“I don’t know…”
“That wasn’t a question. We’re lighting the bonfire at six.”
After Derek left, I pulled on a clean, dry sweater and looked around my house. It was odd. I’d spent most of the week in bed, yet somehow the house seemed dirty. It wasn’t messy, but it just felt off. For a guy, I was pretty OCD when it came to my house. Grabbing the disinfectant, I gave the bathroom a quick once-over before dragging the vacuum cleaner from the bottom of the cupboard.
Two hours and forty minutes later I collapsed into the lounge and clicked on the TV. I was completely wrecked. Mercifully it was super Saturday on the football channel. Back to back games all afternoon and into the night. Too lazy to get up and grab a drink, I piled up the cushions beneath my head and settled in for the long haul.
I woke to my stomach turning on itself. It was painful. Checking the score, I realised I’d slept through more than a half of football and my team were losing. Badly. What’s worse, they were playing like shit. When it went to an ad break, I found my feet and headed towards the kitchen in search of food. Grabbing a bag of chips and a jar of salsa, I headed back in to suffer through the rest. Hopefully they’d play better in the final quarter.
They didn’t.
They got smashed.
Embarrassingly so.
The only thing that offered me relief was the fact that no one knew I was a Blues supporter. The anonymity provided a safe place. If anyone knew my secret, there was no doubt in my mind I’d be ridiculed relentlessly. And after the effort they’d put in today, I’d say deservingly so.
The game ended and I found myself lacking energy. The old house was cold. Draughts came in under every door jamb and window. If I wasn’t going out tonight, I’d light the fire and get it roaring.
The clock on the TV read four thirty. Too late to do anything. Too early to leave. Shivering again, I climbed off the lounge and headed down the hall. A moment later, I slipped back under the covers, grabbed my iPad, and logged on. The quickest way to lose time was online. Between catching up on the world around me and watching stupid animal videos on YouTube, before long it was ten minutes to six. I was going to be late.
“Didn’t know if you’d show,” Mia taunted as I stepped through the front door, bending down to drop a soft kiss on her cheek.
“Wasn’t given much of a choice, really.”
“Well, come in and grab a drink then.”
Moving through the house, I could hear Josie’s voice, followed by what I could only assume was Matilda’s innocent laughter. Dropping my eyes, I strode through the house, quickly finding myself with my head in the fridge, pulling out a cold can of lemonade. I knew it wasn’t very butch to be drinking lemonade at a bonfire, but I wasn’t entirely sure my rolling stomach could handle a beer. And I wasn’t about to embarrass myself by testing the theory.
Taking a long pull, I spun around to find Mia eyeing me warily.
“She’s giving Matilda a bath,” Mia said pointedly.
“I wasn’t—”
“You sure?”
Yep, I was. No, I wasn’t. I hated everything about this. Josie seemed like a pretty cool chick. Like every female I’d ever met, young or old, she had her quirks, but she seemed down to earth and I could see myself having a tonne of fun with her. She hadn’t been afraid on the back of my bike, and in the moments she wasn’t second guessing herself or worrying about everyone else’s opinions, she was exactly my type of woman. Except for one little thing. A little thing with adorable brown eyes which threatened to capture my heart. Something I couldn’t allow.
“Derek?”
“Out the back.”
“Thanks.”
As quickly as I could I pushed open the glass sliding door and ducked out the door into the frigid night air. Seeing each breath turn into a puffy white cloud in front of my face was strangely invigorating. Shaking off the thoughts of the woman who’d captured my imagination and her shadow, I headed across the lawn in the direction of the congregation of guys standing, beer in hand, around the barbeque.
“Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence.” Derek chuckled.
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
“Feeling better yet?”
“Heaps. No idea what that was the other day.”
“Josie take good care of you?”
I forced myself to take a huge gulp, not knowing what to say. What was he hinting at? The smug smirk suggested there was more to his question than innocent inquisitiveness.
