Free Loose Ends by Lucy Felthouse Page A

gave me a little shove.
    “I will,” I said decisively, resulting in confused looks from both girls. “After I’ve been to the toilet.”
    Before any of them could contradict me, I dashed off, leaving my empty glass on a table. Once in the safety of a locked cubicle, I dropped the toilet seat—which was mercifully clean—and sat, head in my hands. I had not been prepared for this. Not one bit.
    The guy in question had been in most of my classes during my three years at University. He was also “the one who got away”. The “one” so many of us have, still loitering in the back our minds years after the event. In this case, though, his sudden appearance had thrust him so violently to the very front of my mind I was surprised the inside of my cranium didn’t hurt.
    I’d fancied him almost as soon as I’d set eyes on him, during our very first day at Uni. With his shaggy hair, more-lazy-than-designer stubble and cheeky blue eyes, he was most definitely on my radar.
    By happy coincidence, I ended up next to him in the line for induction as we queued to sort out our student IDs, library cards, fee payments and the like. As I stepped up behind him, I checked out his rear view. And boy, was it a view. This guy knew how to wear a pair of jeans. He rose even further in my estimation.
    I stood there, trying to think of a cool and interesting way to get his attention and introduce myself when that luxury was taken away from me. A group of people pushed past the line, and one of them accidentally caught the edge of my bag, propelling it forward so it fell off my shoulder and smacked him in the back of the leg.
    He spun round just as I bent down to retrieve my bag, meaning that as I started to straighten up I came face to face with his crotch. My face grew so hot you could have fried bacon on it. I stood abruptly, wishing the ground would swallow me up.
    “I’m so sorry,” I blurted. “Those people walked past, and one of them knocked my bag off my shoulder.”
    “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “It was an accident. Are you okay?”
    I nodded, aware I probably still resembled a tomato. Sensing my obvious discomfort, he said, “Honestly, it’s fine. I’m Jonathan, by the way.”
    He smiled then, revealing dimples in both cheeks, little crinkles around his eyes and not-quite-perfect teeth. In that moment, he went from being on my radar to wiping everyone else off it. I was smitten.
    I smiled back then realized he was expecting me to speak. I struggled to get my brain to engage with my mouth. For some reason, all my blood appeared to have rushed elsewhere. “Hi Jonathan. I’m Lauren.”
    “Nice to meet you. Though you could have just said hello in the first place, rather than throwing things at me, you know.”
    I opened my mouth to give an indignant retort then realized he was struggling to repress a smile. He was teasing me!
    And that was how it started. We spent the entire day doing dull admin stuff together and getting to know one another. It should have been the start of a beautiful relationship, but sadly, it wasn’t. Because, unfortunately, Jonathan had a girlfriend. We continued to be good friends—albeit with lots of hot and heavy flirting and one hell of a spark—but by the time his relationship came to a natural close, I had a boyfriend. And so a vicious circle continued for three long years, dotted with lots of horniness, longing looks and double entendres; until graduation put an end to the whole sorry state of affairs.
    We’d kept in touch sporadically, which is how I knew we’d still never been single at the same time. I’d think about him during my bouts of singledom, wondering what could have been and imagining the hot sex we’d definitely have had. I knew that given the chance, we’d have been perfect for one another. But by the time I heard he was going to work abroad, Jonathan was nothing but occasional fantasy fodder.
    So my surprise when I saw him in the Student Union bar was