Down London Road

it?’
    There was a moment of silence and then … ‘Oh, yeah, right there,’ she moaned.
    ‘Fuck,’ Braden huffed. ‘You’ll set me off again.’
    ‘Seriously?’ she asked incredulously. ‘I just moaned.’
    ‘That’s all it takes, babe.’
    Joss giggled again. I decided it was a nice sound.
    And then I realized I was creepily eavesdropping on their sex-in-the-bathroom-at-their-own-fricking-engagement encounter. I knocked on the door.
    ‘Uh, just a minute!’ Joss yelled.
    ‘It’s me,’ I called semi-loudly through the door. ‘Are you decent yet?’
    ‘Um, not yet. Wait.’ I heard clothes rustling and then a muffled ‘oof’ before something clattered to the floor. ‘Are you trying to kill me?’
    Braden laughed. ‘You were the one that wanted to fuck in the bathroom.’
    ‘Ssssh!’ Joss hissed. ‘Jo is outside.’
    ‘I think she knows what we’re up to.’
    ‘She does,’ I offered helpfully.
    Braden laughed.
    The door swung open. Braden stood over me, his hair ruffled, and his shirt tucked messily back into his trousers. Joss was hopping on one foot behind him, trying to get her shoe back on. Her cheeks were flushed and the French knot in her hair was a little more than worse for wear.
    ‘Really?’ I asked, glancing around to make sure we were still alone. ‘The bathroom during your engagement party?’
    Joss rolled her eyes at me. ‘What, like you’ve never done it somewhere a little risqué?’
    My cheeks bloomed bright red as I remembered howrisqué it had got with Cam just this morning. God, it seemed like a lifetime ago already.
    Bloody Blair.
    Braden scrutinized me and nodded smugly at Joss. ‘She’s definitely done it somewhere risqué.’
    Joss grinned, finally getting her shoe on and coming to a standstill. ‘I do believe you’re right, Mr Carmichael. Look at those pretty cheeks blush.’
    I sighed impatiently, trying to cover my embarrassment. ‘I didn’t hunt you down to talk about risqué sex.’ I brushed past Braden and motioned to him to shut the door.
    He raised an eyebrow but complied. ‘Everything all right?’
    Trying to keep a lid on my emotions I laid it out for them. The story of Cam and Blair, and now her sudden re-entrance into his life and Cam’s troubling reaction to it.
    ‘Should I be worried?’ I chewed on my lip, glancing from one to the other.
    Joss looked at Braden. ‘What do you think?’
    Braden winked at her. ‘I think I’m looking pretty good right now.’
    Joss smacked him across the arm for the both of us. ‘Not helpful, you smug idiot.’
    He grunted, still smiling cockily, a smile that slipped when he turned to me and saw that I was not in the mood for his humour at the moment. He sighed, his eyes softening. ‘Jo, you’ve nothing to worry about.’
    It was exactly the reassurance I’d been looking for, but I needed more. ‘Really?’
    ‘Look, Cameron just bumped into a girl he has a history with. It’s going to affect him. It doesn’t mean he stillhas feelings for her. If Joss and I were out for a stroll and we bumped into my ex, I’d probably be feeling a bit off for the rest of the day as well, but not because I’m still in love with the bitch.’
    I raised my eyebrows, wondering what the history was there. I shot Joss a look. ‘Clearly.’
    Joss caressed Braden’s arm in comfort. ‘She
is
a bitch.’
    I sighed this time. ‘So, you think I’m jumping the gun?’
    ‘Yes,’ they answered in unison.
    ‘I must say, though’ – Joss shook her head as if in disappointment – ‘it shows a serious lack of intuition when it comes to women that Cam wouldn’t realize that him planning to meet with an old girlfriend would bother you.’
    Braden snorted at Cam’s lack of smoothness. ‘Agreed.’
    I pouted a little. ‘Agreed.’ I made a face. ‘Sorry for dumping this on you at your engagement party. That was more than a little selfish. God!’ I threw up my hands. ‘This relationship is turning me into a schizo!’
    Joss threw me a sympathetic smile. ‘Welcome to my world.’
    When I returned to the party it was to discover that Cam had got surprisingly drunk, shockingly fast. He never drank to the point of being drunk and as the evening wore on, the little that Braden had done to reassure me was obliterated by the state Cam ended up in. Mick had to help me put him in a taxi and then help me up to the flat with him. I bade Mick and Olivia goodnight, stripped Cam out of his clothes, put water and aspirin beside his