Page 49 of Wish You Once More
“Come on then, what’s going on?” He didn’t beat around the bush, not even having the decency to make small talk before getting to the point. “You’ve been in a weird mood ever since you got back.”
I rubbed a hand over my jaw, wondering where to start. “My dad had a suspected heart attack on Sunday night and was admitted to hospital.”
Scott’s pint banged down on the table. Dad had always meant a lot to him. “What the fuck are you doing here? Why aren’t you with him?”
“Jonny doesn’t want me there.” My gaze dropped to the table, the beer mat from the local brewery suddenly the most fascinating thing on earth. “He thinks I’m selfish.”
“And you let your brother dictate what you do?” he shook his head, “seriously, Mat, you’ve done so much for your family over the years. You shouldn’t be here. You need to be with your father. With your family.”
“It’s not the only thing.” I flipped the beer mat off the edge of the table and tried to catch it. The flimsy cardboard wafted gently to the floor, just out of my reach. It felt like a metaphor for what was going on in my life right now. “I also slept with Bree on Sunday night.”
His jaw dropped; eyes narrowed. “You did what?”
“Use your imagination, Scott. Actually, don’t. Your sex life is probably a bit more x-rated than mine.” I cringed.
“How did that happen?”
I rested my head back against the wooden panelling behind me. “I spoke to her on Saturday night and ended up kissing her, then went to find her after everything had finished on Sunday. We went back to hers and, well, you can guess the rest.”
“Is that why you didn’t come back to the house with us? To avoid Ellie?”
“There’s nothing between me and Ellie.” I banged my fist on the table as if to prove my point. “I don’t know why you and Rosie keep trying to push us together.”
“I thought you liked her.” Scott ran a hand through his hair. “You seem to go out a bit.”
“Yeah, she’s a nice girl, but I don’t feel it here.” I placed a palm over my heart.
“But with Bree?”
At the mention of her name, my heart rate picked up, pulsing against my hand. It was fucked up. We hadn’t been together for four years. Could one weekend really change all that?
It was only now, talking things through with Scott, I realised how much she actually meant to me.
Was it possible I still loved her?
Had I been wrong not to keep things going with her when I went to the States?
I should have asked her to come with me. But she hadn’t given me the chance to ask, shouting and storming out before I’d had the time to explain. Then everything with the band had taken off and I hadn’t given Bree a second thought. Here I sat, all that time later, with a family in tatters and a relationship I didn’t have a clue how to fix. I might have the band, but in all other areas of my life, I had nothing.
It was a startling realisation and one which didn’t sit well.
“What am I going to do, Scott?”
He lifted his pint to his lips, the corning of his mouth quirking up. “A wise man once told me I’d work it out. I did, so you will too. You always do.”
My own words came back to haunt me.
Now all I had to do was work out how.
24
Bree
The irony of Callie and me eating takeaway Chinese while we watched a cooking show wasn’t lost on either of us. As we commented on the celebrities who struggled to boil an egg, we stuffed our faces with spring rolls, dim sum and prawn crackers.
It had been my idea to get takeaway. After I’d bumped into Melinda earlier, a plan formed in my head, growing and growing all afternoon. I wasn’t sure how Callie would react, so softening her up with takeaway food and a few beers had been the best bet.
While the TV stars sweated and prepped their final meals, I decided it was time to talk.
