Page 60 of Almost Ours

Oscar catches up and smacks him hard between the shoulder blades. “Get off my sister, you fucking lunatic.”

“Piss off, you grumpy prick.” Cam puts me back on my feet, keeping one arm hooked around my shoulders. “She’s as much my sister as she is yours.”

Oscar looks him up and down. “I don’t remember Mum pushing that fat head out of her.”

“My head is a perfectly normal size,” Cam shoots back. “The doctors measured it.”

I turn to stare at him, his blonde hair is a complete mess and he’s sweating so much there’s little beads on his forehead. “Why did the doctors measure your head?”

“It was abnormally large as a baby.”

Oscar snorts, looking a hell of a lot less dishevelled. “Was?”

Cam looks between us, visibly affronted. “You two are horrible to me, do you know that?”

“It’s only because we love you,” I ruffle his hair.

He bats my hand away. “Hmph. I’m beginning to question it.”

Oscar reaches over and flicks the side of his head with two fingers. “Plenty of room in there to think it over.”

Cam slaps his hand away. “Keep touching me and I’ll tell Emma what you said earlier.”

Oscar’s whole face changes. His hand drops back to his side. “What did I say earlier?”

Cam grins, highly amused. “You know, not all of us are ashamed of the things we say when we’re drunk.”

Oscar narrows his eyes. “You should be ashamed of most things you say sober.”

Cam opens his mouth to retaliate, but something catches his attention. His grin fades as his eyes move past me, scanning the crowd once, then again, more deliberately this time. “Where are your friends, Rubes?”

The change in his voice causes me to focus on him. “What?”

“Your friends.” His arm is still around my shoulders, but it tightens slightly, pulling me closer to his side while he searches behind me. “Aren’t you supposed to be here with people?”

“I am.”

“Where are they, then?” His brow furrows. “You weren’t standing here on your own waiting for us, were you?”

“No.” I twist beneath his arm and glance over my shoulder. Brooke is where I expect her to be, tucked into Ewan’s side with one hand curled into the front of his shirt while he bends to whisper sweet somethings against her ear.

Abi is a little further over, dancing with two girls I’ve never seen before, her blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders and a huge smile stretched across her pretty face. She appears to have acquired an entirely new friendship group in the time it took Cam to crush my ribs.

I wave a hand towards them. “They’re over there.”

“Good.” Some of the manic energy floods straight back into him, though his arm stays looped around my shoulders for another second before he finally lets me go. “Right. Shall I get some drinks in?”

Oscar’s eyes catch mine before Cam can drag him away. “You good?”

“I’m good, O.” I give him my biggest, brightest smile. “Promise.”

He holds my gaze for a second longer, my word is no longer good enough. Not when Oscar can inspect my face for himself. Ever so slowly his shoulders loosen. “You’re having a good time?”

I nod. “I am.”

“Okay.” He steps back. “I’m gonna go find Emma. And maybe stop Cam before he does something batshit.”

“When have you ever been able to stop him?”