Down London Road

grunting noise before using the wall to help her along to the bathroom. As soon as the door shut, I turned back to Cole.
    ‘Apparently, I
can’t
trust you to be alone with her.’
    He winced at the reminder that he had kept her abuse from me. ‘I just didn’t want to upset you.’
    I harrumphed at that and strode into the kitchen for a cup of tea. By the time I’d made it and nestled into the couch with my book, Cole had settled down on the armchair with his homework and Mum had gone back into her bedroom.
    We sat there for an hour before I decided to get up and put on some dinner. I was just coming out of the kitchen when I heard a knock at the door. For an awful moment I thought maybe I’d finally stretched Malcolm’s patience and he’d turned up at the flat. He’d texted me today and I’d texted back, but I hadn’t encouraged conversation. Had he decided to show up to see what was going on?
    My heart was pounding stupidly hard as I reached for the door, and it flipped over in my chest when I saw who stood on the other side of it.
    ‘Cam.’ I smiled, more than happy to see him.
    He was wearing his usual uniform of print tee and jeans and I wanted to haul him in out of the freezing-cold stairwell. He gave me a quick smile. ‘All right?’
    I stepped aside. ‘Come in.’
    His smile widened and he slid past me, his shoulder brushing mine and causing inappropriate thoughts to tumble through my overworked brain. ‘Can I get you a coffee?’
    ‘Aye, that would be great.’ He followed me, throwing a wave to Cole. ‘Hey, bud, how are you?’
    Cole grinned at him. ‘Good. You?’
    ‘Yeah, not bad.’ He trailed me into the kitchen.
    ‘What do you take?’
    ‘Milk, no sugar.’
    I set about making it, fully aware of his eyes on my every movement. My cheeks felt incredibly warm under his perusal, and I hurried to get his drink ready. ‘You’re working tonight, aren’t you?’ I said, handing him the mug.
    ‘I am. But I wanted to drop something off first.’ He took a sip of his drink. ‘Mmm, good coffee.’
    I laughed softly. ‘The way to a man’s heart.’
    His grin was wicked. ‘Only an easily pleased man,’ he retorted, suggesting he was anything but easy to please.
    ‘Yeah, I can guess what it takes to please you, Cam, and this is a PG-rated household.’
    He threw back his head and laughed, causing another flutter in my chest and my own smile to widen. ‘Good thing the flat downstairs is open to X-rated situations.’
    I flushed and shook my head. ‘Moving on …’
    ‘What? Punters in the bar say worse than that to you and your comebacks are always good.’
    He
had
been paying attention. I shrugged. ‘They’re not my friends.’
    His eyes softened. ‘I’m still your friend, then? You haven’t changed your mind?’
    ‘No, I haven’t changed my mind.’
    ‘Good.’ He pulled something out of his back pocket. ‘Because I want you to trust me enough to give this to Cole.’ Cam held out a key. I raised an eyebrow at it. ‘A spare key to my flat. I want him to use my place when you’re not around. It’s a safe place for him to be so you’re not worrying every second of every minute that you’re not with him.’
    That key was the best present anyone had ever given me.
    Ever.
    ‘Cam’ – I looked from the key up to him – ‘are you sure? I mean, it’s not too much of an imposition?’
    ‘Not if it helps you out.’
    I reached for the key, but instead of just taking it, I curled my hand around it and his fingers. He tensed with awareness and I poured my gratitude into my eyes. ‘This is the best present I’ve ever had.’
    Cam’s eyes roamed my face, his mouth curled up at the corners. ‘A key: the way to a woman’s heart.’
    ‘Only an easily pleased one.’
    He laughed again.
    ‘What’s so funny?’ Cole’s voice snapped us out of our little bubble. I pulled my hand back from Cam’s and held up the key to Cole.
    ‘Present.’
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘I’ll explain in a minute.’ I turned to Cam. ‘Would you like to stay for dinner? Macaroni cheese.’
    ‘How can I say no to that?’
    ‘You can’t. I won’t let you.’ I handed the key to Cole. ‘Take Cam into the sitting room – he’ll explain. Dinner will be ready soon.’
    They left me to it and for a moment I could only stare at the cupboard, my insides all trembling and fluttering from my interaction with Cam. He was thoughtful and considerate and trying to prove what a good friend he could be, and that