Say Hello, Kiss Goodbye - Jacquelyn Middleton Page 0,51
least you didn’t take a tumble into the lake”—Harry snickered—“wearing your family’s medieval suit of armor.”
“I forgot about that! Blimey, yeah. Wasn’t that chap Pandora’s cousin or something?” Tarquin squinted, trying to pull a name from his memory. “What a twat!”
“Very nearly a dead twat if it hadn’t been for the Oxford water polo team acting sharpish. Unlike his so-called uni mates who were otherwise engaged, trashing his father’s wine cellar.”
“I didn’t know that!” Tarquin cringed. “Imagine when his parents got home from Bermuda or wherever the devil they were and found their Château Lafite 1869 smashed all to hell? I know I’ve done some stupid things, but I’ve never wrecked someone’s home for shits and giggles. Wankers. I would’ve left had I known that. Fuck my fee.”
“Oh, yeah! It was your first paid DJ gig.”
“Nope, third, but still bloody great. Pandora and I…god, we were so hot and heavy behind the decks. Everyone was so pissed, nobody noticed I played the same song twice.” Tarquin chuckled. “She spent half my set with her hand down my trousers. She had this fantasy about blowing a DJ while he spun, and well, you know me, making dreams come true since 1992!”
“Yeah, mostly your own!” Harry laughed.
Tarquin sank deeper into the water. “I put Fatboy Slim on, she tore open my fly and went for it. Even today, I can’t hear ‘Right Here, Right Now’ without a blissed-out grin.”
“You pillock! You’ve totally ruined that song for me now. Cheers, Balf.”
“Hey, I didn’t ask her to do it!” Tarquin reached for his first coffee of the day, balancing on the wide edge of the tub. “I was just doing my job.”
“While Pandora did hers,” said Harry, through a yawn. “And DJ Klimaxxx was born!”
“Oh, mate, it was hot.” Tarquin groaned. “I couldn’t wait to repay the favor, but next thing I knew, she legged it out of there.”
“Didn’t she leave for a birthday party or something?”
Tarquin took a quick sip. “Yep. Met up with some bloke there, according to her friend. I never heard from Pandora again. No texts, nothing.”
“I remember how gutted you were. It sucks, finding out the girl you’re into is seeing someone else simultaneously.”
“Yeah, I thought we had something, you know? We had so much in common—indie bands, skateboarding, a penchant for rule-breaking…” Tarquin returned his coffee to the side of the bath.
“But not a desire to be in a steady relationship.”
Ah, okay. I know where this is going. Tarquin shook his head slowly. “Hazza—”
“Tarq, I say this as your best friend. I love you, mate, but your potential girlfriend radar has always been rubbish. You fall too hard, too fast for women who see you as nothing more than a good time. Alex was the only exception.”
He flicked bubbles off his chest. “Well, Lex was my most recent girlfriend, so I’d say my radar is obviously improving.”
“But is it? This thing with Leia—”
“Harry—”
“You’re completely deluded. Can’t you see what this really is? She’s getting what she wants.”
“And so am I.” His free hand cut through the bath water, causing the floating Darth ducky to bobble and nod over the foamy waves.
“Well, sex, yeah, but not all the great stuff that can come with it, stuff you said you wanted. Unless you’ve changed your mind?”
“I haven’t changed anything. You said it yourself: hookups were my thing, remember? So, I’m doing what I do best—but as a means to an end.” It better be a happy one. Tarquin swiped a cluster of bubbles off his bruised knee. “I will win her over. I’m not afraid of a challenge.”
“I know you’re not, but she’s leaving in two weeks!”
“Her plane leaves in two weeks—doesn’t mean she’ll be on it.” She might be unsure about a relationship now, but give her time. She’ll change her mind. Succeed or die trying, right? Tarquin jutted out his chin. “Look, Harry, you weren’t here last night. Leia’s different. We understand each other. We definitely have this connection.”
“Oh, Balfy. Here you go again.”
“No, not again. I’ve been serious about two women, Harry. Two. That’s it. Leia’s only number three.”
“Yeah, and the hopeless romantic in you kidnaps your brain and replaces it with candy floss. You lose all sense of reality, start booking couple’s holidays, buying gifts…”
Tarquin frowned. “I haven’t fallen in love with her, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Well, good.” Harry snorted. “You barely know her.”
“Actually, I know more than you think.”
“Sex isn’t knowing someone, Tarq.”
“No, but it’s a good start, okay? Jesus, Harry.” Tarquin swept