Page 38 of Begin Again Again

“That’s putting it mildly. I wish it was like eating yogurt or some other thing no one gave a shit about.”

Josh laughed. He was actually pretty cute. Mid-thirties or so with a nice smile and even nicer arms.

“Where in Auckland are you from?” she asked.

“Oh, you’re just gonna assume Auckland, huh?”

She shrugged. “I know accents. It’s my useless party trick.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say useless. I’m from Howick.”

Beth punched the air. “Knew it. Wait, isn’t Howick solely occupied by the over two-hundreds?”

“Now that I’ve moved to Melbourne? Yeah. They must be struggling without me.”

“The last able-bodied man in Howick, abandoning his people…” Beth shook her head in mock horror.

“I know. I’m a bad person.” Josh glanced across at her. Their eyes met and Beth knew he was going to ask her out. She used to pretend not to know because it was vain to think guys liked you, but who was she kidding, playing the ingenue at thirty? The real question was, would she say yes? She recalled sitting in Byron’s arms, staring up at the stars. She didn’t want to fuck up her chances—

But she shouldn’t care. Byron wasn’t her boyfriend. Wasn’t her date.Wasa guy she met yesterday who hooked up with her, fell asleep and didn’t text her back.

Josh cleared his throat. “So, how did lockdown treat you?”

Beth saw Byron sitting in the beer garden at The Vic, saying people should talk about more interesting things than COVID. She smiled weakly. “I was okay. I did a lot of yoga. What about you?”

Josh opened his mouth, then closed it, brow furrowing. “Who’s that dude?”

Beth followed his line of vision. A tall guy in workwear was heading toward them, his canvas pants and blue polo at complete odds with the sporty décor. Heads turned as he moved closer, perhaps taking in the width of his shoulders, the broadness of his chest, the perfection of his angular face. It was Byron Thomas.

Beth’s stomach dropped.

Oh no.You’re so beautiful. Why are you here? Why are you doing this to me?

He caught her eye and gave her a little wave. “Hey Horoscopes, how are you?”

“By-ron?” Beth’s voice cracked. She cleared her throat. “What are you…? I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Yeah, I thought I’d stop by. Watch you play.”

“I… sure. Thanks for coming.”

Beth could feel Josh staring at her. She grinned wide. She needed to convey, to him, to the team, to the whole, that she regularly hung out with people who looked like they modelled knitwear, and thiswasn’textremely weird.

“Don’t worry,” Byron said. “I’ll get off the oval before you’re back playing.”

“Field,” Josh said.

“Field,” Byron agreed, separating his arms from his torso. Josh extended his arms over his head in a way that proved he too had muscles.

Fucking hell, guys, come on…

“Have you been here long?” she asked Byron.

“A little while. I wanted to say hi, but you were already on the pitch.”

“Field,” Josh muttered.

“Beth! Who’s this?”

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