Page 88 of Freckles

Every glance confirms it.

Telling the stranger’s voice in my head to shut it, I finish the last few tasks, then lead Francesca to the showers to sluice our outfits, then ourselves.

When we walk out, hand in hand, she gazes at me like I’m a superstar and my throat pinches. “Thank you for everything. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Freckles. It’s all part of the service.”

I love you.

But even I’m not brave enough to say that… yet.

So, I try to tell her, with my tightening hand, with my kiss, with my fingers running through her glorious hair.

I love you. You’re mine.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE

KINCAID

We’rean hour into Zeke’s party, when a cold bottle is pressed into my hand and Jared raises his own. “To beating the bloody Aucklanders on our home turf next week and dragging the tournament trophy back where it belongs!”

Everyone in the room cheers, half of them too bleary-eyed to know why.

“You want a game of beer pong?” Ezra asks from the connecting doorway, raising a red plastic cup until the beer sloshes over the lip, running down his arm. He laughs, switching hands and shaking it until the droplets spill across the concrete, darker than the large oil stain under the ping-pong table.

He’s obviously well gone if he’s talking to me. Either that or he wants something. “Nah, I’m good.”

Aidan comes up behind him and pulls a face. “Chess all tucked up in bed, waiting for you, is she?”

I’m on him in two steps, forcing him back into the garage, an arm pressed to his throat, crushing it until I see the lines of pain on his face. “I don’t ever want to hear my girlfriend’s name coming out of your mouth again, got me? You see her coming your way, head in the other direction.”

“Yeah, man.” He shakes himself free of my grip, stumbling to the side, and Ezra tugs him into the garage, frowning at me. I leave them to it, walking through the house until I spot Francesca talking with some other girls in the kitchen.

I raise my bottle in acknowledgement but don’t go over, happy to see her enjoying herself and making friends.

Appropriatefriends.

I catch up with a few other teammates in the main living area, all excited by the prospects of next week’s game. It’s the last match in the round robin, and a victory will set the mood for the upcoming First XV tournament. A much harder competition. The winners from that will head overseas to compete in the internationals, a chance to showcase their abilities to the world.

It would be fantastic to capture a win like that, but it’s hard to get excited when I don’t know if coach will even let me compete in next week’s game, let alone continue as captain.

The fact my rugby ambitions are teetering in the balance doesn’t matter to me like it would have a month ago. I’m starting to comprehend the deeper threads of my uncle’s analysis. Now I understand how restorative a true connection can be.

I finish my beer and enroute to grabbing another, change my mind and angle towards the side patio instead, attracted by a cloud of steam.

“Come join us in the hot tub,” Jared calls, Hailey under one arm, a brunette from my economics class under the other. I stare at the water and pull a face, but he laughs. “Don’t worry. Zeke said he filled it fresh today. You won’t catch anything.”

With both him and Hailey encouraging me, I strip off my jeans and shirt, leaving on my boxer briefs as I slip into the water, my phone set close enough to grab but far enough away to avoid casual splashes.

“You’re smiling,” Jared says, sounding perplexed. “That injury Wednesday must really have thrown you.”

“Fuck off. I smile.”

Hailey gives a drunken giggle and shakes her head. “Not for real, you don’t. There are scores of girls who thought they would be the first one to make you genuinely happy.” She waves her arm across the yard. “Needless to say, we all failed.”

“Hey, babe. Maybe stop with the references to your exes when I have my arm around you?”

“Says the boy with another girl currently fondling his cock.”

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