Page 41 of More Than I Can Bear

“That guy said I’m drunk!” Jack snapped, wobbling on her bare feet and then aiming to go back and argue some more.

“Because you are,” I said mildly, jerking open the back door. “Now get in.”

“River!” She seemed to see me for the first time, grinning widely and then throwing open her arms. “C’mere and gimme a big bear hug.”

“Bear hug?” Freya snorted, tried to smother it, let out a weird piggy sound, and then clapped her hand across her face before bursting out laughing, Jack following suit. The two of them dissolved into giggles, almost bent double as they clutched at their stomachs.

Damn.

Their behaviour was starting to get more attention, people drifting closer, looking for some sort of drama to enliven their night and I was fairly sure sober Freya wouldn’t want that.

“C’mon, ladies,” I said, coaxing them towards the back seat. “We can’t have bear races up the mall if you don’t get in the car.”

“Oh goody, races!” Jack clapped her hands like a child.

“Waaaitaminute.” Freya stared at me with big, slow blinking eyes. “You’re that guy that made me late for the train.”

“Guilty as charged,” I replied. “And if you get in the car, I’ll get you ladies home and some water and painkillers.”And a bucket, I thought to myself.

“My dad likes you.” Freya continued, poking her finger into my chest. “He was saying I should go on a date with you.”

“Right, so—”

“And then I had a sex dream about Adam, which was really weird because I was in my old bed, with all the posters on the wall of the guys I thought were hot when I was a kid.”

“A sex dream!” Jack went to punch Freya in the arm and failed miserably, just spinning around in a circle instead. “You didn’t tell me about that.”

“Sex with one of your players,” Freya replied, cracking up as Jack made an exaggerated show of pretending to throw up in the gutter. “See, that’s why I didn’t tell you.” She spun around to face me. “So I decided I couldn’t date you because I’m not over Adam. Oops!”

When she slapped a hand over her face, it felt like I got the sting. My face felt red and swollen, like it might crack if I smiled. But I just nodded slowly.

“That’s fair,” I replied, even though it felt like anything but. My heart ached with each pulse, forcing blood into extremities that felt like they’d been deprived of it for way too long. “You don’t owe anyone anything, but I’d like it very much if you’d get in the car. I’ll take you to Jack’s where you can—”

“No bear races?” Her eyes shone then with unshed tears, and I sighed internally, remembering that the kind of paradoxical reactions of a drunk person were always hard to follow.

“Where we can have bear races,” I amended, having no intention of doing that at all. I wasn’t adverse to taking fur. The bear pushed hard each time he heard her mention him, wanting to burst out and be introduced. But she’d had enough to deal with, hence her current state, and I wouldn’t add to it. But of course, I couldn’t just be allowed to run with my plan, because next Kaine’s ute pulled up and he and Adam jumped out.

“Are they OK?” Kaine snapped, then not waiting for an answer, walking straight over to inspect them both for himself.

“What the fuck…?” Adam looked too pale, his eyes too bright, as he came closer. “They’re wasted.”

Because of what you idiots have done, I thought furiously, but didn’t say a thing.

“Hey, Farrelly!”

The blokes calling out wanted to get Adam’s attention, not Kaine’s, but both their heads whipped around, and I willed Adam to do the right thing. People were coming closer; because of course they were. They were focussed on him, because he’d won the medal, because of his latest confession. He stared at Freya, then me, and I silently begged him not to drag us into his orbit. He nodded.

“How’s it going, fellas?”

He ambled away from us and I let out a long sigh of relief, until I looked down. Freya was watching him go with something in her eyes. Longing, need, confusion, disappointment, pain? I couldn’t decipher what, because it was all so complex, but I knew I wanted to wipe it all away.

“Freya—”

“Let’s go,” she said, turning on her heel and I ushered her into the backseat, Jack stumbling in behind her.

“Take them to the apartment,” Kaine said, appearing at my shoulder. He handed me the key and fob. “That’s the only key to the place. Make sure they know that. No one will be coming in or out without their permission.” He put the key in my palm and closed my fingers around it, then stepped backwards. “Make sure they drink at least a bottle of water before bed and there’s painkillers in the bathroom.”

“You got it,” I said.

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