Page 95 of Ace My Heart

But his words had done nothing to alleviate my concern. What if they – Steve and Ben – had died because of me, somehow? What if Grant had been almost killed because of me?

“Okay, but just hear me out,” I said, walking over to where he had my drills set out. “The night that Steve … well, you know that heand I weren’t on good terms.” I swallowed around the knot in my throat.

“Stink, we went through this the other day. And the night Grant got stabbed, you had a breakdown in a bar because you saw his fiancée out on her hen’s night – big deal.”

“But Ben and I had ahugefight, and then …” I swallowed again, willing the prickling out of my eyes. I swiped a stray tear away. I didn’t need all of this stress, with the biggest tournament of the year a week away.

Joel stepped closer, taking my shoulders in his big, warm hands, piercing me with those blue eyes. “Mel, how would anyone know that you had issues with all of them, and then somehow act on it almost immediately? It’s not related, It’s just a very weird coincidence.”

Everything he said made sense, but still I couldn’t shake the feeling that itwasall linked to me.

“Brad knew – he was there every single time,” I muttered.

Joel snorted. “You thinkLover Boydid all of this? He couldn’t hurt a fly!”

He was right. Brad was studying to be a paediatrician for crying out loud! He wasn’t going around murdering men in cold blood because they hurt my feelings.

I started my drills, trying to wipe my head clean of all the things that were still battering against the insides of my skull.

It helped … a bit. But I was still preoccupied as we finished up on drills and moved into the gym for weights training.

Joel watched me guardedly. “You’re dwelling, Stink.”

I eyed him crossly. “Of course I am! I love a good dwell, don’t you?”

Joel snickered, but his eyes were serious. “Mel, there are things that you don’t know – things about Dad and Ben – that could be related to what happened.”

“Like what?” I asked, intrigued.

Joel shook his head. “Believe me, you’re better off not knowing.”

“Do the police know about it?” I pestered.

Joel paused for a long while, then nodded very slightly. “I’ve told them the important parts,” he muttered.

“Is it bad?” I asked. He didn’t respond, staring away at nothing in particular. I sighed and that seemed to snap him out of it. He smiled brightly at me, falsely.

“Got any plans tonight, Stink?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Yes, actually, I’m having dinner with Brad, and Amanda and Thomas.”

“A double date with Lover Boy! That should be a pleasant evening for you,” Joel said. He turned to add some plates to the squat rack, but I caught the slight downward twist of his mouth.

I pursed my lips. Brad had called it a date too. I hadn’t forgotten that he’d kissed me, or that he had told me he wanted more. Was that what tonight was? Us trying for more?

“Maybe,” I muttered.

“It’s a pity, though. I was going to see if you wanted to come and see Princes of Lion with me – they’re playing in town tonight and I have two tickets.”

I stopped in my tracks and gaped at him. Princes of Lion tickets were almost impossible to come by, and every time they’d been playing in Australia, I’d been overseas at a tournament.

It was tempting … very tempting.

But as soon as I thought about Princes of Lion now, all I could see was a girl with her skirt riding up, legs wrapped around Joel. I shuddered at the thought.

“Thanks for thinking of me, Joel, but I just have this visual of you fucking in the mosh pit now, and that’s all I can see when I hear any of their songs.”

Joel moved closer, a cheeky grin on his face and a glint in his eyes.

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