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should go to you two.’
    Smith took a gulp of his hot chocolate. ‘Hardly. She left me way behind.’
    Effie grinned. After five minutes skating hand in hand with Smith, she’d let go and glided around the rink on her own. She’d wanted to see if she’d really got to grips with it, and if she was being honest, she needed to get away from him. Holding his hand had felt better than it should have, so much so that she hadn’t wanted to let go. From the moment he’d turned up at her wedding, she’d been abrasive towards him, but as they’d skated together, she found herself laughing at his jokes. It was all too familiar, and she didn’t want any part in it. And, she didn’t want Oliver to arrive and see them together. It turned out she needn’t have worried, because he’d decided to stay out with his friends and head into the West End. She couldn’t begrudge him a night out; he worked hard and rarely went out, but still. Somerset House was the perfect place for romance.
    ‘I’m just glad it wasn’t me on my arse. Some of those people were maniacs,’ Lou said.
    As more people piled into the cafe, the smell of cigarette smoke breezed in through the door, and Effie sighed with longing. ‘God, I’d kill for a smoke right now.’
    True to her word, she’d quit the day after the wedding, but the urge was overwhelming, and it wasn’t helped when Lou chucked a packet across the table.
    ‘I can’t,’ Effie said. ‘I’ve quit.’
    ‘Whatever,’ Lou replied and rolled her eyes.
    Oliver would be so disappointed in her, but after a few seconds of internal debate, Effie shook a cigarette from the box and grimaced . ‘Not a word to Olly.’
    Lou shrugged her shoulders and wrapped her hands around her mug. ‘A word about what? I’ll come for the next one. I’m still frozen to the bone.’
    Effie shrugged her jacket on and ducked outside. As she leaned against the wall, she lit the cigarette and took a long, deep drag. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed it until then. She knew it was bad for her, and she’d promised Oliver, but sometimes it was nice to just take a few minutes of time out. The nicotine rushed to her head as she blew out her second plume of smoke, and when she blew the third, Smith joined her.
    ‘You got a light?’ He held up his cigarette and Effie threw the lighter, aiming for his head. His hand shot up as he caught it effortlessly with a grin. She threw him an unimpressed look. Why did he have to be so annoyingly good at everything?
    ‘Did you have fun?’ he asked as he lit the tip of his cigarette.
    She shrugged. ‘It was alright.’
    ‘What?’ He raised an eyebrow and blew his smoke out of the side of his mouth. ‘Ice skating too lowbrow in your world now, is i t?’
    Effie shook her head. ‘Don’t be stupid.’
    He leaned against the wall and looked down at her. ‘So, lover boy Henry didn’t show. What a shame.’
    ‘Did you come out here just to piss me off?’ She glowered at him, wishing he’d disappear as quickly as the smoke trailing off the end of her cigarette.
    ‘You know, I’ve been trying to figure it out. I mean, nobody gets married that quickly after meeting someone.’
    ‘Let me save you the trouble: I love him.’
    ‘You said the same thing to me once. I’m not convinced you mean it this time round.’
    ‘Whatever.’ Effie flicked her cigarette into the road. ‘You have no idea how arrogant you sound.’
    ‘Oh, I dunno. I don’t think you’d react to me like you do if you didn’t still feel something for me. The way you yanked your elbow away from me earlier was like I’d just tried to kill you rather than help you.’
    ‘And you think that’s a sign that I’ve got feelings for you? Sounds like you’re a bit deluded to me,’ Effie replied.
    ‘No. It was the way you were holding on to me while we were skating that did it.’
    How did he do that? How did he always manage to seem like he knew what was going on in her head? She looked up at