Page 69 of Summer, in Between
‘Maybe,’ I shrug.‘But we’re talking about your brothers.I can’t believe it.I’d die if I lost one of mine.’
‘You’d be surprised what you can live with or without.’His gaze doesn’t leave the floor.The muscles in his jaw flex.
I rise from my chair and sit on his lap, hands on either side of his face.I kiss his forehead, on the verge of tears.
‘Oh, no you don’t.’He pushes me away gently.‘I can’t survive two run-ins with your old man today.’
‘Did he say anything?’I sit on the edge of my bed.
‘Nope, we were both really careful to avoid eye contact,’ he says with a soft laugh.‘I’ve never taken so much interest in measuring up timber.’
‘Which brings me back to my original question.I know you work for Dad, but you don’t have to work all the time if you don’t want to.’
‘I wish I worked for your dad permanently,’ he says.‘I hate the crap I work on.Working with your old man would be the bomb.’
‘This is going to sound harsher than I mean it to, but answer me honestly: is working for my dad after the reno one of the reasons we’re a thing?I mean, I know there’s you and me, but is that another drawcard, maybe not themaindrawcard, but you know what I mean?’
‘Are you freakin’ serious, Cat?’He runs his hands through his hair.‘Let me get this straight.You’re asking me if I’m using you to get a permanent job with your old man?’
‘Are you?’My voice cracks.
‘No, Cat.I’m not.I’m helping your dad on the reno, and the fact that you’re my girlfriend is a bonus that I didn’t see coming.But good to know what you think of me.’He walks out of my room.
I curl into a ball on the bed.In the kitchen below I hear him talking to Mum and Nonna before the sliding door opens and shuts.
31
‘HEY Cat, wait up!’
I’m walking along the tideline, turning shells over with my toes.I stop and turn, my hand shading my eyes from the sun.Paul, Cavey, Ant and a couple more surfers lope down the dunes, surfboards under their arms.They’re wearing their wetsuits – Paul’s pulled up to his waist, his chest bare.Thank you sweet baby cheesus.At Paul’s grin I almost make a sign of the cross.Thank you sweet baby cheesus times infinity,I didn’t 100% scare him off.
‘You hitting the Point?’Waves are curling beyond the bombora, where rocks meet the open ocean.
‘Yep, have a look, it’s perfection,’ says Ant, ‘come poi resistere?’
‘I’ll take your word for it.’Between the rocks, the reefs, the underwater caves and the sharks, the Point is only for the uber-reckless thrill seekers of the world, aka my boyfriend.Will that ever not feel weird to say, even in my own head?A wave curls and breaks, as opaque as a piece of sea glass, the white of its crest spraying into the sky.It looks engineered, and yes, indeed, perfect.
