Summer's Edge (2 page)

"We can’t do that! What would he think, seeing us in here? He might report us," Becky was the least adventurous of the three.

"I doubt he’d recognise us. It’s only a week since term started and it’s not like any of us play cricket," Jules said.

"If he doesn’t know who we are, we can hardly introduce ourselves then."

But Jules was already pushing through the crowd towards the group. The cricketers had also scored one of the few booth tables which increased their appeal. At the Dog & Duck a booth was the next best thing to a VIP lounge.

Alice had seen the new coach around school a few times over the past week and had developed a bit of a crush on him. She was far from the only one who found him attractive. Coming from Australia he was tanned and healthy looking while everyone else was still winter-pale. She saw Jules had worked her charm with the red-headed guy and was now waving them over to join her. Alice fought her way through following Becky, trying not to spill the three drinks she was carrying.
 

A bald man stepped back and bumped into her nearly sending her flying, and then turned round to give her an angry glare because some drink had splashed on him. It’s your fault, Alice wanted to say, but didn’t dare. Any hint of a fight and they’d all be thrown out.
 

A couple of the guys stood up so the girls could sit round the table and Alice found herself seated next to the school cricket coach. There was one other man about his age, early thirties she guessed, sitting on the other side of him. The rest of the group looked younger. She noticed Becky was already making eyes at one of them.

"I’m Stewart, and this is Chris." He introduced himself. So he obviously didn’t recognise them. Alice knew of him as Mr Walker. Chris turned out to be an Australian as well, who was currently coaching the local county team.

"My dad’s a huge cricket fan, he’s hoping you’ll do better this season," Jules told him. Gloucestershire had ended up close to the bottom of the table the previous year.

Chris grinned. "We’ll do our best. These boys are some of the weapons we’ve brought over." He indicated a couple of the younger guys, including the one Becky liked. "Brett, Grant, true blue Aussie firepower."

"I thought you could only have one overseas player," Jules said.
 

"Grant has an English granny so he’s impersonating one of us," the red-haired guy told her.
 

As the cricket talk continued Alice was enjoying the thrill of being pushed up against Mr Walker since as many people as possible were crammed in around the table. She was on the edge but if she moved away from him she would be falling off the bench. His hard, muscular thigh was pressed against hers and she could feel its warmth.

"Not much space in these English pubs is there?" he said to her.

She tried to apologise and move away but he laughed and stopped her by putting a hand on her thigh. It was a gesture to steady her, not a pass, but the heat of his hand even through her jeans made her shiver. He was so attractive. He had dark blonde hair, closely cropped, and grey blue eyes.

"So you’re involved in cricket too?" she asked, knowing the answer full well.

"I’m coaching at a school near here. Chris set me up with the job." Alice felt a slight twinge of guilt since she also knew the school in question. He explained that he’d been injured last season and was still considering permanent retirement. "We’ll see what the medics say. But I’m getting a bit old for this."

"How old are you?" she felt brave enough to ask.

He smiled, looking her straight in the eye. "Too old to be this close up against a young thing like you." She realised he was flirting with her. The attraction was mutual.
 

He didn’t even know the half of it when it came to her age. He probably assumed she was at least twenty-one, not eighteen. But Alice wasn’t going to let it deter her.

"I’m not that young," she lied. He laughed.

"It’s a good thing I haven’t drunk enough to lose all my self-control."

"You’d better have some more then." She looked him directly in the eye. She was shocked at herself for being so forward, but something carried her away.
 

At that moment one of the younger cricketers put a new round of drinks on the table.

Stewart Walker looked at Alice and took a beer. "You really want me to get hammered?"

"Down it in one," she challenged him. She wanted him to lose his inhibitions just a little bit more. She had no idea where she was going with this, she knew she was playing with fire but there was this electricity between them. She couldn’t take her eyes off his lips. She wanted to feel them on hers, on her neck.

She wasn’t sure how much anyone had drunk but she knew she’d had too many to have her wits fully about her. But she felt a lovely warm haziness sitting by him, by this guy who made her entire body tingle just by his proximity. He smelt amazing, an intoxicating male scent of clean sweat, soap and beer.

Suddenly Jules was tugging her arm. "I need to visit the ladies. Come with me."

Alice was reluctant, she was very happy where she was.

But Jules was fierce. "Come on."

The ladies loo was usually pretty awful by this time of night, water splashed everywhere with all the sinks clogged with wet tissues. Cigarette butts all over the floor. At least one cubicle was always out of order or had someone slumped and vomiting from drink. There were other girls queueing who gave them evil eyes.

"Do you actually need to go? The queue's forever." Alice said.

"I need to talk some sense into you. What the hell are you doing? You're practically falling all over him."

"It's not just me. He's been flirting back as well."

"That doesn't make it any better. For god's sake, Alice, how much have you drunk?"

"Becky's just as happy with that guy she's hanging off."

"He's not her teacher." Jules was worried.

"He's not really my teacher, is he? It's not like any of us play cricket. He's only here for a term anyway."

"I don't think he'll see it that way."

Alice looked at herself in the mirror. No matter how great you felt or how unsmudged your make up was, everyone looked like hell in the mirrors of the Dog & Duck. "I swear the lighting in here is designed to make people drink themselves to oblivion." She tried pinching her cheeks to look less pale. Her eyeliner was still in place and her hair was having a good night. How old did she look, she wondered? Twenty-one at least surely.

"Stop preening in front of the mirror and try to sober up."

"I'm honestly not that drunk. He's just so sexy, it's overpowering." Alice had drunk too much, but she knew she would still want to flirt with him even if she was sober.

"He's way too old for you," Jules said.

"He said that too."

"I should listen to him then, if I were you."

Returning to the table Alice made sure she was ahead of Jules so she could get her seat back. She wouldn't have put it past Jules to have taken her place to stop her sitting by Mr Walker. Jules was in such an annoying and uncharacteristically sensible mood.

"You're back," he said. A light came into his eyes even though he was clearly more drunk than before. He was glad she was back, Alice realised. It was enough to quash any more sensible intentions that Jules might have inspired in her.

"I'm back," she said and smiled at him. His eyes narrowed but his gaze didn't leave her.

She couldn't remember afterwards how long they sat there or how much more they drank or even if they held a coherent conversation. Alice was far from sober but she was more intoxicated by him than alcohol. 

Jules had clearly given up on her and was talking with the red-haired guy and another couple of guys, probably more of the cricket team.

Then they were sitting there and he was looking at her and suddenly he was leaning towards her and his lips brushed hers. Only briefly, but they were warm and firm and a jolt ran from her lips to the pit of her stomach.

"You taste better than beer," he said in her ear.

"You didn’t really get a proper taste," she said.

"This isn’t wise."

"Does it matter?" she asked.

"It probably should."
 

And then his mouth was on hers again, and she felt his tongue entering her, exploring her as the kiss deepened. He probed her own mouth, wet and warm and intimate and making her want more of him, want him closer.

He wasn't even touching her elsewhere, they were solely kissing. But any contact with him was like electricity. 

Some small part of her brain was freaking out: you’re kissing Mr Walker! What the hell are you doing? but the rest of her was in ecstasy. She was reciprocating, wanting to taste him back, to drink him in.

There were cheers and catcalls when the other guys noticed.

"Oi Stewie, stop molesting that poor girl," one of them joked.

Alice opened her eyes to see Jules glaring at her with an accusatory expression. Becky was so drunk she barely noticed what Alice was up to. She was smiling foolishly, half draped over the cricketer she liked who appeared to be equally attracted.

Mr Walker broke off. "I don’t think she needs rescuing. Do you?" he asked Alice.

She didn’t answer but smiled at him and went to kiss him again to an even louder chorus.

"Alright lay it off, it’s not a sideshow," Chris told the other guys. He was more in control of himself than the others, keeping an eye on his players. "None of you are going to be in any fit state tomorrow to play Somerset."

It was closing time anyway. Or rather chucking out time, since they were in a lock in and the landlord had finally had enough.

"Here’s where I should ask for your number," he said.

Alice panicked slightly. She couldn’t imagine how her mother would react if she picked up the phone to a strange Australian man, clearly not a schoolboy, asking for Alice. She also didn’t want him to know that she still lived at home.

She noticed Becky writing her phone number down on a beermat for the guy she had been flirting with. If Mr Walker was really inclined to call her, he could reach her through Becky.
 

"Here’s where I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to find it," she said.

Quite apart from the fact that he was surely going to recognise her at school next week. But she was trying not to think about that.

"You want me to look through the phone book for every single Alice?" he asked. "What’s your second name?"

That wouldn’t help him either, since it was listed under her stepfather’s name.

"You can contact me through Becky," she said. This would also raise the chances of the other guy calling Becky, so Alice felt she was doing her friend a favour.
 

"I might just do that." He gave her one last kiss goodbye, slow and lingering, still not putting his arms around her but just leaning down towards her. She could have kissed him forever.

But there was Jules, yanking her by the arm, dragging her out into the cool night which chilled her skin like a cold shower.

Alice was walking on air as they went through the streets to find a taxi. There was no point trying to get one in the throng spilling out of the Dog & Duck. The chances of getting into a cat fight or having someone vomit on your shoes were much higher.

"I think I’m in lust," she told them. "He kisses better than any guy I’ve ever known."

"You haven’t kissed every guy you’ve ever known," Jules said.

But nothing could dampen Alice’s spirits. Even with the alcohol wearing off she was in a buoyant mood.

Jules had to practically pull her out of the path of a car. "Have you taken something?" she asked.
 

"No, I’m just high on life."

"I wouldn’t be if I were you. You won’t be singing on Monday morning when he spots you in assembly. Or tomorrow morning given how much you’ve drunk."

They were all heading back to Jules’ house. Her parents were the most laid back about them returning in the early hours. Becky’s parents had no idea how late they stayed out.

Becky herself was also elated, gushing about her cricketer. "Brett’s only twenty-two and his mum’s a nurse just like mine."

"Come on, we’ll go to the taxi rank in the High Street or we’ll never make it home," Jules said. She was usually the party animal of the three so it was odd for her to be like this.

"Why are you on such a downer?" Alice asked. "Is it because you didn’t pull?"

"I did pull if you must know. He asked for my number but he’s not my type."

"He was nice looking," Becky said.

"It takes more than that. He was too wholesome."

The other two were in fits of laughter at this. "You play Captain Sensible all night and then you complain because the guy who hits on you is too wholesome? You were the one who set us all up with them."
 

Alice guessed that Jules was worried about Mr Walker. Jules was trying to stay out of trouble that term, the last thing she wanted was a suspension before their final exams. She’d got her dream offer to read law at one of the best universities in the country but she needed top results in her A-levels to take it up.

Not that she was the only one. Alice was hoping to do veterinary science which was even more competitive. Though she did have a few more options in front of her.

Her spirits were still soaring as they rode in the taxi. She felt warm and happy all over. A gorgeous man kissed me, she thought. An actual man. Not a schoolboy.

"Did Brett say when he’d call you?" she asked Becky. She hadn’t given a lot of thought to what she would actually do if Mr Walker did try and contact her. She wanted him to, of course, but she had no idea where it could go if he did.

"No, but he said he’d call me for next weekend."

"Does he know you’re still at school?" Alice asked.

"Yes but he didn’t seem bothered by it."

Jules made a sarcastic noise from the front seat. "I don’t think your Romeo will be quite so laid back, Alice."

"Maybe I could just avoid him at school all week. Make sure I don’t go near the cricket pitches."