Page 12 of The Winning Ticket

Tara pouts. “Nothing wrong with checking out your old high school crush. It’s me, remember? I was right there with you in the Jake Boyd fan club.”

Of course, Jake chooses this moment to walk toward us. Thankfully, he seems to have missed Tara’s comment, and I shoot her a warning look when Jake sits across from us in one of the seats the others just vacated.

Honestly, how had I forgotten how attractive he was? It’s been five years since I’ve seen him, but seeing him now has me momentarily thinking, ‘Richard, who?’

“How’s Kylie doing?” he asks me, and Tara gives me a questioning look.

“She’s okay now, but she was pretty drunk and threw up. I got Will to help her. I think he was going to put her to bed.” I nod towards the bedroom I’d seen Will carrying Kylie to earlier.

Tara sighs. “I’d better go check on her. I’m sure William is reading her the riot act. And I’m sharing a bed with her, so I want to make sure I won’t be dealing with her drunk ass all night.” Tara gets to her feet, heading inside, but not before she gives me another quick wink that, thankfully, Jake doesn’t see.

“It’s good to see some things haven’t changed, I guess,” I say, shaking my head.

“Yeah, although I’m sure Will wishes that one thing had changed. I thought Kylie was laying off the drinks for a while,” Jake says, the concern for our friend evident in his voice.

“Last time she visited me in Sydney, we just hung out. We didn’t do any partying, so I haven’t seen her like this in a while. I just assumed this was an occasional thing,” I say, looking at Jake with a raised eyebrow. “Have I missed something?”

“Yeah, until last year, it was an occasional thing. You know how Will feels about getting write-yourself-off drunk, and Kylie did it almost every weekend for a while there in the past year.”

Well, that explains the concern. I wish I’d known that before I got Will involved. He deserves to enjoy the night without worrying about his sister, and Kylie could probably do without the lecture.

“I’ll keep an eye on her now that I’m back. See if I can work out if anything is going on. We talked earlier about getting together this week once I’ve settled into the new office and stuff, so I’ll make sure there’s no drinking involved,” I say.

Jake cocks his head to the side while he studies me closely. “Right back into taking care of everyone else, huh?” he asks.

“You still see everything, don’t you?” I ask, and he smiles at me.

“I think you’re avoiding your own stuff.”

I look at him before clearing my throat. “So I take it this party isn’t the usual way you guys catch up anymore?” I am all about avoidance and hope Jake will happily play along.

He regards me for a few beats more before answering. “Hell no. We’re all too busy for that now, and honestly, none of us were all that into partying anyway. Except for maybe Morgan.” He says with a laugh, nodding towards where my sister is dancing in the loungeroom with Annelisa.

I smile, grateful that he allowed my subject change, and turn to look at my sister and her best friend. I notice that while Morgan is a few drinks in, the only drink I’ve seen Annelisa have all night is water.

“Yeah, even Morgan has calmed down a lot, though. I think she’s ready for babies and stuff now,” I say, looking back at Jake.

“So’s Chris. It feels strange when people you’ve known since you were a kid suddenly start talking about marriage and babies.” Jake shakes his head before taking another sip of beer.

“So, not on the cards for you yet, then?” I find it difficult to believe that a guy as great as him is still single.

“Uh, no. One needs to be in a relationship for that. Or, at least, I would need to be in a relationship before that sort of thing is on my radar.” I notice his eyes drift over me while he says it before shaking his head slightly.

Interesting.

“So, no Mrs back in Stanthorpe then?” I have no idea why I asked that.

I feel my cheeks warm.

“No, Bri, still just Jake,” he says with a cheeky grin.

“Well, Just Jake, I think when the right woman comes along, you’ll sweep her right off her feet,” I say, and Jake raises an eyebrow at me while he takes another swig of his beer.

“Yeah. Do you have any idea who that might be? Because I gotta tell you, I am yet to find her in the land of Tinder, Bumble, and all the other apps.”

“Oh God.” I groan when I realise I will eventually be on those apps, too. Just the thought of it makes me feel sick. “I’m not looking forward to online dating again now that I’m single. In my experience, it was a veritable minefield for men with issues. I guess it goes both ways?” I ask.

Jake nods with a laugh.

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