Page 73 of Snap

The crowd went wild.

It could have been for us, but it could have been because one of the teams scored,

In the corner of my eye I caught movement.

I turned to see Harvey Danbury, phone in hand. Of course he'd be here tonight, with the whole team present. Judging by the angle of his phone, he'd just finished taking photos of Ollie and I.

To my surprise, I didn’t mind. I didn't care if the whole world knew. Let them talk about us. Let them see how happy we were together.

That gave me an idea though. "We should let Bec interview us for her blog. You know, the true story." I nodded meaningfully towards Danbury.

Ollie grimaced. "Anything to keep that asshole off our backs. I'll even talk to him if it means he doesn't follow us around."

"We can pencil that in for if we get desperate." I wasn't quite there yet. Especially after the way he'd embarrassed Ollie. I thought about flipping Danbury off, and waiting long enough for him to take a photo.

I didn't, that was the kind of publicity that would piss Dad off. The last thing I needed was for him to hire a publicist to straighten me out.

"Whatever you want," Ollie said. "I just want to make you happy."

I turned back to him and lightly pressed my knuckle against his cheek. Stubble scratched my skin, but I liked it. "You make me happy."

"What a coincidence," Ollie said. "Because you make me happy too."

The announcer said something about one of the teams winning. The crowd went crazy again.

I glanced towards the TV, but couldn't tell who won. I'm sure I'd find out soon enough, everyone would be talking about it for the next hour or three.

A bar attendant turned the TV down, and the band got back up on stage.

I glanced back towards Bam. He looked happier now. His sister was sitting with him and Grace, and the two women were talking about who knew what. With the band playing, I doubted they could hear each other well.

I leaned into Ollie and tapped my hand on my arm in time to the music. Even with the place as noisy and crowded as it was, I couldn't remember feeling more content than I was at that moment. It was like all the puzzle pieces with broken edges, grooves that didn't seem to match up to anything, fit into place in spite of everything.

Right here, right now was exactly what I was supposed to be. Whatever happened to the Down Under Bowl, with the team, we would deal with it when we had to.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

I ignored it. Whatever it was, it could wait. I wasn't going to let anything ruin this moment.

My phone buzzed again. After a moment, it buzzed for a third time.

Irritated, I pulled out and looked at the screen. I frowned.

When Ollie gave me a questioning look, I mouthed, "Skye."

The last thing I wanted to do tonight was to text back and forth with her. I went to put my phone back in my pocket. It buzzed again.

I swore under my breath and pressed the screen. I pressed on her name and read the message she sent.

I felt the blood drain out of my face. I couldn’t breathe. My vision swam.

"Rubie? What is it?" Ollie bent his face close to mine.

"It's Dad," I said, my heart in my throat. "He collapsed. He's been taken to the hospital."

CHAPTER 23

OLLIE

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