“Think about it. This is what I want, Luke. A future together.”

The next morning, I got up as soon as Emma left. I felt like a shit for pretending to be sleeping while she got ready so we didn’t have another difficult conversation. By mid-morning, I was still jittery from lack of sleep and I couldn’t concentrate on anything but trying to control the panic still flushing through my body. I headed toward the front staircase of our building and began to scroll through my contacts. I hit dial when I got to Ash. I needed something, someone that was mine, who knew me. Someone who wanted me to be happy, but would kick my ass if it needed kicking. Someone who would call me a douche if I deserved it, but ultimately wouldn’t judge me. Ash was that person. Haven and I were close, but she was my sister and didn’t have the same perspective Ash did. Haven didn’t have the sweetness about her that Ash did that made what came out of her mouth, however harsh, somehow more bearable.

“Fucking hell, I’m going to get into massive trouble, you phoning me on the ward. I hope your penis is falling off,” Ash answered the phone in a loud whisper. Despite my mood, I couldn’t help but chuckle. Maybe not everything she said was so sweet.

“How’s the business of curing the sick and the dying?”

“I work in palliative care, you douche. No one gets cured, that’s the point.”

“Stop making excuses for being a shitty nurse.”

I didn’t know how Ash did her job and managed to stay so happy all the time. All I did was move money about between clients. She saw people at their most vulnerable, in their last few weeks and months in this world, and she seemed to take it all in her stride.

“I wanted to know if you could meet for lunch, or maybe for drinks after work?” I thought I had lost reception for a second, because she didn’t answer straight away. “Ash?” I checked to see if she could hear me.

“Yeah . . . I don’t know. I’m busy tonight, and I go on lunch in ten minutes—”

Fuck, I’d have to leg it up to Hackney if I wanted to see her. I started to speed up my descent of the stairs. “I’ll come to you. I can be there in ten minutes—as long as we don’t have to eat in the hospital cafeteria,” I offered. I found a cab straight away. “Hommerton Hospital,” I said to the cabbie, holding the phone away so Ash couldn’t hear and change her mind. I really wanted to see her. I needed her consistency, her familiarity, her reason. She would know what I should do about Emma. There seemed to be more hesitation from her side. “Come on. We’ve not had lunch for a while.”

“Okay, but I only have an hour.” She hung up.

I grinned. My day was improving. Seeing Ash was what I needed.

Less than ten minutes later, I was still panting from running up the street where the cab had dropped me. When I looked up from my phone to find Ash standing right in front of me. I felt myself relax immediately and the corners of my mouth turned up. “Hey,” I said.

“Hey yourself,” Ash replied. She smiled at me and everything seemed better with the world. The panic that had threatened to engulf me earlier ebbed away.

Ashleigh

I shouldn’t have agreed to meet Luke for lunch. We hadn’t met on our own, just him and me, for months, not since I’d started dating Richard. There was a reason for that—I should have remembered that before I gave in and agreed to meet him.

My heart squeezed as soon as I caught sight of him. Breathe, Ash. He looked so big and handsome, so familiar. As if he belonged to me, because in my head he always had.

“What are you wearing?” he asked and raised his eyebrows at me. No wonder he never saw me as anything other than a friend. If I was dressed in a tablecloth, I would have been more attractive.

“I know, scrubs. I had an accident. Actually, someone else had an accident and my uniform got literally covered in shit.” Luke grimaced. “Am I going to embarrass you dressed like this?”

“You look good in everything and you know it.” He grinned at me as we made our way to the sandwich bar at the end of the street.

I rolled my eyes, trying to make out that I was annoyed with him giving me a compliment. “So, what brings you to Hackney, Mr. City Lawyer?” I asked. “Slumming it?”

“No. Can’t a friend ask you to lunch without a reason other than wanting to see you?”

I wished he wouldn’t be so nice to me, that he could just be a real asshole. Then I could hate him and have a chance of getting over him. But really, I had no desire to hate him. I wanted him in my life, even if it was as friends. I’d managed this far, and I’d just have to readjust and make sure our relationship worked, even when I was dating. “You saw me yesterday.”

“Yeah, but you and I didn’t get a chance to talk much. And I wanted to speak to you about something.”

I led the way into the sandwich shop. Because we had known each other for as long as we had, we had shortcuts where he knew what I was thinking without any exchange of words. Did Richard and I need time to get to that point, or was it something more than just the number of years Luke and I had spent together that made us that way?

“Ham salad?” I asked him as he arrived at our table with a tray full of drinks and sandwiches wrapped in wax paper.

“Nope, try again.” He grinned. It was a usual routine. I had to guess what he’d ordered me before I was allowed to see it.

“Roast beef and rocket?” I scrunched my face up exaggeratedly, waiting for the verdict.

“You hate beef,” he said, his brows pulled together, looking at me as if I were nuts.

I laughed. “I know. I thought you might have forgotten. Ham and egg?”

“Nope,” he said, unwrapping his sandwich then taking a bite. He was grinning at me as if he’d just won the lottery.

“Are you kidding? Coronation chicken?” It was my favorite and they only had it on special here every now and then. Our ritual distracted me from thinking about how I shouldn’t be here with him and reminded me that when it came down to it, we were just Luke and Ash. Childhood friends.

He slid my sandwich across the table at me. I unwrapped it—I was right. “Thank you.” I was glad to see him. Pleased to have him to myself, it had been a long time.

“So, what’s going on? You’ve not woken up with a hangover in my spare room with my sister for ages now. Are you on the wagon?”

He’d not said anything before about the fact I’d not been around as much. I half wondered if Haven had mentioned something to him, even though she’d promised me she wouldn’t. “Ha. Ha,” I said. “Just busy, I guess. I’ve taken a few extra shifts, and Richard and I have been hanging out.” That was all true but it wouldn’t normally keep me away from him.

He watched me as if I were going to keep speaking. I had to look away. Those blue eyes of his could see right through me, and pull me under. I needed to keep my distance. “So it’s serious with this guy?”

I shrugged and stared out the window, afraid of what my eyes would reveal. “It’s too soon to tell. But he cares about me. And I want something serious.” I wanted to be in love with someone who didn’t see me as a sister, someone who loved me back; I just wasn’t sure if I wanted Richard.

“So that’s how it goes? You decide you want something serious, and you try and find the guy who fills the gap?”

My stomach lurched. I wasn’t sure if he was judging me or interested, but I felt uncomfortable talking about it. Perhaps because I couldn’t tell him the truth, which was that I couldn’t have what I really wanted, so I was looking to see if there was something else out there. I continued to chew so I wouldn’t have to answer him.

“It’s just that I think Emma wants to get serious.”

My chest contracted and I was sure I could feel my ribs against my heart. I swallowed. “Do you?” It was all I could manage.