Page 46 of Totally Opposed

Harrison turns his phone to face me. “They’re all in. Oh, except Stevie. He’s not sure cause they’ll have a newborn at home, but maybe Bella will want to get away for some country air with the kids?”

“Maybe. Nial has the whole first week of October blocked out for us.”

“Awesome.”

I quickly text Ryan.

ALAN: So the guys are planning to visit the ranch for a week in break. Do you want to come?

RYAN: Sounds like fun. You should bring Gramps. He hasn’t been back in years, has he?

ALAN: I was thinking the same thing. If we get him there, he’ll probably try to talk you into cooking the whole time. Still swears your shepherd’s pie is the best thing he’s eaten in decades.

RYAN: Please tell me there will be a cabin away from the prying ears of others. I hear we were not exactly discrete last night.

ALAN: We could try to be more.

RYAN: But I like your noises.

ALAN: Okay, I’ll make sure we have the most secluded cabin, then you can make me make allllll the noises you like.

RYAN: Deal.

Chapter seventeen

Ryan

I get in tenlaps in the hotel pool before throwing on some clothes and meeting the others on the bus to head to the airport. It wasn’t the best swim, but like the coach always said, “Chlorine is the breakfast of champions.”When we board the plane, I’m thankful neither Alan nor I get sat next to Duckie. You would think he would be used to flying by now. Alan has an aisle seat, and while I’ve drawn a middle seat, there is no one sitting on the aisle, so I move over and Tim, who’s sitting by the window, and I take advantage of the extra space.

“You can have the window if ya want,” Tim says, pulling out his AirPods. “I’ll be sleeping the whole time, anyway.”

“No, thanks. I’m good with the aisle.”

“No worries, mate, see you in a few hours,” he replies, pulling down an eye mask and leaning back a little in his chair. Not that the seats in economy lean back far.

I pull out my phone to switch it to airplane mode and spot a message from Teddy.

TEDDY: Amazing game! We finally settled on a location for Granny’s ninetieth. You’ll never guess where.

Well, that sounds ominous. Granny is notorious for picking obscure places to celebrate her birthday. When she turned eighty, she hired a double-decker ghost bus comedy show on wheels thing to drive us around London, revealing the haunted history of London’s most famous and well-loved attractions. It was actually amazing.

RYAN: About to fly to the next stop on the tour, please don’t make me guess.

TEDDY: She’s chosen the karaoke bar, and get this. She’s picking a song for every person who’s coming to sing. So, book that flight! Second Saturday in October, you better be coming.

That’s perfect. If she had chosen the weekend before her actual birthday, I would have had to miss out on visiting the ranch with Alan.

RYAN: Wouldn’t miss it.

I flick my phone to airplane mode and am about to put on my headphones when I suddenly recognize the stewardess walking down the aisle.

“Lorna, is that you?” I ask and she smiles and makes her way towards me.

“Blimey Ryan? How long has it been?”

“Too long,” I say, standing for a second to give her a hug.

“How’s the family?” she asks, and it’s funny. We’ve both been living in the US for years now, and while my accent has morphed into some hybrid sound, Lorna has kept her full cockney accent, and it has me slipping back deeper.

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