I don’t know if it was her woman’s intuition or the fact she spent most of her days trying to decipher fact from fiction, but she’d nailed it.
“Nothing.” I waved off her question. “Now, let’s eat so you can get to work on time,” I smiled at her, watching as she wiped her hands on the dishtowel before tossing it on the bench and heading to join us.
While we ate, we chatted like a normal family. Who was home for dinner? What was on the agenda for the day? Was Elise going to strangle the little shit who kept trying to look up her skirt? Then they turned their attention on me.
“You nervous about today?” Elise enquired gently.
Yes. “No,” I replied automatically. I felt like I couldn’t tell the truth. Up until now, Luca had been a flatmate. A guy to sit and shoot the shit with. Have a beer with by the barbeque or go for a run with each afternoon. When we got to the club this morning all that would change. Luca wouldn’t just be Luca anymore. He’d be Coach Conti. An ex-representative player and all-around Aussie legend, but he’d also be the one in charge of deciding my fate. He could select me or he could bench me. I doubted picking up his socks was going to get me a starting jersey.
“It’s okay if you are,” Elise reminded me, reaching out and squeezing my hand.
Elise was five years older than me according to our birth certificates but in reality, it might’ve well have been twenty. She was wise, caring, and way too grown up for her own good. Her favourite thing in life was the herb garden she’d made me and Luca build for her in the sweltering heat. Even though we both bitched about it the entire time we were shovelling dirt and cow shit, there was no way we could say no to her. A little fact she was well aware of and used to her advantage often.
“I’m okay. Promise,” I attempted to assure her—and me. A little extra assurance wouldn’t go astray right now.
“Well, I think you’re going to do awesome,” Elise confirmed, bouncing out of her chair and dropping her plate in the sink.
“Thanks.”
“Well, I’ve gotta run. You two behave today. No fighting and I’ll see you when I get home.” Elise scooped up her handbag, the biggest handbag I’d ever seen, kissed Luca quickly on the cheek before stepping out of his reach, something I don’t think he was overly impressed with based on the way he grunted and attacked the piece of toast with his knife. “Oh, and don’t forget. Jax and Dana are coming over tonight for a barbeque. Seth, you’re cooking,” Elise reminded me before ducking out the door.
“Jax and Dana?” I asked Luca.
He rolled his eyes. “Yep. You haven’t met Dana, yet have you?” Shaking my head, Luca continued. “If you think Elise and Jax are a dangerous combination, just wait till they add Dana to the mix. Duck for cover and stay quiet’s the best advice I can give you.”
“Are you serious?” To be honest, the way Luca was describing them, I was thinking spending the night crashing at Bryce’s was the best option.
“Nah, not really. They’re good people. They looked out for Elise. They’re her family. You’ll love them.” Luca clapped his hand on my shoulder as he climbed out of his chair. Following his lead, I stood up and started clearing the table.
“Hey, Luca?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you, I don’t know, maybe… ask Jax to…”
“Ask Jax to what?” Luca dropped the cutlery in the sink, turned to face me, crossing his ankles over and leaning against the sink.
“Maybe ask Jax to stop…” Fuck, this was awkward.
“To stop what?” Luca had a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. I hated that my awkwardness was entertaining him. Prick.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” I grumbled, stuffing the syrup back in the pantry and collecting the placemats.
“Come on. Spit it out, Masters.”
“Fine. It’s weird when Jax makes comments about my arse.”
As soon as I said it, I heard how stupid it sounded. Luca exploded into a fit of booming laughter that I swear they heard two suburbs over. It wasn’t funny. Some of his jokes, at least I hoped they were jokes, made me really fucking uncomfortable.
Still laughing, Luca asked, “Like what?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah, it does. What’s he say?”
“Let’s see. Last time he was here he told me, ‘I’m not Thor, but I can be your arse guardian.’”
If I thought Luca was laughing before, now he was hysterical. He was holding his sides; tears were streaming down over his red cheeks as he gasped for breath. “That’s fucking gold,” he gasped out between bursts.
