Reya laughed tightly. “I dare you.”

“And I’ll second that dare,” I added, goading him. “Crack on.”

Trevor scowled at us both playfully. “It’s a good thing I’m immune to peer pressure. There’s probably typhoid in that water.”

“And cholera,” said Lee. “So don’t even think about it. I’m not taking you to the hospital.”

“You just don’t want to clean up after I get the shits.” Trevor grinned, trying to gross him out. Lee stared at him, expressionless, which was kind of funny.

“Can we leave bowel movements out of the conversation, please?” I grimaced.

“You don’t know what he’s like,” said Lee, still eyeing his brother. “He’s off his nut. Can’t back away from a challenge.”

Trevor scoffed. “Jumping into a pond is no challenge. Now, if you’d asked me to climb atop old Albert, strip off all my clothes, and jump to the ground while crying out the lyrics to ‘Dancing Queen,’ I might have to take you up on it.”

Reya stared at the monument. “You’d break your neck.”

He leaned closer to her. “Is that a dare?”

Her eyes flared with worry. “No! Absolutely not.”

“Too bad. Could’ve been fun.”

“I think there might be something wrong with you,” I said, my brow furrowing.

Lee smirked and shook his head. “Nah, he’s just flirting with your friend.”

“Hey, now, bruv, don’t be tellin’ porkies. Reya here’s a good buddy of mine,” said Trevor, throwing his arm around her shoulders. Reya looked away for a second, and I thought she might be feeling awkward. It was clear that she fancied him, so maybe she was embarrassed that her crush was unrequited.

Lee eyeballed his brother, his pull the other one expression pure comedy gold.

Reya caught my attention, a pleading look in her eyes. “Do you want to go get ice cream now? I spotted a stand on our way into the park.”

“I’ll go,” Lee said. “You stay where you are, love.”

Reya frowned, annoyed that he’d thwarted her escape plan, and settled back onto the grass beside Trevor. I was about to lie back and enjoy the unseasonably sunny weather when I felt Lee nudge me with the toe of his shoe. “Come help,” he said, eyeing me pointedly.

“Oh, sure,” I replied, and got up to follow him. I waited until we were a good enough distance away to whisper, “They’re trying to set us up.”

Lee smiled. “I know. You like how I turned it back around on them?”

“I do. You’re an evil mastermind.”

“Just giving them a taste of their own medicine. See how they like it. By the way, I never got to congratulate you properly last night, what with you being shitfaced drunk and all.”

“I do believe that’s the technical term for it, yes.”

He laughed. “Well, I heard you passed your exam, so, well done.” Reaching out, he gave my hand a small squeeze. My skin tingled where he touched me. It wasn’t long before his hand was on me again, this time when we reached the ice cream stand. He placed his flattened-out palm to the base of my spine, standing beside me as I scanned the choices. His warmth spread through me, both soothing and disconcerting.

Slipping his other hand inside his jeans, he pulled out a small business card and handed it to me. Glancing down, I saw it was for his restaurant.

“Address is on there,” he said. “You should come see the place.”

“You already invited me, remember? At the hospital.”

“Just wanted to make sure you knew the invitation was still open,” he replied, eyeing me intensely. I swallowed back the lump in my throat that always seemed to come when I was around him these days.

“I’ll come next week on my day off.”

“Good.” I saw his Adam’s apple bob in his throat. Was he feeling this just as much as I was?

After we got the ice creams, the walk back to the monument was quiet. I thought I could feel him looking at me out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t be certain.

“So, are you both coming out with us tonight?” Trevor asked as we ate.

“What’s tonight?”

He nudged Lee with his elbow. “It’s this one’s birthday bash. He’s being an old curmudgeon and won’t let us throw him a party, so we’re just going for a few drinks at the local boozer.”

I gaped at Lee. “It’s your birthday? Why didn’t you say?”

He lifted a careless shoulder. “Not really big into birthdays, Snap.” There was something sad in his expression, and I wondered if he didn’t like celebrating because of when he was a kid. I didn’t imagine birthdays were very fun for him back then.

Since I was sitting next to him, I reached out and gave him one of those consolation prize half-hugs, wishing I could give him a full one. “Happy birthday,” I said, my voice quiet.

He turned his head, his mouth only centimetres from mine. “Thanks.”

Time stood still, and I couldn’t look away from his lips. I watched him inhale sharply, his nostrils flaring as his hand came up and wiped a spot of ice cream away from the corner of my mouth. Bringing it to his own, he licked it away, and I felt all of my insides clench tight.

In the end, Trevor broke the moment by announcing loudly, “Oh, my God, just kiss her. This is getting downright inappropriate for my youthful gaze.”