‘I won’t. I promised.’
‘Mhm. I’ve already got one ick today, I don’t need a second.’
‘What? My dive?’
‘Yup.’
I think I’m genuinely wounded. Tomes should be written about that dive. It took a few tries to get there but that last one was Olympic standard.
I weigh up whether to get serious or not, but in the spirit of openness, I take the punt. ‘Mind-blowing sex isn’t just a fantasy, you know.’
She starts a little. ‘I do. Know that.’ She swallows. ‘Now.’
I rest my nose against her shoulder. ‘Good.’
Chapter 33
MINNIE
We walk the backstreets to town, passing holiday home after holiday home belonging to Italy’s rich and famous. It’s all broad gates and lush greenery under the Tuscan sun, a world away from tyre degradation trends and manic paddocks and silly season gossip.
Jack was all cute in the villa but now we’re in semi-public (even though a car hasn’t gone by in the last fifteen minutes), there’s at least a metre between us. I won’t argue it – I’m joining his holiday – but I find it interesting. To me, holding hands is just as couply as kissing in the pool or snuggling on a lounger. The demarcations he draws are strange.
‘You wanted to know a secret,’ he says quietly. ‘I have been keeping something from you.’
I raise my eyebrows, urging him to continue, and try not to hold my breath.
‘I have a brother.’
I wasn’t expecting that. BeatsI’ve knocked a girl up and want to be his dad.
I don’t want to burst his bubble, but I know he has a brother. Anyone who’s read the ‘Early life’ section of his Wikipedia page knows that. There are old news articles about him too, butnothing recent. The curious part’s why Jack considers him a secret. This moment feels like a big deal to him so I play along. ‘Oh yeah?’
‘His name’s Teddy.’
Jack doesn’t hurry to expand, so I prompt, ‘Younger?’
‘By four years.’
We lapse into silence. If he wants to tell me, he can. If he doesn’t, that’s fine. After ten or so steps, he doesn’t look at me when he says, ‘I wasn’t totally honest about why my family couldn’t move with me to Italy. We lived hand-to-mouth, sure, but also… my brother needs fulltime care.
‘I’m not embarrassed by him or anything scummy like that. I don’t tell people to protect his privacy. He can’t have a say in what gets shared about him, and there were instances where reporters and fans turned up at my parents’ house and even Ted’s hospital appointment—and I can’t have that.’
Oh my god.Some people have no boundaries.
‘A long time ago I decided to only talk about him with people I trust,’ he goes on. ‘Journalists, fans and even my own PR manager give me shit about not standing up for disability rights, but my brother and his safety are more important.’
‘Of course. Thank you for sharing him with me.’
He looks like he’s not sure if opening up was the right decision. ‘Yeah.’
I didn’t know any of that; I just knew he had a younger brother who looked vaguely like him and was often pictured in a wheelchair.
‘If you don’t mind my asking, does he have a condition?’
He rubs his eye under his sunglasses. ‘Angelman Syndrome. Have you heard of it?’
‘No.’
