All the Little Things by Sarah Lawton (the best books to read txt) 📕

hair, making it stand up. When he moves them again the expression is gone, although his eyes are still very dark – the glints of gold and blue have disappeared into the deepest green. He’s got such amazing eyes.

‘I can’t stay tonight,’ he says, sparking a painful disappointment in me. ‘I have some work I need to do, but I’m free tomorrow. We could go for a picnic or something?’

I swallow my annoyance that he’s leaving and my confusion about how he reacted to me pushing him off, watching him as he stands up on his long, lean legs in one smooth movement, sweeping mine to the side as if they weigh nothing.

‘I know somewhere,’ I tell him, anxious suddenly that he’s going so quickly. ‘I used to go there all the time as a kid, to the woods. I can text you where to meet me?’

He smiles, tightly, and then he’s gone, leaving me to brood.

I usually hang out with Molly on a Saturday morning, but I haven’t called her today to ask what’s she’s doing because of my Alex plans, which have not one iota of room for her. I ended up telling her that I had to hang out with Mum last night. I hope Molly didn’t see her out. I know she’s getting suspicious about what’s going on with me and Alex, but this is my new secret. I’m sick of all hers.

I think it will be fun to get him completely lost in the woods today so I can have my way with him. I don’t understand how I’ve gone from being uninterested in sex to completely dying for it in less than a month, but I’m not going to complain – it’s good to be normal, right? I just want him to make me feel good. I know he can. I keep remembering that feeling, the first time we kissed, him pressed against me. I want it again. It will be the longest we have spent together, I will make sure of it. He’s always dropping in and out of my life, teasing me, not letting me know anything about him. He’s a puzzle that I need more time to solve, to break. I will find everything out eventually, he can’t get away from me now.

I’m meeting him at eleven out by the copse so I while away a bit of time replying to the girls. Our chat has been really quiet again this week, despite Molly’s best efforts, but there are messages on my phone from this morning. Molly wants us all to go to her house later for movies and a sleepover, just the four of us. Tilly hasn’t been at school but she is coming back on Monday. She says it’s horrible at her house with her mum crying all the time and her dad drinking too much. I tell them I will come later but I’m going out first, and Molly immediately texts me privately asking what I’m doing and who am I doing it with, but I just don’t reply. I decide to leave my phone on my bed while I’m out because I don’t want any disruptions, or Molly tracking me down with that app that tracks your GPS location. Why I let her persuade me into that one I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past her to turn up at the worst possible moment and ruin everything.

I tell Mum that I’m going to Molly’s and I’ll be there all night and she just nods at me without smiling. I practically sprint out of the door and away from the cottage, out the back gate past the studio. It occurs to me maybe I should have gone the other way as this is the opposite direction I should be going in but I don’t think she’s clever enough to notice that. She’ll be painting soon and that always makes her forget everything; she goes into a weird dream state, you could say anything to her and she wouldn’t even notice or remember.

Alex is waiting for me in the car park next to the woods where we’d arranged to meet. There aren’t any cars here, as usual – it’s not a busy spot really except the odd dog walker. We’re so far away from anywhere else that no one bothers. There’s nothing special here to see. It’s why I like it so much, you can feel like you’re the only person in the world. I can’t wait to take him to the stream, it’s the best spot in the whole woods, and exactly where I want to be with him.

He kisses me when I get up to him and then grabs my hand. ‘Ready?’ he says, tickling me with his smooth voice. ‘Are you planning on getting us lost in the woods?’

‘Only if you annoy me. I might leave you in there. You could be lost for days.’

‘Remind me never to annoy you, Vivian.’ He laughs.

The woods here aren’t big enough to get lost for days unless you are a complete idiot, but there are plenty of private spots to find and I quickly take us off the path toward my favourite one, pointing out the landmarks as we go. Molly and I found it, years ago, when we were still into playing outside and walking through streams and catching bugs and things. It was our secret place, but we haven’t been here together for ages now. I don’t know if she comes here any more, though I do occasionally when I want to be by myself. If it all gets too loud.

We walk for about a quarter of an hour, talking easily and stopping now and again to look at things, or just to kiss each other. Alex presses me hard against a tree at one point, and I wrap my legs around him as he holds me up. I want him to have me right there, but he pulls away like he always does and