“What's going on?” Freya asked with a curious grin. “Are you and McCoy-?”
“It's a long story. I’ll fill you in later,” I answered. “For now though, we're talking.”
“But things are good? It's good talking, right?”
“Yes.”
Letting out a squeak of delight, she said, “That's great!”
“It is,” I said. “But there's a long way to go yet. I'm staying here an extra day and … we'll see.”
“Stop playing it so cool! You're ecstatic, I can see it in your eyes!”
Closing my eyes, I leaned forward, my forehead resting on her shoulder, “I am ecstatic. I don't want to jinx it though, so shush!”
“You won't! I think there might be something in the air here.”
My head snapped up. Freya’s eyes twinkled, and I let out a gasp. “Did something happen with you and Will?”
She nodded. “He was kind of drunk but he … he said he’s been in love with me for a long time, and thinks we should go on a date!”
It was my turn to let out a squeal. “That’s fantastic! I really, really want to hear all about it but I need to go and separate Radleigh and Josh before they start pulling each other’s hair.”
“It’s okay,” Freya said. “We’ll talk later. Let’s meet for drinks tonight.”
I grinned. “It’s a date.”
After saying a brief goodbye to Josh and trying to explain to Jamie why I wasn't going home with them, Radleigh and I left the hotel and went for a walk around the city.
It's funny how, when you live in London, you don't take in how phenomenal it really is. There’s so much you take for granted because there’s never any time to appreciate what's around you. With Radleigh though, it was like a holiday. We did the tourist thing of visiting Buckingham Palace, then Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and Oxford Street but Radleigh had one final request before we went back to the hotel.
“I want to go on that enormous wheel thing that overlooks the Thames,” he said as we made our way through the masses of people in the street. “It looks amazing.”
My heart stopped for a second and I looked at him, panic stricken. “The London Eye?”
“Yeah. Have you ever been on it?”
“No. I’m scared of heights.”
“You are?” he asked, with a small laugh. “Wow.”
“What? Is that so strange?”
He shrugged. “I guess not, I just never knew that about you before.” He gave me a knee-weakening smile and added, “I still want to go on.”
“Then you ‘re on your own.”
We made our way to the famous tourist attraction, where the queue for the London Eye was insanely long. Hordes of people were waiting in line to get a full view of the city from the top of the wheel. Just looking at the height of it made me queasy.
“Oh, it looks like we won't be going on today,” I said, happily.
“What do you mean? I thought British people loved to queue,” he teased.
“Ha ha. That is a myth.”
“Leah, come on. I really wanna go on. Please come with me. I'll look after you, I promise.”
The part of me that couldn't resist him resurfaced.