Page 5 of Poke the Bear

Then there was Kaine.

My big brother glanced over at me from above Mum’s head and unlike everyone else here, he didn’t smile, just nodded to me. I liked to think there was a little sparkle in his eyes when he did that, or was that the flash of the cameras? They were all here, to support me, to watch the tally unfold, all except one.

River, my other sleuth mate.

Bringing River to an event like this was a recipe for destruction. He hated the spotlight, hated the noise and the bullshit. He worked with my brother at my dads’ construction company, but even then he kept a low profile. Some of the other guys muttered about it, reading too much into his silences, but I knew. He was just looking for the same thing as me, the other half of our heart, and we’d never find that here.

“Mum, you look beautiful,” I said, now hamming it up for the cameras. I pulled her close, feeling like a little kid clinging to his mother’s skirts for a second. She smelled of good cooking and Opium, her favourite perfume and I let out a long breath out before letting her go. “Dad.” I nodded to Ed, one of my dads, then slid my eyes to the other three, so they knew I meant all of them.

“Proud of you, Son.” Ed moved in and gave me that kind of brisk back pat dads use with their grown sons, then tapped me on the bicep. “And wearing smart clothes for once.”

“Haven’t done a bloody thing about that hair.” Willie shook his head and looked at my mop with a frown.

“You know you don’t find a girl by looking like one, s—” Sam said, shooting a sidelong look at the media when he realised he’d nearly slipped. “Mate. You’ll never find a lady looking like an unshorn sheep.”

“This family’s never gonna let this shit get to your head.” Kaine came in close, ruffling my hair and then smiling just slightly for the cameras. He might’ve hated it, but having a famous brother did help bring in business for him. “Just don’t fuck things up tonight.”

Don’t fuck things up, that was Kaine’s default response to everything. What do I do on the first day of school? I’d asked. Don’t fuck up. How do I deal with dickheads on the field? Same advice. So right now, I shoved my elbow into his side and when the air was driven out of him, I sidled away.

“Got all the pictures we need?” I asked Jack, and I let out a sigh when she nodded. “C’mon,” I told my family, holding out an arm for my mum to take. More photos of that, because apparently people wanted to see that, but I didn’t care. Off the field, there was only them.

And my sleuth.

“Sorry, Mrs Farrelly,” Darryl said, emerging as we walked into the ballroom. I saw the massive space and the cameras and all the fancy shit and my heart sank. People loved to watch the medal count, but fuck, they were either watching my slow demise or my victory and there was nothing I could do about it. At least during a game there was the hope of turning shit around for the team. “I need young Adam for a bit.”

“Young Adam,” I said, giving him a shove once he directed me towards the bar. “You’re nearly a year younger than me.”

“And nowhere near as good-looking, so mate, I need ya as my wingman.” He cast a shifty eye over the ballroom as people started to file in. “The grade A star fuckers are out in force and we need to help those bitches live the dream.” He winked at me. “On the end of our dicks.”

I just stared at him right now, seeing two different blokes. The one who’d seen me through some of the toughest times of my career as we fought it out with all the other kids who thought they could kick a footy around. And then there was this guy.

Some women made it their life’s work to nail a football player, some even trying to get pregnant by one, knowing full well no relationship would come for it. It was far worse for the guys in the AFL, the national football league, but fuck. Some blokes avoided the groupies, some found them beside them in their bed at a hotel, let in by their mates and still others? The women didn’t see the man, just the jersey and these blokes didn’t see them either. Just a willing hole to sink their dick in. If everyone was an adult and consenting, then it was none of my business, but…

“Darryl—” I started to say, but he shook his head, losing the smile.

“Nah, nah, don’t pussy out on me now, mate.” His brows drew down in a slight frown. “This is our chance. You’re riding high this year, and I’m gonna be riding there beside you. Time to put all that fame and good looks to work for the both of us.”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, steering me towards the bar again, but something shifted at the corner of my eye. I lived most of my life barely aware of the bear, because he had no place in this country. But when he did come to the fore, there was no ignoring him. He surged to life inside me, stiffening, then roaring, dragging my focus off to the left. I ducked out from under Darryl’s grip and saw her.

My mate.

She didn’t look like a groupie, but I wouldn’t have given a shit if she was, because she was mine. I felt that throbbing hard and true in my chest. I took a step towards her, then another, a sharp whine in my head growing, like the time some dickhead elbowed me right in the head. But there was no doc to rush on field and check me out, make sure I was still good to play.

Just her.

Because I’d never recover from this, ever.

She was beautiful, with long brown hair with a tawny streak in it, and she’d worn it loose around her shoulders. I wanted to run my fingers through it, then wrap it around my hand and pull her closer. Her lips were bright, bright red, like her dress. The shiny material, satin? It spilled over full curves, ones that I needed to sink my fingers into. She was mine, ours, I corrected, but when I looked over to where my family was seated, I realised Kaine hadn’t seen her.

So he hadn’t pissed her off with his grumpy prick bullshit yet.

I stopped for a second, because my girl shrank back. I looked around me, searching for whichever dickhead had a beautiful woman like her pulling back, but just saw Darryl at my shoulder. He frowned as he looked at me, then my mate.

“Not her,” he said, dismissing my mate outright, before he’d even met her. “You need some chick with juicy big tits you can sink your teeth unto, one that’ll let you fuck her wherever you want and then say thank you afterwards.”

“No,” I said, pushing past him and walking closer.

“What?” Darryl’s tone had turned nasty now. I usually only heard it once he had a few drinks into him. Make that more than a few. “You knock back the hotties for this bitch?”

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