Page 16 of After the Siren
Jake was slipping through the door when he heard laughter. It took him a second to realise it was Bestavros. Bestavros hadn’t seen Jake – the curve of the balcony hid the door from view.
‘You know I wouldn’t miss catching up with all of you,’ Bestavros was saying.
A group call, Jake assumed. Personally, he tended to stick with group chats. He didn’t even call Keeley more than once a month.
He hesitated for a second. Maybe Bestavros was wrapping things up. Jake didn’t really fancy trying to find a better spot, and he still had a few minutes. He sat down on one of the deckchairs and pulled out his phone.
‘... yeah, I thought that would be a good way to bond.’ Bestavros’ voice was dry. ‘Nothing like a blowjob between bros.’
Okay, what?And yes, listening was wrong, but also, maybe if Jake listened to a couple more sentences he’d get a better idea of whether Bestavros was about to end the call.
There was a silence, then Bestavros spoke again. ‘Yeah, and bad blowjobs wouldn’t be good for team morale.’ He snorted. ‘Sorry, Rach, but there have been no blowjobs. As far as I know, anyway. My bisexuality remains valid but theoretical.’
Jake’s brain shorted out.My bisexuality remains valid but theoretical.
‘Oh, sharing a room with Cunningham,’ Bestavros said. ‘Yeah, except he’s also a showboating hack.’
Wow, okay.
‘He can’t put anything away, he’s allergic to wearing a shirt, and he fucking ducksconstantly... no, Rach, it’s a footy thing.’ There was another pause. ‘The abs aren’t real, Priy. Trust me, I’ve seen them.’
Ouch.So now Jake was definitely eavesdropping, but come on. How could he not?
‘He doesn’t take it seriously,’ Bestavros said. ‘He fucks around constantly, and he gets away with it because he’s got natural talent. He skips reps in the gym, he’s always stuffing around in drills, he just cruises on his talent. He’s a flogandhe leaves wet towels on the floor.’
Okay, so Jake occasionally skipped a set.Fucking sue me.It wasn’t like he was ever going to dominate one-on-ones. He knew his strengths and played to them.
The towel criticism was fair – he’d heard it before – but he’d never heard a teammate call him a flog before, and he didn’t fucking like it. He’d workedhardto get here. Logged hundreds of kilometres on the road, driving to and from games. Even fallen asleep at the wheel once, only waking when his tyres hit gravel. Left shit early – parties, birthdays, family lunches. Got to stuff late. Stayed sober when his mates weren’t. Kept his stupid grades up, as much as he could, because his mum believed in him, but she also knew what footy could be like. Watched from the sidelines during what should have been his debut season, rehabbing an ACL day by agonising fucking day.
Oh, yeah, and he’d gotten his ass dumped because he wouldn’t risk his career.
Where did Bestavros get off, acting like he knewshitabout Jake?
‘No, it’s not that,’ Bestavros said, and Jake desperately wanted to know whatthatwas. ‘He’s just a typical surfer-boy douchebag. I don’t have to like him just because we’re on a team together. People like him are why ... okay, yes, subject change. Ah shit, I’ve got to go anyway, I need to shower before dinner.’
Jake exhaled slowly. Bestavros didn’t like him. Who gave a fuck? Bestavros was going to be lucky to edge his way into the best 22. Why would Jake give a shit what he thought?
Theo closed his laptop and tipped his head back against the stone wall. The sky was starting to colour and there was a soft evening breeze, lifting the heat of the day. He lingered for a couple more minutes, enjoying the smell of the sea. It was a nice spot, but if he didn’t head back soon he wouldn’t be able to shower before dinner, and that was definitely a necessity.
He’d almost bailed on the group video call. Priya, Rachel and Lee were his oldest friends, but he hadn’t really wantedto answer the questions he knew they’d have for him.How’s it going? How are you feeling?
He’d managed to divert them, initially, at the expense of Nathan Rigger, who’d seen that Theo was taking the vegetarian meal at lunch and had kindly volunteered that there were halal options. It actuallyhadbeen quite nice of Rigger. Theo had cleared up the confusion – ‘I’m vegetarian, not Muslim’ – and Raze had choked on a mouthful of mashed potato. Rigger had looked like he was longing for the sweet embrace of death.
From there, Theo managed to steer the catch-up to Rachel’s most recent dating sagas, then Lee’s career crisis, and then Priya’s current trial. In the flurry of their news, he’d gotten away with the sort of vague ‘yeah, good so far’ answers that would not have flown if the other three had been paying more attention. When the conversation eventually turned to Jake Cunningham, Priya had narrowed her eyes a couple of times, so he was probably going to hear from her later.
He walked around the corner and stopped dead. Cunningham was lounging on one of the deckchairs, apparently engrossed in whatever he was doing on his phone. He tipped his head back to look at Theo. The omnipresent aviators were hooked into the neck of his t-shirt.
‘Hey,’ Cunningham said.
‘Hi.’Fuck. Theo’s brain ran the conversation in reverse.Fuck. Was there a subtle way to askDid I just out myself to you?‘What are you doing here?’
‘Same as you, I guess. Reception’s shit inside and I gotta make a call in a couple of minutes.’
‘Yeah,’ Theo agreed, only half listening. The follow-up question toDid I just out myself?had to beDid you just overhear me bagging you out to my friends?There was no way to know how long Cunningham had been there. And Theo, well ... he hadn’t held back.
‘Did you —’ He stopped.
‘Did I what?’ Cunningham asked. There was something in his voice Theo hadn’t heard before. Then Cunningham closed his eyes for a second and sighed. ‘I won’t tell anyone.’
