Page 49 of Safe Hands

“You’re here, though. That must count for something. We didn’t scare you off on Wednesday.”

“What do you win if you recruit me, a toaster?”

Before she could stop herself, Lauren said, “No, that’s for turning you.”

There it was. The line. The instinct. She waited for some comment about it being distasteful or inappropriate, but Carly only laughed again.

Lauren cleared her throat. “Can I get you a drink?”

Carly stepped a fraction closer, just enough to make Lauren suddenly aware of how little space there was between them. “You’re going to need a better line if you want to win the toaster.”

She let it sit there, then turned back to the bar as if nothing had happened, ordering crisps and two Diet Cokes.

Lauren didn’t move straight away. Part of her wanted to recover and say something equally sharp. The rest of her was still catching up, trying to work out what that had been. One minute Carly was borderline rude, the next she was… whatever that was.

“So, you enjoyed it?” Lauren asked as they shuffled to the front of the queue. “Training, I mean.”

“I always knew I was going to enjoy playing football again. The real question is whether anyone will turn up to the gym relaunch. Jenna said I could post in the team WhatsApp, but nobody knows me yet. It might look weird.”

“I could do it,” Lauren said instantly. “We both benefit, and I’m basically part of the furniture.”

Carly nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

She picked up the crisps, left Lauren to collect the cans of Diet Coke, and they both returned to the table. As they did, Paige reached for her phone.

“Why is your mum texting me asking about books I’ve never seen?” she asked, shoving it in Lauren’s face.

The answer was that Lauren kept forgetting they were in the back of her car, and she had done it again today.

“I’ll grab them later.”

“I look rude.”

“Why?”

“Because she thinks I’ve had them and not said thank you. She went to effort and you’ve not bothered to pass them on.”

Lauren scoffed. “She didn’t go to effort. She just got my dad to go up in the loft.”

“Whatever, it’s still rude. Where are they? Can you get them now? I want to message her back.”

“Bloody hell, alright. You want me to gift-wrap them too?” Lauren replied, unable to relax in her chair with the weight of Paige’s disapproval bearing down on her. She wriggled, then slipped off it, deciding maybe it was best to do as she was told. If Paige got too deep into conversation with her mum, the pair of them would be at it for an hour.

When she returned a few minutes later with the bag in hand, Paige and Carly were in conversation again, but she didn’t dare ask what about this time. She just placed the books in the centre of the table and hoped that would break it up.

“This was so thoughtful of her,” Paige cooed, rooting through the contents. She pulled out a tattered Thomas the Tank Engine hardback. “Bloody hell, you really liked that train, didn’t you?”

She flicked through a few more.

“How you didn’t know you were gay until you were twenty is beyond me.”

Lauren plonked herself back down in her chair. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, they’re all boys’ books.”

“So trains are for boys now? Good to know.”

Carly had only observed them up until now, quiet amusement tucked into the corner of her mouth, but she leaned forward and picked up a few books of her own, sifting through them in her lap. “Did you say you were looking for names?”