Page 31 of Game Point
She didn’t miss a beat. ‘Why aren’t you telling me what film it is?’
‘It’s nothing.’ My fingers found the remote, but it was too late.
‘Oliver … did you answer the phone while watching porn?’
‘No!’ I cried, sitting up straight, panicking. ‘It’s not that.’
‘Then what is it?’ If I didn’t tell her the truth now, she’d think I was some sort of pervert, answering the phone mid-wank. The only way forward was the truth … but at what cost?
‘It’s …’ I stopped, re-evaluating my options, before swallowing my pride. ‘Twilight.’
‘Twilight.’ Her voice was deadpan. ‘Like Bella and Edward?’
‘It was just on,’ I stuttered for any excuse, any reason to give her other than the truth. I loved this fucking film.
‘You said Netflix,’ she chuckled. ‘You had to choose it.’
I paused, stuck for better excuses. ‘It was the first thing that came up.’
‘Likely story, vampire boy.’
‘I’m really more Jacob.’
A loud cackle. ‘Jacob? Like the dude that imprinted on a newborn baby?’
‘There are extenuating circumstances,’ I tried to defend. Tried, and failed.
Jacob, you’re on your own mate.
‘The “you named my daughter after the Loch Ness monster” guy?’ I could see the hole I’d dug widening by the second.
‘It was Bella that said that line,’ I corrected, but I was cut off by another sound of unhinged glee. She was enjoying this far too much.
‘Ha! You do like those films!’
‘It’s a classic!’ I relented, already regretting picking up the phone.
‘It’s certainlysomething,’ she said. ‘What’s your time mark?’
I glanced at the screen. ‘Fifteen thirteen.’
A few moments of silence, before she finally replied, ‘Okay, press play on my mark.’
We counted down, pressing play at the same time, confirmed by the echoing music I could hear on her side of the call.
‘Do you need me to catch you up on the first fifteen minutes?’ I offered.
‘No,’ she replied, ‘I’ve seen this film before. You know in the year of our lord Kristen Stewart, watchingTwilightisn’t uncool anymore.’
‘Then why did you make fun of me?’
‘Because you were embarrassed, vampire boy,’ she teased, ‘And it’s fun.’
I settled in, put the phone on speaker and asked, ‘How did your day go?’
She sighed. ‘It was fine. Brooke arranged another test match. She wasn’t happy that it went as far as the third set. I could’ve taken the second had I been a little smarter, but I got cocky.’
‘Is that her words?’
