Page 27 of After the Siren
‘I talked to Bestavros,’ Yelks said, once they’d made a good start on the pierogi. Fuck, they were tasty.
‘Yeah?’
‘He didn’t know about your family situation.’
‘Okay.’Good for him.
‘What’s going on, Jaze? You get along with everyone, and Bestavros isn’t a bad guy. To be honest, I thought he’d slot in with the three of you.’
‘Did you ask him?’
Yelks smiled. When he first joined the Falcons, Jake had a crush on Yelks for about three weeks purely on the strength of his smile. Maybe also his thighs. ‘Yes, but I want to hear it from you as well.’
Jake thought about it. He was going to have to come clean – but in a way that didn’t out either of them. He managed to stumble his way through a version of the truth while Yelks gave him anI know you’re leaving shit outlook.
Yelks tended to let people sort out their own stuff rather than pushing. People did talk to him, though. Not really Jake, because Jake didn’t usually have shit to talk about, or at least not shit he was going to talk to Yelks about. But he knew at least four people who’d cried onto one of Yelks’ broad shoulders. Yelks had also been great with Xen from the word go; hadn’t blinked when Xen had admitted he was having panic attacks, had just pulled him into a hug and then set up a sequence of appointments for him.
Sometimes Jake wondered if he should tell Yelks he was gay. Like, maybe it would be a relief. Some stupid part of him thought that if he could tell Yelks, and if Yelks said it was okay, then it really would be okay.
Feelings were fucked up.
Yelks waited once Jake finished. Expectantly.
‘I’ll apologise,’ Jake said, finally. ‘And I’ll ... um ... stop provoking him?’
‘Yes.’
It had gone a bit far. But Bestavros justgot to him. All those fucking disapproving looks under those ridiculous lashes. The way he smashed everyone’s times in the running drills. The way the training shorts looked on his thighs when he propelled himself into the air off the marking bag.
‘This can’t have been an easy transition for him,’ Yelks said. ‘I was hoping you boys would look out for him. He’s got a lotof talent, but the Sharks obviously weren’t a good fit. To really deliver on his ability, he needs to loosen up. Have some fun. Feel like part of this team.’
That was absolutely true. And Jake definitely hadn’t done anything to help with that.
‘Yeah,’ Jake said, prodding the last pierogi. ‘I’ll do better. I don’t know if he’s gonna want to be friends, but I’ll try.’
‘That’s all I can ask.’ Yelks stretched. God, his arms wereridiculous.He was in his mid-thirties and he probably had the best body on the team. There was an Insta (which Jake definitely didn’t follow on his burner account) devoted purely to pictures of Yelks in trackies. ‘You’ve still got to do your extras though.’
Jake knew that if he explained what was going on with his mum, Yelks would go in to bat for him, and he’d be allowed to go home as planned. But he didn’t want to explain. He already felt raw and scraped out. He didn’t want to deal with Yelks being gentle and kind, the way he’d say something like, ‘Whatever you need.’ He didn’t want Bestavros to think he’d gotten out of the extras because he was a brat, but he also didn’t want him to knowwhyhe’d gotten out of extras.
So he said goodbye to Yelks, locked the door, and yelled, ‘It’s safe to come out,’ down the hallway.
He’d cope.
Chapter Six
The first day of extras passed uneventfully. Theo apologised. Cunningham apologised. They both focused on not throwing up during the sprint session. And sure, the convivial back slaps felt a bit forced, but at least nobody tried to punch on. Also, Theo had observed at camp that Cunningham was not a morning person.
Davo took the session himself, unsmiling, but Theo detected a slight thawing by the end. Apparently the back slaps had done their work.
On the second day, Theo woke up half an hour before his alarm and decided he might as well head to the club. He could make a coffee there without waking up Eva, and the pre-workout options in the communal kitchen were good. He would say this for the Falcons: they had money, and with money came awesome facilities. There was a gorgeous player lounge with a view of the oval, extremely comfortable couches and booths, and an endless supply of snacks and smoothie ingredients.
He made a coffee and a protein shake, then realised he hadn’t brought a headband with him (Cunningham had been right, damn him) and went to retrieve one from his locker. The club was a little eerie at this time of day, lights clicking on one by one as Theo walked through the silent corridors.
He walked into the locker room and froze. Cunningham was slumped in front of his locker, elbows on his knees and face in his hands. He was definitely crying. Before Theo could decide whether to back the hell up and pretend he hadn’t seen anything, Cunningham looked up. His eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, his cheeks wet with tears.
‘Great,’ Cunningham said, dragging the back of his forearm across his face.
Theo took a step into the room and hesitated. ‘Are ... are you okay?’ Stupid question.
