I snorted. Jaxson definitely had a way with words. “Gee thanks. Look, I’ve gotta go, I’m just pulling into the carpark. We on for Saturday?”
“Yeah. Think about what you wanna do. It’s your turn.”
“Mmm.”
“What does that mean?”
“Mmm. I was thinking we might watch a soccer game.”
“Oh, sweetheart. You’ve got a crush,” Jax teased, sounding like a prepubescent tween.
“No, I don’t,” I denied, hating the niggling in the back of my mind that maybe he was right.
“Keep telling yourself that. Now, go mould young minds and let me go back to sleep.”
“Love you.”
“Back at ya. Bye, chicky.”
Hanging up, I couldn’t stop smiling. I was a bloody lucky girl. I had two amazing men in my life who made me smile for completely different reasons. I didn’t want to give either of them up. And thankfully, I didn’t have to. But first, I had a class to face.
By lunch time, the smile Luca had left on my face had faded, and I was staring at the calendar, counting down the days to school holidays. With four more weeks before a break, I was seriously wondering if I was going to make it.
Thankfully, the next couple of days were pretty uneventful – other than the fact Corey’s oddness was starting to border on creepy – something even Trish had noticed and commented on. If I was being honest, I was glad she’d seen it. It meant it wasn’t all in my head.
Saturday afternoon arrived, I had the coffee table buried under a mountain of snacks, all suggested by Pinterest because I had no freaking idea what you were supposed to serve while watching soccer, and I was ready. At least I think I was. My iPad was charged, and I’d Googled the rules, now all I needed was for Jaxson and Dana to arrive and the whistle to blow.
Chapter Nineteen – Luca
Walking through my front door, I knew I’d made the right decision in retiring. After two away games back to back, I felt like I’d been in a pinball machine bouncing from one side of the country to the other. It’d taken its toll. I wasn’t sure if it was the travel, the game, or the fact that we’d come home, tail between our legs after losing both games. Either way, I was exhausted.
Dumping my bag by the door, I flopped onto the lounge and closed my eyes. It was late on Sunday afternoon, and I was home four hours later than I was supposed to be, thanks to delays at the airport, which meant my dinner with Elise had been cancelled. When I’d called and told her, she’d sounded disappointed, at least I chose to believe she did, but she’d understood. The upside of being away was we’d been forced to get to know each other with our clothes on. Exchanging texts and calls, I’d learnt a lot about Elise.
One night, very late, I don’t know if she’d had a shitty day or one too many glasses of red, she’d opened up about her family. Even though she’d already told me about her brother, she went on to add that after his death, what was left of her family fell apart around her. Within twelve months her parents had separated, and she hadn’t heard from her mother since. And her dad; the way she described the man broke my heart. He sounded hard-working and determined to be the best he could be for his daughter, but he was bumbling around and more than a little lost himself. The way she told it, Jax was her family and the most important person in her world, and all I could ever hope to be was second.
In return, I’d filled her in on the idiosyncrasies of my own dysfunctional family. She didn’t seem discouraged by the sheer numbers. It probably helped she’d already met my mother and two of my sticky beak sisters. Elise just told me I was lucky to have them, and I knew she was right.
Dragging my lazy butt up off my couch, I headed for the shower. I’d made it three steps before I realised that something felt off. Something was different. Diverting to the kitchen, I froze when I saw the dining room. There was a picture on the wall. Hanging on an actual nail in the wall, was a giant print I’d bought at a charity auction years ago that had spent its time wrapped in bubble wrap tucked away in the spare room. After standing there admiring it for a moment, I kept moving through the house. The spare bedroom bed had sheets on it. There was a table beside the bed with a lamp set up. Someone had been in my house.
Finding my phone in my pocket, I shot off a text to the family group.
Luca: Who played interior designer while I was away?
Almost instantly the replies came.
Mum: Wasn’t me.
Izzy: Nope. Is it any good though? Pics?
There was radio silence from the other two. I wouldn’t have considered it suspicious except I could see that they’d both read it.
Luca: Sienna? Ari?
Arianna: Fine. I was there.
Arianna: Your place was depressing. It needed help
Luca: Not saying it didn’t
