Leaping out the door, Eddie hovers over him as blood pumps furiously from Ollie’s mouth where he seems to have bit his lip in his fall. Ollie rises slowly, wiping his face with the back of his hand. Eddie lunges at him again in a powerful tackle but this time Ollie is ready for it and barely wobbles against the assault. Eddie shoves his chest again. ‘You! How could you do this to me?’
Rage fills my insides. Eddie has hit the nail on the head, striking a chord buried so deep I’d almost forgotten it was there. ‘To you?’
‘Stay out of this, Amy,’ Eddie warns.
‘No, Eddie, I won’t.’ The word I could never previously say bolts out with such force, even Emma looks startled. ‘I love him. We’re getting married.’
Ollie’s eyes meet mine, shining with love. ‘I love her, Eddie. I’ll never hurt her. I’ll look after her, I promise.’
‘Like you looked after Anita?’ Eddie spits and Ollie flinches. Emma pulls at Eddie’s arm as he snarls at Ollie.
I’m missing something, but I’m not sure what.
Matthew, the voice of reason, speaks, ‘Come in and we’ll discuss it inside. The neighbours are probably filming the entire thing and the paparazzi could be here in less than a minute. A scuffle like this will make front page news and neither of you needs that kind of publicity.’
Ollie walks towards me, tentatively. ‘Are you ok?’ His tender eyes examine every millimetre of my face searching for any trace of harm, while his own face bleeds freely from Eddie’s powerful blow.
‘I’m fine. He’d never hurt me. Not physically anyway.’ I usher him into Mam’s hallway and through to the kitchen.
‘Is this him?’ Stacey asks, as the kids congregate near their parents.
‘Yes. This is Ollie. Come on, I’ll put a movie on for you while the grown-ups talk.’ As I speak I realise I am the grown-up, specifically the one that needs to do the talking. Emma steps in and finds the TV remote, offering me a squeeze of solidarity as she passes me.
Eddie’s expression is murderous. His index finger hovers an inch above Ollie’s chest. I pray to god he doesn’t strike him again.
‘You’ve been lying to my face for months. You were supposed to have met yourgirlfriendon Finding Forever. Bullshitting me about some bird, thanking me even for registering you. You must have been having a great laugh behind my back.’
‘I would never laugh at you. Wewerematched by Finding Forever. And for that I’ll be eternally grateful. Because Amy being who she is, I would never have dared to ask her out myself, no matter how badly I wanted to.’ Ollie sits on the chair Matthew vacated while Nicky fetches some ice for his face. Mam and Dad hover by the sink watching the exchange like a tennis ball passing back and forth.
Technically Dad is the head of this family, but Eddie’s run the show since that night he caught Zac assaulting me in the garden. After he’d finished with Zac he turned on Dad, blaming him almost as much as Zac. He was furious that our parents were drinking wine metres away, with no concern for their teenage daughter outside with a man old enough to know better. And Daddy agreed. Blamed himself.
Unofficial head of the family, Eddie’s the one any of us go to when we’re in trouble. Eddie’s the strongest physically. He’s a natural born leader and that’s why he’s used to people following his orders. His car crash with Matthew nearly killed him. Not literally. Physically, he walked away relatively unscathed, but mentally, it took him a long time to get over. If he even has yet. He’s always been the protector, the strong one, even while he’s pretending to be goofing around he’s always had our backs.
I don’t blame Dad or anyone except Zac. Memories of his heavy torso pinning me to the floor haunted my dreams for years. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to be intimate with anyone, to trust a man in that way. By the time it was my eighteenth birthday I was so sick of worrying about it, I took matters into my own hands, losing my virginity in the summer house just to get it over and done with.
I expected nothing from the sex, and that was what I got. Thankfully being with Ollie has taught me sex can be loving and pleasurable. Before it was a necessary part of a relationship, but not necessarily one I’d ever truly enjoy. Ollie changed everything for me. I trust him not to ever hurt me. And now he’s standing by his word, he picked me and my feelings over my brother’s. And we are engaged.
Eddie’s mouth drops into an incredulous grimace and he turns to me. ‘Yousigned up for Finding Forever?’
‘Technically, Geri signed me up for it. She was sick and tired of listening to me complaining about how lonely I am since I got home from London. How I could never meet anyone decent and how even if I did, my own family would likely terrify him away the second I introduced them.’ Even in the bizarreness of the situation my lips twitch into a smile as my eyes meet Ollie’s across the room.
‘That’s amazing. I’ve seen that company on TV commercials. It’s got like a ninety something per cent compatibility rate, right?’ Emma gushes while the rest of my family stare at Eddie, waiting. She’s the only one who will stand up to him. That’s probably why they work so well together.
‘That’s the one,’ I confirm.
‘You can imagine my surprise when I got there to find I’d been matched with Amy,’ Ollie chips in.
‘Oh bullshit.’ Eddie bangs his fist on the table. ‘I’m not buying this star-crossed lovers crap. I saw your face that night in the players’ lounge when you were chatting up my little sister. You were ready to chew her up and spit her out when you’d finished, just like you’ve been casually shagging your way round Dublin for months.’
Ouch. Eddie’s words land like a punch to the gut. Ollie said he didn’t do causal. Is Eddie mistaken, or has Ollie not been honest with me? Swallowing down my hurt, I refuse to pull him up on it here. Not in front of my family. It will only add fuel to a rapidly spreading fire.
Ollie sits up straight and stares at Eddie like he’s considering ripping his limbs off. ‘May I remind you that it was your idea I “sow my oats”.’
‘I didn’t mean with my kid sister,’ Eddie growls.
Mam gasps and Dad tuts. From the siting room next door theBeauty and the Beasttheme tune sounds. Matthew gazes thoughtfully between our brother and my lover.
‘I’m not a kid. I’m twenty-five. I’ve put up with your babying for far too long. You saved me from Zac. And I’ll be eternally grateful. But Ollie is not Zac, and I’m a grown woman who can take care of herself. It ends here.’ It’s the most rebellious thing I’ve ever said out loud and it feels amazing, empowering. A surge of triumph soars through every cell in my body. I feel ten feet taller and my chest balloons with pride that I’m finally standing up for myself.
