Page 33 of Playing for Keeps
“Good. Really good, actually.”
I dropped my bag in the hallway and chucked my keys on the side table. I could see some of the calligraphy artwork we’d shipped back from Japan propped up against the wall.
“So, no issues with Ethan?” Jonathan asked.
“No. We…ah…actually fixed things.” I rubbed my neck.
“I’m proud of you,” Jonathan said.
I shrugged. “You were right. I just needed to get over it.”
He came closer, looping an arm around my waist. “I might need to hear that more often.”
“What, the fact you were right?”
“Yeah, for some reason I never get sick of that concept.”
I huffed out a laugh and he smiled, turning his face toward me, stretching up to kiss me.
I kissed him back, the familiarity of the act soothing that itchy feeling inside me.
This was what I had. A cute, nice, smart boyfriend. I was chasing my dream to play rugby for New Zealand. And I was rebuilding my friendship with my best friend.
It was enough. It had to be.
Chapter9
Ethan
Itried to play it cool over the next few weeks of training and pre-season games.
But honestly? I was happier than a sugar addict at Halloween.
I’d known I’d missed Luke’s friendship. I’d known there had been a massive gap in my life without him.
But somehow I’d forgotten how much fun it was just being around him. Sitting beside him on the team bus. Shooting the shit with him during training.
It felt like I could…breathe again.
We joked around a lot, but Luke was still so intent on rugby and his focus seeped into me too, making me sharper at practice.
Once, back in Year Three, I’d overheard my teacher talking to my mother. “I normally don’t sit friends next to each other in class, but there’s something about Luke Hunter that seems to settle Ethan down and help him focus on his work.”
Looking back, I’d probably been borderline ADHD as a kid, and Luke had been my form of medication. A brown-eyed, tousled-haired, lanky natural alternative to Ritalin.
Our first game of the regular season was against the Stallions in Canberra.
Luke had been given the nod to start at fullback over Marc Grey, which had caused a stir among rugby commentators, as Marc had had a great season for us last year.
And Luke was playing against the Stallions’ fullback Mitch Ashdown, who was also the fullback for the Australian team. All the talking heads agreed it would be a big test for someone just finding his feet in New Zealand rugby.
I didn’t have to use advanced powers to work out Luke was nervous. He always went quiet when he was anxious about something. Before school exams he’d practically gone mute.
Having been his best friend for twelve years, I could have written a manual on Luke Hunter. So I knew the best way to help him when he was like this was to give him space.
Unfortunately the rest of the squad didn’t know this, and other players started to trickle over to Luke in the dressing room to wish him luck. His jaw tightened and he struggled to make polite conversation.
“Good luck out there, mate,” Hanson said.
