Page 40 of In Too Deep

She grins, chewing on her bottom lip and opens the door. Furrowing my brows, I tilt my head back to see what she’s talking about when East steps through the door holding a six-pack of beer. “Cheers bitches.”

“Hey, Stud,” Caro purrs.

I’m instantly bombarded with memories of Coby.

“Hey, hot stuff, and Caro,” East drawls, smirking at me, then slapping Caro’s arse.

I can’t help but chuckle as Caro slaps his chest and he grins at me in greeting.

“Hey East, long time no see. You drive all the way down here just to see Caro?” I ask.

He mock frowns and comes in, closing the door. “Oh, hey now, I came for you, too. But mainly Caro and her sweet—” Caro slaps his face softly, stopping him mid-sentence, and he chuckles. “How you holding up?” he asks, walking in and placing the beer on the kitchen counter.

With a quick shrug, I answer, “I’m okay.”

He purses his lips. “Really? ’Cause no offence, but you look like shit.”

“Shut up, arse stain,” Caro hollers as they both come over to the lounge.

“Sooo… I’m just going to say it—”

“Please don’t,” I interrupt him.

“He misses you,” East shoots back.

The hot tears well in my eyes, and I take a deep breath.

I didn’t need to hear that.

It just makes it that much harder.

“I’m going to bed. Please don’t keep me awake all night with your moaning.”

They chuckle as Caro slides into his lap. “No promises.”

I fake a smile, stand and walk to my room. Moving inside, I close the door and lean against it, sighing hard. I hear Caro and East chuckling in the lounge room, and I stroll over to my bed and pick up my pyjamas, slowly putting them on. My eyes well with tears. Just two weeks ago,hewas in here with me, taking my clothes off and exciting me. And now? Now I’m here all alone, completely miserable.

I miss him.

I only spent a small amount of time with Coby, but the time I spent with him was the best of my life. I wish I could have that back. But he doesn’t understand the situation, and I don’t understand how he can back his dad before hearing the full story.

Crawling into bed, I cuddle into myself and snuggle into my pillow. His smell is practically gone now. My stomach knots, listening to East and Caro giggle in the other room.

It was good to see East, but he’s a reminder of something I don’t have, something I so desperately want and is just out of reach.

Four Months Later

East has been visiting Caro weekly, and they’re becoming close. It’s nice to watch, but seeing him only makes me think of Coby, and thinking of Coby still hurts. East often talks about how Coby misses me and wants to see me, but I always say no. The damage is done, and it’s been too long now to fix anything.

It’s three days before the start of the Olympics, and the Adelaide swim team is flying out to Melbourne for a meeting. All of Caro’s family are coming and are on the plane with us, which is great. It’s nice to have family there as a support, even if they’re not my blood family. We made the decision not to go earlier and train there, as the weather in Adelaide is very similar to Melbourne in all aspects, so no acclimatisation will be required. Tuck wants everything to be as normal as possible, and being in our familiar surroundings was easier on us as well.

I would have thought I proved my real family wrong. If I had actually made the Olympic team, they would have supported me. But I received a text message from my sister, Stacy, congratulating me. She claimed Mum and Dad witnessed the swimming trials and that they were happy for me.

That was it.

Nothing from Mum or Dad.

So I didn’t bother messaging them.

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