Adult Virgins Anonymous: A sweet and funny romcom about finding love in the most unexpected of places by Amber Crewe

Author:Amber Crewe [Crewe, Amber]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781529336177
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 2020-08-05T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Hope the dinner isn’t too bad!

The text from Kate came in as he was on the train to his brother’s house, causing Freddie to marvel a little at how nice it was to have someone thinking about him, someone new on his side.

His evening with Kate had been a revelation, a tiny island of peace in a world that sometimes felt too frantic and lonely. Over the next couple of days, he had found himself smiling unknowingly, realising that he felt lighter than he had in ages.

They had been messaging. Just a tiny trickle of them at first, but lately he realised she was sounding like herself, as if the words on his phone screen reflected the cadence of her real voice: honest and fun. He hoped that he sounded like himself too, but then worried that it meant he would come across as dull and too shy.

But Kate seemed far away now as he headed to his brother’s house. Freddie couldn’t remember the last time he’d casually hung out with his brother and his family. He and David moved in different circles and never really shared any interests growing up. While Freddie was introverted and spent most of his time indoors, David was outgoing, always involved in some rugby tournament or another, always outside having adventures. He wondered if David felt the dissonance as keenly as he always had.

Their house looked like an immaculate show home, the fake lawn lit up under tiny spotlights in the evening dusk. Freddie wondered at the three cars parked directly outside the house, in addition to David’s Mercedes and Stella’s Land Rover, but maybe there was a party next door and there was nowhere else for the cars to go.

‘Freddie!’ Stella greeted him with a kiss on each cheek when she opened the front door, wearing an apron, an oven glove still attached to one hand. ‘David is just upstairs getting Lacey to sleep. He’ll be down in a bit. Come in, come in!’

The house smelt of expensive candles and flowery perfume. From the lounge the muted tones of dinner jazz drifted towards him. It seemed a little much for an informal dinner.

‘What’s happening? I thought this was a casual thing?’ Freddie asked, taking in the dimmed lighting, the aura of candlelight that was coming from the dining room, and then, wafting from the kitchen behind Stella, the smell of minted lamb. Stella looked immaculate too. While he had turned up in his favourite slacks and a T-shirt under a casual checked shirt, beneath her apron Stella was in a flowing dark dress, full make-up and large, jewelled earrings.

‘Oh well,’ Stella started, ‘I thought that if I was making something for you, then I might as well make something a little bigger. Still a casual thing, but now a bit more of a get-together. Come on, there are some people I would love you to meet!’

‘I thought we were going to discuss our parents’ anniversary party?’ Freddie asked as David came down the stairs.

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