Page 41 of Almost Ours

“Mm,” Ewan throws me a look. “Sure, okay.”

My phone vibrates in my pocket and I look at it embarrassingly fast.

RUBY (22:12): Hey :) Yeah, I’m good! How was training? Did you survive? Xx

JOSH (22:12): Barely. Oscar is a tyrant and my legs may never recover. Made it through though x

“Oi!” Oscar barks, brown eyes on me. “Are you texting my sister?”

I narrow my eyes on him. “Are you texting your sister?”

He takes a step forward. “What you saying to her?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you texting her?”

I look down at my phone, she might tell him what I’ve said anyway. “I called you a tyrant.”

Cam throws his head back and laughs, coming level with me and slapping my back. “Good lad, Joshie.”

My phone buzzes again.

RUBY (22:13): Hahaha he LOVES being bossy. Did he make you run until you puked? He used to make me do drills with him when we were kids and I hated him for it xx

Oscar’s phone buzzes too. Ruby is sitting somewhere messaging both of us, apparently perfectly fine, while her brother looks more concerned with every reply he gets. For some reason, I can’t shake the feeling that the university paper has absolutely fuck all to do with Wednesdays.

Chapter Eleven

Tuesday

October 13th 2015

Ruby:

TOM (11:15): Hey, it’s Tom from your course. Let me know when you’re free to talk about the project.

Why he has text me halfway through our lecture, I’m not sure, but I don’t want to risk becoming known as the girl who pays more attention to her texts than she does her course, so I decide I’ll reply when we’re out and we can hash over the details then.

Except the idea goes straight out of my head when I leave the building and see Josh leaning against the brick wall opposite.

I duck around the corner before he sees me, my heart violently pounding at the mere sight of the boy. It occurs to me, in that moment, that Oscar should be questioning me more, because I literally arranged to see Josh for lunch, yet I’m hiding from him just to get the chance to look at him.

He’s wearing blue jeans and a sea-green T-shirt beneath his grey hoodie, the zip left open even though it’s cold. The T-shirt is tight enough across his chest that I can see where the fabric stretches over his pecs, then narrows at his waist, and when he folds his arms it pulls harder across his shoulders and bunches into little creases beneath his armpits. His sleeves cut across the thickest part of his upper arms, making them look bigger, and there’s a strip of skin between the cuff and his wrist where the veins in his forearm stand out when he grips his phone.

God.

He is so, so hot.

My phone vibrates in my hand.

JOSH (13:00): Hey, I’m outside your lecture. Thought I could walk you to lunch x

I suck in a breath, my entire body so painfully aware of him that I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with it. My heart is going mental, I can’t stop looking at him, and there’s this restless, fizzy feeling running through me that makes me want to get over there as quickly as possible while also staying hidden for another five minutes just so I can keep staring.

I like seeing his name on my phone and knowing he’s waiting for me, even though fancying someone who looks like Josh feels a bit like setting myself up for failure. I’ve seen the girls looking at him when we’re out, I know Brooke thinks he’s gorgeous, Abi practically has a running commentary on it, and if I’ve noticed him this much in less than a week, other girls are going to notice him too.

Girls prettier than me.