“Stepbrother,” I mutter under my breath.
“What was that?”
I sigh. “Sounds great, Mum. Can’t wait.”
“That’s what I thought, dear.”
With a tight smile, she turns back to her conversation with George and Felix, and Leni shoots me a sympathetic look as I slump back into my seat as the second half of the game starts.
I hate the way my mother uses me to keep up her perfect family façade when we’re clearly not. Luca and I have barely said more than ten words to each other in the last four years. He’s been content to ignore my existence, and I’ve been content to let him. The last person he’ll want at this dinner is me.
Chapter 5
Luca
The mood in the changeroom after the game is euphoric. We beat our rivals, Blue Haven University, three-two in a nail-biting finish. In the eighty-ninth minute, I got the slip on not one, not two, but three defenders before hitting the top corner from my left foot. The keeper had no chance of saving it, and it sailed straight over his head.
It helped that my ex-teammate and Coach Rourke’s son, Dylan, had a point to prove. He tried to take on the team by himself and played the worst game I’ve seen him play in a long time. His BHU teammates were giving him dirty looks on their way into the opposition changerooms—I’d hate to be him on the team bus back to Blue Haven.
“What party are we hitting up tonight, bro?” asks Theo, whipping me on the arse with his towel as he walks past.
I grunt at the searing pain, then bite my lip as I try not to think of a certain blonde angel doing that to me.The last thing I need is a raging hard-on in the changing rooms.
“I’m busy,” I tell him.
“Aww, come on. Don’t be like that, Cap. Your boy is ready to console all the broken-hearted pussies you’re gonna leave in your wake. I’ve got your back.”
I shake my head. “Not happening, Theo.”
Opening my bag, I pull out my phone and subtly check the Euphoria app, but there’s no response to the three messages I left her this week asking if she’ll meet me. Disappointment coils in the base of my stomach. I’ve been all tied up in knots since she walked out on me last month, and I’ve refrained from touching myself as repentance. But what good is that if I never see her again? I’m only torturing myself.
Maybe I should go to the club anyway. Who knows? Maybe she’ll decide to show up. Decision made, I quickly shower and get dressed. I won’t have time to go home and change, so my black jeans and white shirt will have to do.
Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I push open the door to the changeroom. My smile fades when I see my manager waiting for me with Dad, Gwendoline, and my stepsister, who looks like she’d rather be anywhere else.
I run a hand through my damp hair before moving towards them and shaking my manager’s hand. “Felix.”
“Great game out there tonight, mate.” He grins as he claps me on the back. “It came down to the wire.”
“Thanks.” My gaze drifts to my family. “What’s going on?”
“We’re going out for dinner,” my father says. “Felix has some good news.”
Gwendoline beams at me, and I give her a tight smile. Despite being in my life for the past four years, I don’t feel comfortable around her. She just gives me a bad vibe.
I glance at Willow, who’s dodging my gaze by staring down at her scuffed Converse. My stepsister is a bit of an enigma. She avoids me at home, and I know absolutely nothing about her. The last thing I want to do is have a family dinner forced on me when all I can think about is getting to Euphoria to find my angel.
“Look, guys, I’d love to, but I already have plans.” I look at Felix. “Can you just tell us now?”
He opens his mouth to speak, but my father cuts him off. “Your plans can wait. We’re going out for dinner as a family to celebrate your achievements, son. I won’t hear another word about it.”
“Yes, sir,” I mutter as I swallow down my resentment towards the old man who only gives a shit about the prestige that’s sure to come with whatever news Felix has for me.
My father doesn’t care about me; he only cares about living out his broken dreams through me. George Whitford played a couple of A-League games for Redlands United FC before breaking his leg in a horrific tackle. I can’t wait to get out of Beckford and away from his suffocating attention.
I pull out my phone as I follow my family to the car park and shoot off one final DM to my angel via the Euphoria app, begging her to give me two hours. I can’t have her leaving because she thinks I’m not coming—if she shows up at all. As I slip my phone back into my pocket, I notice Willow checking hers with a slight frown.Maybe she had plans tonight, too. Not that she’d tell me if she did.
“Wait,” she says, coming to a halt beside my father’s two-door Maserati. She glances up at her mother with a scrunched brow. “How am I supposed to get to the restaurant? I came with Leni, so I don’t have my car.”
