Page 100 of Something to Believe In

He lifts his head and gives me a small smile. “I almost made it through a whole game.”

“Yeah, you did.” I lean in and kiss him. “And you survived travelling in a car with me.”

He lets out a small chuckle, resting his forehead against mine. “Yeah, I did.”

“So, today hasn’t been all bad.”

He shakes his head. The siren sounds and the air around them vibrates with the cheers from the crowd.

“Do you want to go back in there?” I ask.

Oliver glances back towards the field, a look of uncertainty crossing his face. “I don’t think I can.”

I nod. I get it. My phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out to see a Snap from Ashley and JD. I open it up, and they’re out on the field with Macca, celebrating the win.

Oliver sighs. “Can we get out of here?”

“Yeah, of course.” I text our friends to congratulate Macca and let them know we’ll catch up with them later.

As we make our way over to the exit, I look up and freeze. One of Joel’s brother’s is in front of us, staring at Oliver.Shit. He doesn’t need this right now. My eyes dart to Oliver, who’s too busy looking at his phone to notice, but in ten short steps we’re going to reach him. I glance around, but there’s no way to escape.

“Oliver?” Joel’s brother calls out. “Hey man. Ethan West. I’m…I’m Joel’s brother. Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Oliver’s face goes pale. I squeeze his hand to remind him I’m still here. He looks back and forth between me and Ethan before nodding, and we follow him away from the crowd that is now exiting the stadium behind us.

Ethan rubs the back of his neck, looking down at his feet. “Uh, I just wanted to say I’m really sorry to hear you can’t play footy anymore.”

Oliver doesn’t say anything, so I nudge him.

“Yeah, thanks,” he mutters. He scuffs his shoe along the ground. “I’m, um, sorry about Joel.”

Ethan gives a slight nod of his head. We stand there in awkward silence. My heart is breaking for both boys. Neither of them deserves to be in this shitty position. I open my mouth to say something to break the silence, but Ethan beats me to it.

“I just want you to know,” he clears his throat. “Joel was really sorry about everything that went down between you two. He had some stuff…I mean, we all had some stuff go down at home this year, and it was rough, but Joel really struggled the most. It didn’t help that dad was always riding him pretty hard about getting drafted. When he took you out on the field…” he sighs. “Look, I’m not trying to make excuses for him. What he did to you, it was inexcusable. He knew that. It cut him up pretty bad, knowing he had ruined your chances of a career.”

My mouth drops open, and I stare at Ethan.Is he trying to say Joel did what he did because of Oli? Because he does not need to be hearing this right now.

“Ethan, I–”

Joel’s brother holds up his hand, interrupting whatever Oliver was going to say. “What happened to my brother, it had nothing to do with you. That’s what I wanted to tell you. There was so much other stuff going on, I think it all just got too much for him.”

Someone calls out to Ethan, and he nods in their direction. Turning back to us he offers his hand out to Oliver who looks like he’s in shock as he shakes it.

“I gotta go. But remember what I said, it had nothing to do with what went down with the two of you. This was all on Joel.” He nods at me. “See you later.”

Oliver watches Joel’s brother jog over to his friends and shakes his head.

“You okay?” I ask, stepping in front of him.

He rests his forehead on mine, closing his eyes. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “I just wasn’t expecting that.”

I reach up and cup his cheek in my hand. “Come on. Let’s go home. This day has been crazy intense.”

Oliver is distracted on the drive home; I don’t think he even realises he’s in a car. I park his mum’s car in the driveway and shut off the ignition.

“Sorry,” he says. “You can just drop me off and go join in the celebrations if you want.”

I scoff. “Don’t be silly. I want to be here with you.”

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