Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Maddy

I had no idea what my dad thought he was doing, but when I got home I would kill him. Mortified wasn't the word. He'd practically forced Zak to invite me over to his house. The poor boy had no choice.

"Listen," I said, as Zak pulled his keys from his jacket pocket. "I can leave you to it. My dad shouldn't have suggested I come home with you both."

Amelia was skipping up the gravelled driveway ahead of us, seemingly excited that I was going to be visiting the Hoyland house.

Zak turned and walked backwards. "I'm glad he did. So, stop stressing about it."

"You're sure you don't mind?"

"One hundred percent," he called over his shoulder as he turned back around. "I'll give you half an hour on the tramp with Amelia, and then you're mine."

My heart thumped wildly, and my stomach swooped while Zak walked nonchalantly away, totally unaware that he just sent me into a state of anxiety.

"Come on," he yelled, pushing the door open and letting Amelia run inside. "Time is passing, Madeline."

He had Madeline'd me, and for once I didn't mind. In fact, I liked the sound of it in his accent. Quickening my steps, I reached the front door, where Zak was waiting for me. He had his finger hooked on the chain around his neck, and his eyes were twinkling, and I wondered what he was thinking about.

"Romance or horror?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Amelia who was skipping down the hallway.

I shrugged. "Didn't we have this conversation last night?"

He tilted his head on one side. "Yeah, and if I recall, romance won. Maybe horror then."

"What about Amelia? She can't watch a horror film."

"She won't watch it. She'll sit through the first two minutes and then go to her bedroom to read Harry Potter, like she always does."

The idea that we might be alone later made my nerves spike, and a huge boulder in my throat stopped me from swallowing. The thought was exciting, but what if he was just being nice? What if there was nothing in it and I got myself worked up for nothing?

"Honestly, Zak, I can go once I've spent some time with Amelia."

He frowned and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. "Do you want to leave?"

"Well, no, but I thought…"

Zak stepped closer, one cheek pushed into a half smile. His whole body was relaxed, and he had an air of confidence that I'd never seen in a boy before. In fact, I'd never met anyone like him before. Admittedly, I'd lived in a small town all my life but even so, he was nothing like the stupid, childish boys I usually spent time with at school. Maybe it was what all southern boys were like; I had no idea, but I liked it.

"Maddy," he said, his voice soft and coaxing. "Stay and watch a film with me. I want to watch a film with you. I want you to stay." He ran a hand down my arm, stopping just short of my hand, and then walked away. "Now, get out there before Amelia starts worrying you've done a runner." He pointed to a door off the large entrance hall, to the right of an oak staircase. "You can get to the garden through the kitchen."

"Okay."

"I'll be in the lounge when you're ready." He pointed to another room and then ran up the stairs, leaving me alone, wondering how the hell I'd gone from Sunday breakfast with Dad to playing on a trampoline with the new hot boy's little sister.

Zak was right, Amelia disappeared up to her room within minutes of the film starting. I don't think the intro music had even finished before she said she was bored and going to read. Once she went, the atmosphere in the room changed. It became highly charged—well, I felt like I was on high alert at least. Zak still appeared relaxed at his end of the sofa, whereas I was pushing myself as close to the arm as possible. It was a huge, comfy, dark green velvet one, and it felt like I was miles away from him.

When we heard Harry Styles blasting from above us, Zak paused the film and turned his body to look at me.

"What are you doing all the way over there?" he asked.

The butterflies in my tummy took flight, and my heartbeat sped up. "S-sorry?"

"Why are you sitting right at the other end of the sofa from me? Don't you want to be close in case you get scared?"

"How scary is this film?" I frowned because I was a wuss. Horror films weren't my thing, but we had made the poor guy watch a romance film the night before… so…

"Enough that you'll want to hide your face. Oh, and you might feel the need for me to cuddle you." He said, arching an eyebrow and rolling his lips inwards.

My heart sank at the thought, but then the idea of snuggling up to Zak was a bonus.

"Is it gory?" I shuffled down until I was sitting next to him.

"There's one part with the grandfather and a nappy, but that's all I'm saying." He took my hand and pulled on it. "Besides which, I like your perfume, and I want to be able to smell it."

God. I felt sick. Excitement. Nerves. Trepidation.

Before I could think about it any further, Zak pulled me into his side, wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and turned on the film. I went as a stiff as a board. Even my eyes stopped moving. Then, when his thumb began to rub up and down, gently tickling my arm, I thought I might squeal.

"There's a Coke there for you," he whispered into my ear. "On the coffee table."

In front of me was a can of coke and a glass with ice cubes in the bottom. "T- thanks."

"Wasn't sure if you'd want a glass or not."

His accent. His deep, raspy voice. His thumb sending messages around my body.

He then shifted a little, propped his feet up on a footstool, and poked me gently in the side. "Relax. I'm not going to murder you."

Then the film properly started, and we fell into silence. After a few minutes my body settled against Zak's and I watched the film, but after only half an hour, I'd decided I didn't like it. It wasn't scary as such, but creepy. The cushion I'd grabbed was in front of my face more than not and Zak kept chuckling beside me.

"It's funnier than it is scary," Zak said with a laugh. "I can't even take it seriously."

"Why are we watching it then?" I jumped as the grandmother went scooting past the screen on all fours like some sort of animal. "Shit, this is weird."

Zak let out a belly laugh. "You really are a wimp." His hand came to my waist and tickled me. I squealed, squirming to get away from him.

"Zak, don't."

"Ticklish are you?" His eyes were shining with mischief.

"No."

He grinned. "Liar."

Scrambling back, I managed to evade his long fingers, which were grabbing for me. I fell onto my back, kicking my socked feet out to try and push him away, but he managed to bat them from him, grabbing hold of my ankles. With a huge smile, he pulled me back down the sofa to him. We were both laughing, play fighting with one another, a mass of feet and hands, and I loved it.

Zak's hand's then went for my wrists, and his rings were cold against my skin, making me gasp. He paused, his eyes dark and enquiring as he looked down on me. Neither of us spoke, the only sound coming from the TV in the background, as we stared at each other.

When his thumb began rub gently over my waist, I think I stopped breathing. I know I stopped breathing. His head dipped lower until our mouths were inches apart, and I didn't dare hope that he was going to kiss me. And he didn't; he just looked at me, his eyes moving over my features but lingering on my lips. When his tongue darted out, I braced myself, but nothing happened because the moment he moved, the lounge door swung open and Amelia marched in.

"Zak, the Wi-Fi has gone down." She stalked inside looking down at her phone. "I was playing my music."

Without any urgency, Zak pulled himself away from me and got off the sofa. I watched, still on my back as he walked over to his sister and gently pulled the phone from her hand. When Amelia's head came up, she looked over at the TV and I took the opportunity to sit up, acting like I hadn't been about to kiss her brother.

"He's making you watch The Visit ," she cried and swung her gaze to me. "It's hideous, isn't it?"

"Did he let you watch it?"

"Hey," Zak protested, his eyes concentrated on Amelia's phone screen as he tapped at it. "It's nothing to do with me. I was watching it, fell asleep, and she sneaked into my bedroom." He looked up and grinned at me. "Mum and Dad thought she was being murdered she screamed that loud, and I almost shit the bed." He handed the phone back to Amelia. "You'd disconnected from it somehow. I've told you, download stuff instead of using the Wi-Fi."

She rolled her eyes at him and then turned on her heels. "Oh, and by the way, Mum and Dad are back."

Instantly, my nerves spiked again, but Zak simply sat down, back at the opposite end of the sofa. He kicked his feet up on the footstool again, looking like nothing in the world ever bothered him.

"I should go," I said, shuffling to the edge of the cushion. "If your parents are back."

Zak turned to me and frowned. "Why? They're very friendly, you know."

How could one person seem so unbothered by anything? He hadn't cared that Amelia caught us about to kiss, or that his mum and dad were home, and some random girl was sitting on their sofa.

"Won't they be mad? That I'm here. They've just got home from work, Zak."

"Mum was reorganising her surgery and Dad was doing follow ups on a couple of surgeries. It's hardly been a taxing morning for them." He laughed, and it was deep and rumbling. Another reason for him to set the butterflies off again.

"Zak, I?—"

"This is where you're hiding."

I looked up to see a small, pretty woman standing in the doorway. Her dark hair was tied back with tendrils escaping the side. She was wearing jeans and a plain white t-shirt with a streak of dirt on the front, and her feet were bare.

Instantly, I looked down at my trainers that I'd kicked off, lying haphazardly next to the coffee table, and I reached for them.

"Mum, this is Maddy from school. She's a friend of Liam's and now mine, too."

I blinked rapidly, wondering how I was going to slip out now that she'd been alerted to my presence.

"Oh hi, Maddy." I turned to look at her. Her smile was just like Zak's, and she had a dimple in her cheek, just like him. Her accent was the same, just maybe a little more refined than Zak's. "It's lovely to meet you." Her eyes crinkled at the sides, and I genuinely believed she was happy to meet me.

"You, too," I replied. I wanted to apologise for imposing on their Sunday, but my mouth was too dry to say anything else.

She looked back into the hallway and then back to Zak and me. "We brought back pizza. Would you like to stay for some, Maddy? You'd be very welcome."

The lump in my throat grew bigger and my mouth went drier as I squeaked, "I don't want to impose, Mrs Hoyland."

"Don't be daft," Zak said. "Mum wouldn't have asked if she thought you were." He gave his mum a thumbs up. "She'll stay. Did you get Mexican beef?"

She laughed quietly and then shook her head. "Of course, we did, darlin'. Ten minutes and it'll be out in the kitchen. And Maddy, please call me Lisa."

Once she'd gone, Zak grabbed my arm, pulling me close again. "Good, we're just coming up to the nappy scene. It's just what you need before you tuck into a Mexican beef pizza." He burst out laughing, full, deep and long, and I couldn't help but join in. Until the scene came on the screen, and then I decided that maybe staying for pizza wasn't a good thing. Then I glanced at Zak and realised that even grimacing he was still more handsome than any other boy I'd met before, so perhaps I would manage it after all.