Page 10 of The Show

Another click on the door announced the footsteps of the only two people I actually did want to see, and my shoulders relaxed measurably. They stilled as they took in the scene, their eyes widening slightly when they noticed Lowe. Both glanced at me with a raised eyebrow, which only I would be able to interpret as them checking I was okay.

Murray and Rafe were the only people who knew I struggled to spend time in her company. Their frowns deepened in sync as their gaze moved from Lowe to their respective girlfriends.

“What exactly do you two think you’re doing here?” asked Murray to Kit and Beulah, who looked decidedly sheepish; an expression that was foreign on both of them. “You told us you were going spinning.”

“Lauren asked us to meet her here,” replied Kit.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” frowned Murray, as he stepped nearer to Kit and kissed her head. “We told you to leave him alone.”

Rafe took two bottles of water from the fridge and passed one to Murray, then stood behind Beulah, his chin resting on her head. Seeing as I hadn’t spent any time with the two of them in a while, I was still getting used to them being in love instead of hating each other’s guts, because in the history of feuds, there had never been a feud like the one between Rafe Latham and Beulah Holmes.

“Exactly, he’ll figure it out in his own time. He’s coming to terms with how much his life has changed.” Rafe leaned over and squeezed my shoulder. “He doesn’t need you pressuring him.”

Yes. That’s right. I did need more time. I looked gratefully at the boys, but failed to miss the heavy eye roll from Lauren.

“He needs to snap out of this ridiculous temper tantrum, is what he needs,” shot back Lauren. “He needs to pull his head out of his ass, because if he’s not careful, he’s going to run out of time ‘figuring it out’ before his ownership is announced and he won’t have a plan for what to do. I’m not just here out of courtesy; I called an intervention. He owns this club and he needs to lead it. He has obligations now – to the League, and to the fans.”

“What fans?” I muttered.

Her head whipped round to me, a snarl on her lip. “For fuck’s sake, Penny! Of course The Lions have fans! Loyal fans you’re going to need to win over as a Yankees diehard. They won’t be any happier about this than you are, but it’ll make things worse if you do nothing. You’ll crush them, and their dreams.”

My sister had definitely been talking to someone. She had no interest in sports, or knowledge of fans or rules or ownership obligations. But I did know how it felt to have your dreams crushed, and I couldn’t imagine how I’d feel if The Yankees had been taken over by an owner who’d bought them for a tax break, then put them out to pasture; effectively what Franklin Maypole had been doing for past few years.

I grunted, which was all she was going to get from me as a way of saying she might be right, but she ignored it and carried straight on.

“You have to start today, Penny, and you can do it at Grandpa’s birthday party. You will be there, because we both know how crushed he’d be if you weren’t…” She held my stare for the amount of time she deemed enough for the message to sink in – I would cause my grandfather considerable hurt if I bailed tonight, and that was not something I’d ever willingly do.

My teeth gritted. Christ, she was annoying, especially when she was right.

“We both know that you’re going to go tonight, so just make it easier on everyone and turn up. Plus,” she grinned, devilishly, nudging Lowe, “Lowe doesn’t have a date. You can take her. She’ll protect you from the vultures trying to get their claws into you now you’re back on the market. It can be her first job in your employment.”

“Hey!” protested Lowe. “I’m right here!”

Lauren winked at her, no doubt some private joke I had no interest in. I scowled. Lauren had a valid point, coupled with the fact I still found it virtually impossible to say no to any of my sisters, but I drew a hard line at taking a date.

“I am not back on the market. I don’t need Lowe. I don’t need protecting. I have the boys.” I turned to them. “If I’m going, you two are coming with me.”

“We’ve already RSVP’d,” replied Rafe.

I sighed in defeat. At least the night wouldn’t be a total bust, and I could just sit in the corner and get drunk.

Lauren jumped off her stool with a loud clap of her hands, “Great, our work here is done. We’ll see you later. You need to be at the house by six.”

The other three girls all jumped off their own stools, while Lauren picked her bag up.

“Where are you going now?” cried Rafe.

“Now we’re going spinning,” replied Beulah before smacking her lips to his, and we watched the four of them walk out of the door without so much as a backward glance.

The three of us stared at the empty hallway, much as one would stare at the scene of destruction a tornado had left in its wake, which is exactly how it felt.

Girls really were the worst, but at least now that Lowe wasn’t next to me I could breathe a little easier, my body relaxing out of the knotted state it always seized into whenever she was around.

I got off my stool and opened the fridge, grabbing three beers and shooting one over the counter to each of the boys. The clock had passed twelve which meant it was acceptable to drink.

My stomach rumbled loudly enough that I had to take notice. “Hey, you guys want burgers? Billy is on a grocery shop.”

“Fuck, yes.”

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