Page 26 of Trouble in Love
“Of all the teams you had to go for, it had to be the Bombers,” mumbled Finn, who had his face buried into the collar of his shirt. I think in shame. Or disgust.
I flashed him a wicked grin, “The way I see it, if your team had won, I’d be wearing red and white right now, instead of red and black. Anyway, it’s a good thing you got beaten to a pulp. Black is far more slimming.”
Finn rolled his eyes and leaned against the window, his forehead making a dull thump. “Yeah, cause you have such a gut to worry about.”
“I will if I keep eating and drinking the way I am. Everything tastes so good here. Will they have the same pies at rugby tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Sharing the same glare, they muttered in unison. It was the last non-grunted thing said until later that night when the arguing over who got what side of the bed began. Evie had warned me that the boys would be moody if their team lost, but this was next level. When the epic battle was decided, Nate was on the left, Finn on the right, and they were tucked in and snoozing by ten p.m.
Before dozing off, Finn had handed me his phone, so I could contact Ana. “She’d be going out of her mind.” I’d said. And I meant it. She would, but I just needed to hear her voice, her particular kind of sass would have cheered me endlessly. But with my fingers poised to dial, I realized I had no idea what her number was. Light rippled across the water, the air thick but refreshing as I sat on the balcony, cursing my stupidity. I messaged her on every social platform I could think of, but with all left onsent, I sat like a lump, sulking and pondering.
Grunting snores filtered out from the room behind me as my thoughts shifted to Jasmine.
What’s she doing right now?Was she clutching her phone in her hand like me? Desperately wanting my number to flash on the screen? Or had she given up and hit the clubs to find another me?Wait—the club.Jasmine partied at SWING almost every weekend. After being stood up by me, could she have made her way there?
A voice I suspected may be reason, decided to make itself known while I zipped around the room, moving like I had a puck on the end of my stick and a wide-open net.You’ve just had your heart pulverized. Why chase a girl you have no future with? You’ll only get hurt.
“It’s just sex.”I lied to myself. “Just sex.”
I tore through our room, grabbing my jacket, and the first pair of shoes I could find—which weren’t mine, cramping myfeet inside. After sliding Finn’s phone into my pocket, I hit the streets.
Sydney buzzed with life around me, most of which escaped my attention as I faithfully followed Google Maps directions, my stomach knotting with a sudden thought.Is she there with Katie? Are they doing what they did with me, with someone else?When I eventually made it to SWING,my feet were covered in a hearty layer of blisters—pretty sure my big toe was bleeding—and my body glistened with sweat. New York could be humid as hell, but Sydney’s was thicker. Heavier. The thought of Jasmine with someone else added a second layer. Maybe a third.
I did not wear the humidity well.
My reflection on passing windows was not kind. Sweat trickled down my temples, my straight hair, growing back wavy after the surgery, almost curling as it clung to the nape of my neck. Odd shoes, a black leather jacket, my team’s bright blue and orange training shorts, and a red and black football jersey were hardly high fashion. Understandably, security at the door were hesitant to let me in. There was the distinct air of hobo about me, but a crisp US hundred-dollar bill for each soon had me weaving through the throng of moving bodies.
Every bass-filled beat. Every graze of my arm or flick of dark hair was dizzying. She was everywhere but nowhere. I circled that packed room and all its dark, hidden spaces for an eternity. Waiting. Hoping, stopping only for beer or water before resuming the hunt. Then, just as I was about to give in, I saw her. Well, nother. But her—Katie, standing by the bar, her arms twisted around another blonde’s waist.
Forgoing any greeting, I yelled “Is she here?” into her ear. “Katie, is Jasmine here?”
Once recovered from the shock of a six-foot-four stranger screaming in her face while manhandling her, her ruby-red lipsspread into a wicked smile, the very one I’d seen right after she swallowed my load.
“Cowboy. You’re here?”
“Yup,” I nodded, my head twisting like an owl in search of Jasmine. “Is... Is Jasmine with you? I was supposed to meet her, but I lost my phone at the airport and didn’t know her number. Is she here…? I lost my phone.” I repeated like a true twit.
Katie laughed, grabbed her drink in one hand and my elbow in the other, and guided me to the front section of the bar—the socially acceptable one visible from the street. There, the darkness was less forgiving of indiscretions, but the music was more conducive to conversation, especially for someone like Katie who already had reduced hearing. “Sit. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
Since I felt that way, too, I did what I was told and sat as Katie looked me up and down, clicking her tongue, then sighing. “Sorry, Cowboy. Jas’s mum isn’t well, and she has to go home. Didn’t she message you?”
“No phone, remember.” Selfishly, my disappointment turned to hope that I tried to disguise. “Umm. Is her mom okay? Does she live far away? Do you think she might be free tomorrow? Can you give me her number? Or better yet, their address?” I disguised nothing.
“Dude, slow down, you’ve asked a lot of questions in a short space of time. I need a second to catch up … and to sus you out.” Taking a sip of her espresso martini, she swallowed and whispered into her pretty friend’s ear. After glaring at me, the companion nodded and slunk into the shadows, leaving me with stone-faced Katie. “What’s your deal?”
“What’s my deal?”
“Yeah, what’s your deal? Obviously, you’re not from around here. Why would I give you my best friend’s details? You two don’t even know each other’s real names.”
“Wait. What?”
Eyes widening with panic, Katie continued without answering, her pace increasing with each word. “Apart from the pertness of your ass, the size of your dick, and my friend being gaga over you, you’re a mystery. You could be a drug dealer. Serial killer. Or worse, married with five kids?” I wasn’t sure how being married was worse than being a killer, but the whole name, and gaga over me things were first and foremost in my mind.
“I know you don’t know my name, Luca, by the way. But you said ‘we’as if Jasmine and I didn’t know each other’s names. Is Jasmine, not Jasmine? And is she, whoever she is, really gaga over me? Oh, and is that a good thing here, ‘cause something sick is good here but at home, it’s just that you’re sick.”
Katie tilted her head and blinked rapidly. “You talk more than I remember. You’re bigger, too. If that’s possible.”
I wiped the sweat from my brow and flopped forward till my nose brushed against my legs. “I’m normally pretty quiet. ”
