facing each other.
“I’m still gutted that we didn’t get to go on that date, but I’m glad you came over.” I blow into my mug to cool the contents.
“Me too.”
“What did you have planned at the beach?”
“I don’t know.” He sighs and takes another sip. “Probably not as much fun as we just had. The dog was enough entertainment, not to mention your knickers. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much.”
I place my coffee on the worktop and swat his chest. He pulls me in for a kiss, placing his mug down so he can wrap his arms around my waist and under my shirt to feel my bare back.
Looking into my eyes, he says, “We would have bought fish and chips and ate them on the beach, fighting off the seagulls.”
I smile at the thought. Sounds about right.
“Then we would walk barefoot on the sand trying not to tread in dog mess.”
I giggle. He paints such a realistic picture of the East coast.
“Then we would have had a paddle in the murky sea water where your feet end up muckier than they were before you went in.”
“You’re really selling this date to me.”
He laughs. “Yeah, I bet you will be in tears all night that you didn’t get to go.”
I smile. “Yes, I will.”
“After the paddle we would get an ice cream, but it would be so windy on the seafront, blowing your hair in your cornet.”