Page 29 of Meet You in the Waves
“You’ve been hanging out with Dane too long,” I guessed, taking a sip of my beer.
“Correct. Your brother has very expensive taste,” Ajay confirmed. “It’s almost impossible keeping up with him with just my part-time barista job.”
“I bet. Sydney is an expensive city to live in.”
“So expensive,” he agreed. “It wasn’t so bad when I was at school. I was living in the boarding house and Mum was still paying me an allowance. It’s a lot harder now although Dane is super generous with his money. I don’t think I could survive if it wasn’t for him.”
“Does your mum not give you an allowance anymore?” I asked, picking up on something in his words.
“Ah, no,” he confirmed with a nervous laugh. “That all dried up after she got married to Tim. But it’s okay. I’ve got the job at The Local Brew and my scholarship pays for all my books and my tuition fees.”
“So, your mum marries this guy, Tim, and suddenly just stops supporting you?” I asked, eyes narrowing on Ajay. His eyes dropped to the little table in front of us but his casual shrug belied the truth of his feelings on the matter.
“It’s okay. I get it.”
“No, that’s bullshit,” I said because of course I couldn’t just leave him to deal with his family issues on his own. “Surely marrying this guy would have made your mum’s financialsituation better? Like having someone else contributing to the mortgage and the living costs?”
Ajay just shrugged again and I knew to drop it. I said nothing as I watched him battle some emotion, fingers itching to touch him, make him feel better.
“I’ve kind of gotten used to it anyway,” he finally said, a false bravado to his words.
“Gotten used to what?”
Ajay shrugged again. “Feeling abandoned I guess.”
I swallowed. I had to clench my fingers into tight fists to stop myself from reaching over and pulling him into me as my pulse beat low and steady in my gut.
“Ajay,” I said instead, waiting until those big brown eyes looked up at me, an honesty in them that had me wanting to fall to my knees. “I know we haven’t known each other all that long but I … I want you to know that I willneverabandon you. You can always rely on me for whatever you need.”
He didn’t say anything but I saw the way he swallowed as a glassy sheen came over his eyes.
“I feel like I do know you though,” he said quietly while my heart decided to stampede like a herd of elephants.
“Good. I feel the same.” I didn’t think I could get much more out than that without telling him more than he wanted to hear. Way more than he wanted to hear.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to get all serious,” he muttered, forcing a smile as he took a sip from his glass with slightly shaky hands.
“I know. I mean it though,” I added, unable to help myself shifting a little closer until my knee touched his. I just had to have some contact with him, even as small as this.
“I know you do,” he replied steadily. And just that little statement of fact, that trust he had in me lifted my heart up like nobody else could have done.
This guy was just such a gem of a human and something about him made me want to burn down the world for him. Keep him safe. Protect him from the people that would hurt him, a number that seemed to keep on rising by the day.
I had been in no hurry to return Ajay to the house, back to where someone else had a higher claim on him. I didn’t think I’d ever been more jealous of my brother in all my life.
I was still bloody angry at Dane, not so much for the way he had treated me. I expected that shit from him. No, I was palpably furious about how he had not backed the guy who was supposed to be his best friend. That was exactly what friends were supposed to do for each other – have each other’s backs. And he’d seriously let his best friend down, a slight I could not easily forgive.
Ajay and I stayed at the pub for a couple of hours, talking and laughing and sharing a few more drinks. Kept it light hearted after it had gotten a little serious earlier on. I’d switched to coke half way through, knowing I’d made a promise to keep Ajay safe.
He’d seemed happier about getting back onto the motorbike afterwards and I’d taken the opportunity to take him for an extended drive down along the coast, further south to Ives Inlet and Sorrento, to parts he’d never seen. I wished I could have seen his face when we rounded the twists and turns of the road, the infinite expanse of the blue Pacific almost an assault to the senses.
The sun was low in the sky by the time I drove the bike back into the garage, regret sparking all over when Ajay removed his warm body from where he had been pressed up against me.Although my body could do with a little cooling down if I was completely honest.
I helped him with his helmet and rider jacket, hanging them both back up on the pegs in the cupboard. I turned to find him watching me, hands shoved in his pockets and a look I couldn’t decipher on his face.
“Thanks for today,” he said quietly.
“Anytime, Ajay,” I told him, needing him to know.
