Page 40 of Almost Ours

“Yeah.” I sling by bag higher up on my back. “I’m knackered though. I’m not used to running that much anymore.”

He falls into step beside me as we head out, and I can hear Oscar and Cam following a few paces behind us, Cam still talking at full volume about something nobody asked him about.

“So,” Ewan bumps his shoulder with mine. “What did you tell Ruby about quidditch?”

I glance across at him, his ginger hair is neater than usual. “The truth. That I can’t make it because of football. She seemed alright with it since she can’t do Wednesdays.”

Ewan’s brow creases. “Why not?”

“She joined the uni paper, which sounds pretty cool to be fair. Has to be there by six on Wednesdays, which is the same time as quidditch.”

“She what?” Oscar barks from behind us.

Ewan and I both turn. Oscar has stopped walking completely, and Cam pulls up beside him.

“Joined the uni paper,” I repeat, giving Oscar a once over. He’s frowning and dragging his phone from his pocket. “It’s on Wednesdays.”

“Every Wednesday?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “At six.”

His frown deepens as he unlocks the screen and starts typing so quickly his thumbs practically blur. I glance at Cam, expecting some stupid comment about Oscar having a secret second life or being surgically attached to his phone, but he’s gone oddly quiet, eyes flicking from Oscar’s screen to me before he looks away again.

Ewan grimaces, taking in the sour atmosphere the same way I am. “What’s wrong with the uni paper?”

“Nothing,” Oscar replies without looking up.

His phone buzzes almost instantly. He reads whatever has come through, and his scowl gets worse before he starts typing again.

I take a step towards him. “Is Ruby alright?”

Oscar glances up at me. “Yeah.”

I adjust the strap of the bag on my shoulder. “You sure?”

“She’s fine.” He continues to text back and forth.

I look between them. “Have I missed something?”

“Nope.”

Cam scratches at his jaw and stares resolutely ahead.

Ewan glances at me, clearly as confused as I am. “Did she tell you much about it?”

“Not really. Just that she has to be there at six and she’ll find out what she’s writing about when she goes.”

Oscar looks back down at his phone when it buzzes again, reading the message with his lips pressed into a thin line.

Fuck it, I think, I might as well just text her myself.

JOSH (22:06): Hey, training is all done now. You doing alright?

I hit send before I can overthink it and look at Oscar who is staring at his own screen in annoyance, and a few seconds later it buzzes again. Whatever Ruby has sent doesn’t seem to reassure him because his frown only deepens, and he immediately types something else back while Cam watches him with an expression I can’t read.

Ewan looks between the three of us. “Am I the only person here who has no idea what’s going on?”

“Nothing is going on.” Oscar shoots out, furiously tapping away.