Page 65 of Lost in the Current of You

“I’ll go deliver these to the guys. I know they’ll love them.”

He stepped away and left me standing there, grieving for him, not knowing how he could shift so easily and plaster on that smile all day when it was obvious that the absence of his mother weighed him down.

Dad pulled Nate and his friends out of the lounge so he could take over later that night. He bought a karaoke game to surprise us all when the adults had enough alcohol in their system. Alex, Avery, and I had a slight buzz too from stolen drinks — not that Dad cared.

The couch had been pushed to the side of the room, opening the floor for entertainment.

Alex and I didn’t even hesitate as we took the first duo song we knew how to sing to kick start the night, while Avery shook her head at us, hiding her smile and laughter as she watched us make a fool of ourselves.

Dad convinced every reluctant person to join, even Nate’s friends. It was quite funny, watching Dad in his inebriated state stumbling around, wrapping his arm around all of them like they were the best of friends, belting out lyrics of 80s and 90s hits. He had Nate under his arm at one point, forcing the mic on him as Nate grumbled half about how drunk he was and half the lyrics.

He roped me into a duo with him, but there wasn’t much convincing. This was our daily.

Once he had set the vibe, everyone started to take over. Some of it was so over the top and embarrassing that I felt sorry for any of the neighbours that stayed home to have a quiet night. Dad, however, looked very triumphant as he stood in the corner of the room watching everyone enjoying themselves.

Reece took a seat beside me on the couch later that night as I curled up with a plate of food clutched to my chest. He crossed his arms against his chest before he leaned towards my ear.

“Can we go somewhere quiet?” He nodded towards the front door as the screeches of one of Nate’s friends and one of Dad’s friends sang the lyrics of Take On Me.

I winced before turning my head to look at Reece.

From the outside, you would think everything was normal with his casual appearance and the twitch of his lips when the men tried to hit the song’s high note. But looking closer into the eyes he could never quite hide his emotions from, they swirled with an inner turmoil I knew he was barely hanging onto.

That was all I needed before I agreed and stood, looking for Avery to let her know I’d be out.

I found Avery on the opposite side of the lounge, leaning back against the wall, while Jake stood beside her, his shoulder propped up against the wall, smirking down at her. She rolled her eyes and shot him a look as she spoke to him, no doubt saying something snarky.

As soon as Jake saw Avery earlier that day, he took every opportunity to talk to her. When she walked into the room, when she walked past him, and when he walked past her, I could see the interest in his eyes. Any time she shot a quick remark to him or an eye roll his way, his eyes gleamed.

I whispered in her ear that I was stepping out for a moment as I watched Reece sneak out the front door without anyone paying attention. But Avery caught sight of it and lifted a brow.

“If you’re not back in at least twenty minutes, I’ll send a search party.”

She nodded to me before I left her side and snuck to the front door. I glanced back to the lounge, making sure no one, especially Nate, saw me, and as quietly as I could, stepped out of the house.

It had started to rain since we got caught up in the karaoke entertainment and water pelted the cement of the driveway.

Reece stood in front of me, leaning against the left-side pillar of the porch. The light pouring through the window from the lounge room caught on the keys to my car that Reece held in his fingers.

“Let’s go sit in your car. People will notice us out here.” I nodded and then he held out his hand with a curl of his lip. “Ready to run?”

I grabbed his hand and we quickly made our way across the front lawn to where my car was parked on the street. He unlocked the car before opening the passenger door and beckoning me to enter. He closed the door behind me and ran around to the driver’s side, hopping inside, hair already drenched from the rain. He shook his head and flicked his hair back from his eyes, whipping water everywhere, making me shriek.

He chuckled and muttered a ‘sorry’ before turning the car on and flipping the heater on. It took a while before the heat kicked in, finally relaxing my muscles.

It was quiet between us while we tried to warm up from the freezing rain.

“Do you mind if I put on music?” Reece cut the silence and made me look up from my hands as I rubbed them together.

I shook my head. “Go ahead.”

The first song played through the speakers and Reece lowered the volume until it was a quiet murmur, just enough to break the silence and be heard through the raindrops pelting against the car but not too loud where we couldn’t hear each other.

He sighed and tilted his head back to lean against the headrest, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel along with the soft beat of the music and his eyes closed tightly.

I watched him as I curled into the seat sideways, head resting on the headrest. I took note of the tense set of his jaw and the furrow of his brows, wanting to reach over and smooth them over. But I waited for him. Let him take his time processing his thoughts or whatever he needed to do before he explained why we were out here. Although I did have a small suspicion as to why, I would hold him tight through whatever was going on in that head of his.

The first song ended and then the next song started, the guitar riffs of 3 AM by Matchbox Twenty I recognised immediately.

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