“Fair enough. Come on, Psycho; let’s go look at the footy medals behind the bar.”
Willow and Patrick exited the booth, leaving him and Derek alone together. The gleam in Byron’s mate’s eyes said he wasn’t done hanging shit, and he resisted the urge to get up and leave as well.
He was keen to return to his inbuilt Melbourne social system, but part of him dreaded it, too. He’d miss his small world withonly Beth and Simon and whatever club he worked for. He loved his friends, but they were knobs. And the bastards all knew too much.
“Beth probably doesn’t want a divorce,” Derek said.
“Shockingly, I’d come to that conclusion on my own, bloke.”
“What did she actually say in her message?”
“I told you, something about a sitter and…” Flustered, Byron pulled out his phone and recited the message word for word.
Derek stared at him like he had two heads. “She wants to fuck you.”
“Huh?”
“You can’tstillbe this dense about your own missus. She’s gonna jump you at the door.”
It was Byron’s turn to stare in confusion. “How’d you get that from this? It’s a Tuesday, and I won’t be in ‘til?—”
“Sometimes I worry about you, bloke. Just do yourself a favour and buy flowers when you get off the plane.” Derek squinted at him. “Maybe drink some coffee?”
Byron’s face burned. He’d never been good at this stuff. Understanding what people wanted outside of football. Talking about anything that wasn’t football. How was he supposed to tell Derek that after the year they’d had, Beth wanting to hook up was the last thing he’d assume when she did something out of character?
Derek leaned across the table. “Things okay with you guys?”
He nodded. Derek knew what had gone down after Simon was born, so he didn’t feel like he was betraying Beth by saying, “It was rough for a while, though. Not just us, just… everything.”
“Lots going on for you guys between the new job and the move and all that, too.”
“Yeah,” Byron told the tabletop. “Been busy.”
“You’re still fucking her, yeah?”
He looked up so fast that his neck twinged.
Derek spread his fingers wide. “Not having you on. Actually asking.”
The fight left Byron as quickly as it had come, leaving only embarrassment in its wake. “I… Yeah. A fair bit, actually.”
“That’s good.” Derek frowned. “Any reason she’d want the extra time?”
Byron’s stomach sank. A month ago, he’d stupidly mentioned his hot nanny thing to Beth. He could tell he’d freaked her out, but before he could say he meantshe’dmake a hot nanny, the cheating scandal broke, and he’d barely had time to blink.
She’d dropped little hints about what he’d said since, and he’d wanted to punch himself in the face. After the year she’d had, Beth didn’t need to think he was turned on by anyone who’d looked after Simon. But he knew Beth. Of course, she’d voluntarily booked a sitter to do something nice forhim. She’d taken his offhand comment and planned a roleplay date, thinking it was what he wanted. He groaned.
“Fuck I’m stupid.”
“What?” Derek asked.
He shook his head. Some guys could talk about sex, but he wasn’t one of them. He wasn’t a prude, at least he didn’t think he was, but getting into the details of that stuff made him want to binge drink. He couldn’t open up that way with anyone but Beth.
Derek scowled, serious as the CIA. “Mate, keep in mind I don’t wanna talk about this either, but you’re spiralling, and if you fuck things up with Beth, Mara’ll kill me. So, let’s speedrun. Beth wants it tonight, yeah? That’s why she got a sitter?”
“I think so…” he squinted. “She’s probably gonna…”
“Go all out?”
