My Summer Boy

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

"I just want to go and talk to someone, mum." Lillian was on next and the thought of sitting through her act again was horrifying. "It's only the magician on next and I'll be back in a few minutes."

We'd come in just as Declan was finishing up his performance, much to my disappointment, but he'd met my eyes and given me the confidence to go and find him now. He'd probably just be hanging around near where I saw him yesterday, I supposed. "Fine, but be back before the next act." Thankfully she hadn't questioned who exactly I wanted to see and probably just assumed it was Rachel. My mum had never been a fan of Sam, but I doubted she'd like me meeting a stranger, either.

Slipping out the back door, I took a peek down the corridor with the bathrooms and came up short. Next, I tried outside and was surprised to find him leaning against the wall with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Smoking had never been the most attractive thing to me, but it certainly didn't diminish his appeal.

"Hi," I sidled up to him with hands clasped behind my back. I'd always been good with friends – there was nothing that stopped me talking and laughing and generally being confident around people I liked, but with guys there was something much more reserved about my personality. I'd not gone through the stage of having meaningless boyfriends at age 13, I still wasn't even sure why, really, but now I didn't have a lot of experience. Sam and I was the first time I'd done anything like that, and it had all been him coming onto me. "I missed your performance because my brother spilt spaghetti all down himself, so that kind of sucked."

Declan chuckled, stubbing out his fag. "I guess I'll just have to give you a solo performance then." That was definitely flirting, right?

My cheeks burned whether it was or not. "Unfortunately it'll be about an hour before I can ditch my parents. You already heard my mother's 'family holiday' spiel."

"No worries. I'm free all night. I quite like the guy who's up next, anyway. You'll enjoy him, too, I think."

"Oh, cool. I think anything is better than magic, anyway," I rolled my eyes and hoped I'd judged the gist of Declan and Lillian's relationship properly. "It's a shame my brother doesn't think so."

Declan chuckled. "Lillian hates everything here, including her act. I feel a bit sorry for her most of the time, I think she'd go as far away from here as possible if she had a choice." Well, that made me feel a bit bad, anyway. I'd stay away from talking down about her in the future. "But yeah, her act is shitty."

My mum seemed to jump when she walked outside and saw me. "Your little brother is feeling ill." She pressed the back of his hand to his forehead for effect. "So, we're going to head home. Are you ready to go?"

I spared Declan a quick glance. "Actually I think I'll hang around her for a bit longer if that's all right. If you guys are just going to bed anyway..."

I mentally crossed my fingers. Maybe she'd just go for it for a change. "Okay, honey. If that's what you want." Both my parents had been eying Declan up, but this was technically me taking an interest in the holiday, even if it wasn't a very pure one. "Take this key and try not to wake anyone when you come in, if you would."

"I will do. Thanks mum. See you in the morning." Bouncing on my heels, I couldn't quite meet Declan's gaze. "Well, I'm free for the evening, then. Did you have anything planned?"

"Nothing exciting," pushing off from the wall, he started walking and I jogged to catch up. "I thought we might just take a beach stroll in the dark. It's surprisingly pretty." That definitely sounded more like a date activity than a meeting a friend on holiday activity. My arms itched to be linked through his, but I held back.