Page 29 of After the Siren
‘Can I go and say something to Davo? I don’t think you should be training this morning.’
Weirdly, that made Cunningham smile. It was a very damp, trembly smile, but it was a smile. ‘Mum’d give me a spray if she knew I’d used her to get out of extras. So no, but thanks.’
‘All good.’ Being nice to someone whose mother was potentially dying seemed like a pretty low fucking bar. ‘You want a coffee or anything?’ At least that would be something he coulddo.
‘You volunteering to make me one?’
‘Sure.’
‘That would be good, actually. Thanks.’
‘How do you take it?’
‘Reckon you can manage a cappuccino?’
‘Uh.’ Theo drank black coffee at the club partly because he didn’t want to have to learn how to make the machine do anything more complicated.
‘I like a lot of choccy sprinkles.’ Jake’s face broke into a smile. ‘I’m joking,’ he said, after a moment. ‘There’s a button for a latte, but I’m not picky. If it’s coffee, I’ll drink it.’
By the time Theo returned, Cunningham – Jake, maybe, at this point – had obviously washed his face and made a significant effort to get his shit together. Theo handed him the coffee. He was fairly sure it was a latte. He’d also brought them each a banana. Nature’s energy snack.
Jake polished off his coffee and his snack while Theo finished his own coffee. The silence didn’t feel awkward, even if the whole situation was objectively incredibly awkward.
They made it out onto the oval with plenty of time to spare. Davo grunted a good morning and then they were off. By the time they were done, Theo was dripping with sweat. Davo was taking the punishment dimension of these extras very seriously.
‘Stretch,’ Davo said, then stomped off towards the club and his office. Jake looked like he was a couple of breaths away from vomiting.
‘I’m going to grab us both a Gatorade,’ Theo told him, and jogged off. He’d stayed with Jake when he was distraught, but it was only decent to give someone the chance to spew privately into a bin.
By the time he got back, Jake was looking less green but more clammy. Theo handed him a water first and he rinsed his mouth out before he accepted the Gatorade.
‘I think he’s trying to kill us,’ Jake said, flopping down onto the grass. ‘Which I guess is one way of solving the problem.’
Theo followed him onto the grass, though less dramatically, and folded forward into a hamstring stretch.
‘I’m sorry about the skit, and the interview,’ Jake said. He was lying on his back, staring up at the soft morning sky. Maybe stretching was beyond him. ‘And sorry I didn’t apologise before.It felt awkward as fuck to bring it up when you joined the team out of nowhere.’
‘Thanks,’ Theo said, because it still wasn’t really okay, but he did get it. ‘I’m sorry ... about what I said. And for being a dick.’
Jake rolled over to look at Theo. ‘Thanks.’ He sat up and propped himself against the boundary fence, still not looking like he had any intention of stretching. He watched Theo get into a pigeon pose and then said, ‘Does that mean I’m not a showboating hack?’ His grin was all mischief again.
‘I’ll take back the hack part.’
‘Fuck off,’ Jake said, but not like he meant it.
‘Like you can deny it.’
Jake shrugged. ‘If you’ve got it ...’
Theo rolled his eyes.
‘Wanna grab breakfast?’ Jake asked. ‘The place around the corner will be open.’
Theo was sure he meant to sayNo thanks, but instead his mouth said, ‘Yeah.’ Then he clarified. ‘I want a word with Davo, can you wait?’
‘Sure, I wanna shower. Meet you in the foyer in twenty?’
‘Sounds good.’
