Chapter Seventeen
Jamie
Jamie tore her gaze away from the old family photo that was hanging up in the kitchen. She used to love that picture. She’d scored the winning goal in the cup final for the Harriers’ junior team. Her blonde hair was shoulder length instead of the short cut she’d worn since she was thirteen, which showed how long ago it was, but she could still remember the true happiness she’d felt that day.
Now her mum could hardly bear to discuss football at all, and her dad…well, Jamie could hardly bear to be in the same room as him.
Her mum caught her looking at the photo but didn’t say anything.
“Did you put that up?” Jamie asked.
She shook her head and took a sip from her cup of tea.
Her dad’s blatant lack of thought about her mum made Jamie’s grip tighten around her mug. Actually, she wasn’t sure what made her angrier—her dad’s selfish behaviour or her mum’s refusal to call him out. Even after everything he’d done last year.
She couldn’t understand why her mum stayed with him. Cheating on her was one thing, but cheating on her with some of Jamie’s teammates was a whole other level. His abuse of power had been sickening—promising more game time to his favourites and benching the others. It had become less about the game he’d taught Jamie to love so much, and more about what sexual favours he could get out of it.
The fact that he did this under Jamie’s nose disgusted her; her mum deserved better. So did she.
He’d lost his position at the university when it came out, but as everyone involved was a consenting adult, no legal action followed. But Jamie’s life was made a living hell.
Being in this house made it hard to escape.
Her mum cleared her throat, tucking her hair behind her ears. She’d kept changing the colours recently, sporting a burgundy red this month, anything to try and make her feel better. “So, tell me more about our neighbour,” she said, nudging Jamie with her foot under the kitchen island.
Their house was beautiful and spacious, modern and clean, an upgrade in the market from their last house, but inside, it felt empty. No matter what expensive furniture her dad filled it with, it wasn’t a home. Jamie didn’t think it ever would be again.
She pushed those thoughts aside and thought about Maya, unable to stop the smile from forming on her face. “I like her a lot,” she admitted.
“I could tell that from seeing you two together.”
Jamie laughed, thinking about that first encounter in Maya’s house and how irritated she had been to see her. At the time, Jamie couldn’t believe her luck. Toying with the grumpy captain had been a highlight of her Harrier days. She used to think winding Maya up was the best feeling—but Jamie hadn’t heard her laugh then. Maya’s laugh—her real, unfiltered laugh—rivalled anything else.
“So, when do I get to meet her?”
“You’ve already met.”
Her mum nudged her again under the table. “You know what I mean. Properly.”
Jamie glanced down, blowing on the tea in her mug.
“What is it?” her mum asked.
“Well…I haven’t told her about any of this yet.”
“Oh.” Now it was her mum’s turn to glance away.
An awkward silence passed while the two of them sipped at their tea.
Mum sighed. “I know it’s still really difficult for you, but I’m glad you came over today.”
Jamie didn’t know what to say. She could hardly tell her mum how much she despised being in this house. The itchy feeling that came with it, like her body was being infested with creepy crawlies, or the sadness that threatened to anchor her down so she could never leave again. She’d only come because she’d been swamped by guilt and couldn’t keep putting off her mum’s invitations any longer. She hated how much her dad’s actions had impacted their relationship, too. Honestly, she wished her mum would leave him, so they could start to put this behind them and move on. She wanted the best for her mum, and her dad wasn’t it.
“How are you doing, Mum? Really?” Jamie asked.
The question hung in the air while her mum chewed her lip. “Let’s not focus on that.”
She sighed. “But I’m worried about you. It’s not healthy being stuck here on your own.”
“You could visit more.”
“No.” Jamie shook her head. “I can’t do that. I’m sorry, but I can’t.” She didn’t want to look at her mum and see the hurt on her face, but she forced herself to. “Why won’t you leave him?”
Her mum’s watery eyes flicked to her, and her chin wobbled. “I wish—”
The slotting of a key in the lock made them turn their heads. Dad’s timing was always impeccable.
Jamie’s stomach tightened as the door opened, and her father’s deep voice called out, “Jaim. You here?”
Momentarily, she wished she’d parked her car out of sight, so she could make a run out the back door. But she steeled herself. She wasn’t going to keep brushing it under the carpet.
She wasn’t down to play happily families either.
He entered the kitchen, dressed in a black work suit with a purple tie loose around his neck. She still couldn’t look at his face without feeling rage.
“Did you see the Manchester United game at the weekend? Three—”
“Actually, I was just leaving.” She stood, then leaned in to give her mum a kiss on the cheek. “I’m meeting Leah.”
Her mum’s demeanour radiated sadness, but she tried to mask it. “Okay, love. I’ll speak to you later.”
Jamie nodded, hating the emotions reflecting in her mother’s eyes. She wondered if her mum had always shrunk in her dad’s presence, or if she’d only noticed it after everything had happened. She couldn’t remember. Everything was tainted now. A before and an after that couldn’t be undone.
She sidestepped her dad in the doorway and walked out the front door without so much as a glance back.
* * *
“I’m just saying. It’s fairly obvious,” Leah said.
Jamie chuckled, lining up a shot in the middle pocket. “You had no idea until I told you about us.” She focused, pulled back the cue, then fired in the red to take a five-ball lead. Leah groaned, and Jamie flashed her a smile before moving around the pool table.
“I suspected. No one claims to hate someone that much if they don’t wanna fuck ’em.”
Jamie’s mind jumped to her ex-teammates at the Harriers. After what had happened, she wouldn’t touch any of them with a bargepole. “I don’t think that’s true.”
“Worked for me and my ex.” Leah shrugged. “Anyway, I saw it coming a mile away.”
Jamie picked her new shot and fired, missing the pocket by a few centimetres. Leah punched the air, then moved around the table to take her turn.
“You can’t expect me to believe that,” Jamie said. “Your gaydar is atrocious.”
“Hey!”
Jamie had played wingman to Leah after witnessing her repeatedly strike out at the bar. Her new friend seemed to have a superpower for singling out all the taken straight women.
Leah huffed. “Whatever. Even if Harriet and Noodle hadn’t mentioned it, I would still have known.”
So most of the team were talking about them. Hardly surprising . Jamie wondered what Maya would think about that if she knew. There were still so many things that were uncertain about their captain, but there was nothing Jamie enjoyed more than peeling back those layers and learning more about her. Knowing they were the team’s current hot gossip might make Maya freak out. She took her role as team captain very seriously, something Jamie admired about her, but would it make her close off and push Jamie away? Or would it force them closer together, make it impossible to deny that what was going on between them was real?
Jamie wasn’t even supposed to want that, but she couldn’t help it. The pure happiness she felt around her was addictive. Maya made her giddy, and it was infinitely better focusing on that rather than the sour happenings with her dad.
Thankfully, Leah was too busy concentrating to see the stupid smile on her face.
Leah slung her blonde braid back over her shoulder and squeezed one eye shut. Jamie had to smother a laugh at her concentration face. She scuffed her shot, spinning the white to collide with one of Jamie’s balls.
“Fuck. Two shots to you.”
“I thought you were supposed to be good at this game,” Jamie teased.
Leah gave her a playful shove before wrapping an arm around her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “It’s you that’s freakishly good at everything. I used to be the Globe’s champion before you came along.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“Hey, Luke,” Leah shouted across the pub to a bunch of lads, who were all wearing various shades of the same Adidas top. “Didn’t I beat you that one time?”
A tall guy lifted his head, dark eyes glancing between them coolly. “Nah, you must’ve been dreaming about me again, Leah.”
She scoffed. “You wish, mate.”
“I’d beat you anytime, even with my left hand.”
One of his friends chipped in, “And they’ve both been out of business since he got with Carly.”
The group bellowed with laughter, and Luke clipped his friend round the back of the head.
“Jerk,” Leah muttered.
Jamie collected the white ball and lined up her two shots. If she played this right, she could end the game. She potted a red with a smash into the bottom pocket, manoeuvring around to tap two more into the pocket adjacent. One ball left.
“His girlfriend and Maya used to be really close,” Leah commented, after taking a long slug of her pint.
Jamie glanced up. “Oh, really?”
Leah nodded, a sly smile playing on her lips. “Yeah. I definitely think there’s some history there. You know, in my professional gay opinion.”
A little prick of heat ran up Jamie’s neck. “But they’re not close anymore?” she asked, as casually as she could muster.
“My ex used to be in Carly’s class, so I don’t get the gossip now. But I haven’t seen them together in a while.”
Interesting.
Jamie leaned on the table, sizing up her last move on the black to end the game and send Leah back to the bar for another round—even though she still hadn’t finished her own non-alcoholic beer yet. It was a simple shot, but her fingers wobbled. Thoughts of Maya crept into her head. She didn’t want Maya to see other people. The idea made her stomach tighten, and she blew out a breath.
You stupid, hopeless romantic. How had Maya managed to bury her way into Jamie’s heart so easily? So much for no relationship complications in your final year.
“Come on,” Leah complained. “Even I could make that shot.”
“You can’t rush brilliance.”
She steadied her hand, pulled back her cue, and just as she was about to fire, Leah hissed in her ear.
“Oh my god. She’s here. That’s Carly.”
Jamie swivelled her head so fast she was surprised she didn’t get whiplash. Her eyes flew to the pretty blonde who was bouncing into the Globe, standing out from the rest in her white jeans and pink sparkly pumps.
Maya and her?
Jamie didn’t know what to make of Leah’s comment. Her gaydar was the equivalent of a faulty satnav, directing people the wrong way down one-way systems and off a cliff edge. She decided she didn’t need to worry about it.
She avoided Leah’s inquisitive stare and focused instead on winning the game. She lined up her shot again, ears pricking at the high-pitched laughter coming from the group on the other side of the pub. Concentrate, Jaim. She pulled back her cue and smacked the black ball straight into the pocket. Unfortunately, the white ball spun and dived right in after it. She sighed. Game over. Jamie lost.
Leah cheered, finishing the dregs of her pint before looping her arm around Jamie’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “I’ve figured out your weakness now, Jamie. I think I’m gonna win a lot more games.”