She blew a raspberry as she laughed. “There’s no way I’d ever sleep with you again. I might be drunk but I’m notthatdrunk. I could never bethatdrunk.”
“Oddly enough, that wasn’t me trying to seduce you.”
“You could never seduce me,” she said, narrowing her eyes.
He squeezed the bridge of his nose, then reached for his car keys. “Get in the car, please. I’m taking you home.”
“Sure.” More tears flooded her eyes as she stepped out through the patio door. “Evenyoudon’t want to hang out with me. That’s how much of a mess my life is.”
She could hear him muttering to himself as he followed her outside, but she didn’t look back, just strode towards the car with tears streaming down her face.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Sunlight rudely woke Seren. Her brain felt as though it was throbbing inside her skull, and her tongue felt like an intruder in her dry mouth. Blinking her eyes open, she brought the room into focus. Everything was wrong, but at the same time it was vaguely familiar.
Her mind whirred, trying to piece together the previous evening. Felix had wanted to take her home and she’d got in his car … then she’d started crying again. It was all a bit of a blur after that, but evidently she’d slept in Felix’s bed. Thankfully, she was alone, and still fully dressed.
Sitting up brought on a wave of nausea that swept from her stomach and up her throat until she retched. With a hand over her mouth, she leaped from the bed and onto the landing. She just made it to the bathroom in time to hunch over the toilet bowl and bring up the contents of her stomach.
After swilling out her mouth and splashing water on her face, she straightened up and caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her deathly pale skin and dark eye circles were a ghoulish combination. The house was quiet as she crept down the stairs. In the living room, she found Felix sprawled out on the couch, fast asleep.
Her stomach roiled again and she just wanted to be at home. It crossed her mind to wake Felix and ask him for a lift, but that would mean having to face him. She was too embarrassed.
In the kitchen she located her shoes and bag and slipped outside into the early morning light. Sunlight shone too brightly from the clear blue sky, and birdsong assaulted her ears to exacerbate the pounding in her head. Her mind tormented her as she walked – with thoughts of Kit and Felix and how stupid she was for turning to alcohol to try to block everything out. All she’d done was make herself feel worse. Something she hadn’t considered to be a possibility.
As soon as she got home, she went straight back to bed, only pausing to set an alarm so she wasn’t late for lunch at Mirren’s place. Hopefully sleep would perk her up, because the way she was feeling now she couldn’t stomach food, and she wasn’t sure she was emotionally stable enough to be around Kit.
* * *
Keira had joined Kit on the train on Sunday morning. After his initial discomfort at being a passenger on his own train, he was getting quite used to sitting back and taking it all in. Watching Keira grow in confidence was good too.
They left the train down by the beach after the morning tour and ambled over to his mum’s place, where Noah was waiting for them. Seren would be there soon, and Kit wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Hanging out with Holly had lifted his spirits and he was feeling much more positive generally. He had the sense that spending time around Seren would be okay, but he could be completely wrong on that score.
“I’ve made lasagne and salad,” his mum said as she bustled around the kitchen. “We can eat out on the patio.”
They all moved out there to wait for Seren. Kit was setting the table but stopped abruptly when his mum spoke.
“I’m worried about Seren,” she said, frown lines etched on her face as she rested back in her chair.
“Why?” Noah asked.
“She’s hanging out with Felix again.”
“I don’t think so.” Noah discreetly flashed Kit a sympathetic look. “He’s been hanging around her, but she doesn’t have any time for him.”
“She had time for him last night,” Mirren said wearily. “He picked her up from here. She said she was only going up to his place so she could hang out with Cadan, but I don’t buy that for a minute.”
“I take it you’re not his biggest fan?” Keira asked Mirren.
She shook her head. “He treated her terribly when they were together, then ruined her twenty-first birthday – completely humiliated the poor love and broke her heart while he was at it. She was devastated. I can’t understand why she’d have anything to do with him.” Her eyes flicked to the lane where Seren’s car was approaching.
“Seren seems pretty level-headed,” Keira said. “Maybe she really is only seeing him because her cousin’s staying with him.”
“I hope so.” Mirren sighed. “Otherwise she’s going to get her heart broken again.”
As Seren walked towards them, the conversation died away and Kit forced himself to continue setting the table. Maybe he wasn’t okay with spending time with Seren after all. The thought of her seeing Felix made every muscle in his body tense.
“Hello!” Seren called out as she approached. She went around kissing everyone’s cheeks. Kit’s heart raced when she got to him, but she didn’t hesitate in dropping a kiss on his cheek as she’d done with everyone else. “I’m not late, am I?” she said to Mirren. “Were you waiting for me to eat?”