Page 114 of Love, Just In

CHAPTER 41

Three years ago

‘Wow, that glitter wall—Jose, you’re amazing!’ Tara’s hand slips inside mine, tugging me towards the curtain of shimmering gold strands that I carefully pinned to the wall inside the Sydney hotel bar this morning. ‘Come on, let’s all get a photo.’ Her other hand pulls on Zac’s, and the three of us shuffle in front of the glittery display, with Tara standing in the middle.

‘Just one with me, then the two of you,’ I say, feeling like the hanger-on who’s photobombing their engagement party pics. The three of us make sassy, serious-browed, Gatsby-style poses for the clicking photographer before I blurt, ‘Now you two,’ and leap out of the spotlight.

Zac slides his arms beneath Tara’s hips, and she squeals as he scoops her off the floor, her fringed dress swinging around her thighs. While the photographer peers through the camera lens, Tara kicks one legstraight out and the other back while Zac’s fedora sits adorably askew on his head.

Smiling, I watch for a few more snaps, then turn my gaze to the gradually filling bar, spotting Zac’s cousin Ross sitting on a corner couch beside a guy in a black shirt and red braces. My feather boa tickles my shoulders as I weave my way through to Ross and practically launch myself at him. Now that he’s moved to Newcastle, I hardly ever see him.

‘Josie-girl,’ he greets, lifting off the couch to wrap me in a hug. My three-inch heels are already chewing through my toes, so I drop onto the emerald-green couch between Ross and Red Braces. I thought he might be a friend of Ross’s, but he introduces himself as one of Tara’s cousins, Amin. The guy smells incredible, and when he offers me a warm smile through his fake moustache, I become a little caught up in his dark, soulful eyes.

After a catch-up with Ross that Amin joins in on, I climb back up and begin making rounds of the room, mingling with old uni friends, tossing back pink champagnes, and dancing as much as my weeping feet will allow.

Every so often, I wander back to the couch corner for a rest, where Amin spends most of the evening chatting with a few of Tara’s family members. At some point, Amin and I end up alone and engaged in a deep discussion about his intense work as an industrial relations lawyer. While I soon figure out, with some disappointment, thathe’s not really my type after all—the story of my life—the champers has made me buzzy enough not to want to squirm away when Amin lightly rests his palm on my thigh while speaking into my ear.

My face snaps up when a voice that sounds indisputably drunk and ridiculously happy cries out my name. I grin over at Tara, who’s waving me back onto the dance floor.

Beside her stands Zac, one of the best dancers I know, but he’s hardly moving. With his shirt sleeves rolled up and his fingers tightly clutching a whisky glass, his gaze is resting on the spot where Amin’s hand sits splayed on my thigh. Zac’s eyes spring to my face, back to Amin’s hand, then away from us both, a little line drawn between his brows.

Something about Zac’s expression makes me realise that I’m probably leading Amin on, and he doesn’t deserve that.

I twist to smile at my new friend. ‘I’m gonna go dance with your gorgeous cousin.’ Giving his arm a little squeeze, I climb up off the couch, and his fingers slide off my bare leg.

I don’t return to the couch for the rest of the night.

CHAPTER 42

Today

Sweat slips down the back of my T-shirt as I scan the faces in the radiology waiting room, unable to tell who’s here routinely and who’s sweating bullets like me.

I reset my gaze on my phone screen that’s filled with images of Christina’s baby’s smooshed-up face caught between her and her husband’s glowing smiles. A glimmer of calm loosens my lungs.

Give him ALL THE KISSES from me, I type out.

‘Hey.’ Zac drops into the seat beside mine, his concerned eyes exploring my face. ‘Sorry I’m a few minutes late. Traffic.’

‘In Newcastle?’ I joke, and he glides his hand up my back before giving my shoulder a light squeeze.

‘How are you doing?’ he asks.

‘As expected. Bricking it.’ The shudder in my voice nearly makes my teeth chatter.

He gives a sympathetic murmur, and for a moment, I lose myself in his golden-syrup eyes before turning away. It still hurts to look at him.

‘Want to see what the baby looks like?’ I ask.

He nods, a smile cutting into his cheeks. I scroll back past the last few memes that Christina and I shared before I reach the baby pictures. Thinking of the night Ashton was born still makes me misty-eyed. Zac stayed on the phone until the ambulance came, helping me guide Christina through her contractions while I came up with corny dad jokes to keep her calm. I never let go of her hand—not in the ambulance nor in the delivery room, where Pete stayed close on speakerphone, and I sobbed when Ashton was placed on Christina’s chest.

It was the first time I ever walked out of a hospital smiling, and the bubble of joy didn’t burst until I arrived back in Newcastle a few days later to face this dreaded test.

‘He’s a cutie,’ Zac says, chuckling as he swipes through the photos. And now I’m imagining dad-Zac.God.

I slide my phone into my bag. ‘Her husband quit his job. He was so pissed off over missing the birth that he quit. Wants a lifestyle change.’

‘That’s understandable. It’s one of the reasons I left Sydney.’

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