Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
Bryson
“God damn, is that a smile I see on your face? I thought you must have been born without the required muscles.”
“Hilarious,” I drawl.
“But seriously? What’s got you blushing and kicking your feet?”
I toss my phone into my gear bag and pull my training top over my head. “Nothing.”
He eyes me sceptically before putting on his own shirt. “Nah, bullshit. I know that kind of smile. Who is she?”
I raise a brow at him in question.
“Don’t fuck with me, bro. I know that look was about a girl. And you’re only interested in one girl, no matter how many attempts I made to get you out there, so that must mean you finally got her.”
Fucking smart prick. I forget he’s so observant.
I don’t reply, but I can’t totally stop the smile that’s threatening to break out.
“I knew it.” Jones points at me, his expression smug.
“Our boy finally got the girl!” he yells out to Macca and Lucas who are getting changed over the other side of the locker room.
Neither of them have a fucking clue what he’s going on about, but it doesn’t stop them from hollering and cheering anyway.
“That’s enough.” I chuckle.
Jones sits down next to me, his shoulder bumping into mine. “You got her, for real?”
“I got her.” I nod.
“Fuck yes!” He ruffles my hair and I shrug him off, grinning.
“I was starting to wonder if you secretly batted for the other team or something. Would have been cool with it too, just FYI.”
“As tempting as you boys are, I’m definitely straight, but thanks for the support regardless.”
“You’re welcome, pal. So how’s it going?”
“It’s good.”
He looks amused by my answer. “Man of few words. I hope you’re more chatty when you’re with her, princess.”
He’s such a smart prick .
“It’s really fucking good, okay? She’s everything I’ve ever wanted and now that I’ve got her, she’s somehow even more than that,” I tell him. Hopefully that’ll be enough to shut him up. The prick loves a deep and meaningful.
He pretends he’s welling up, wiping away at non-existent tears. “That was beautiful, bro.”
I sock him in the leg and he erupts into laughter.
“In all seriousness, I couldn’t be happier for you, Bry. Just don’t go talking like that in front of my fiancée, you’ll make me look bad.”
“You make yourself look bad.”
“I try my best,” he jokes.
“I won’t tell her shit, if you stop riding me about this.”
He weighs it up for a minute and then nods. “Deal.”
He stands up and heads back to his gear bag, thankfully ending this torture of a conversation.
I snag my phone back out of my bag so I can send Soph a quick text before I head out for training.
We went for a walk this afternoon along the walkway by the sea. We even held hands. It was pretty romantic and shit. I barely recognise the man I’ve been this week, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Feeling like this suits me. It’s nice to feel properly happy.
Bryson: Hey beautiful, I’m about to head out for practice. Thanks for making time for me today.
Sophia: That’s alright, I think I could probably do it again tomorrow with a bit of convincing…
Bryson: I can do convincing. I can beg, plead… Do you want me to sing, dance, shine your shoes? I’m taking notes.
Sophia: I’m a sucker for a solo of some Mariah Carey, and a tap dance, if you have it available?
Bryson: I have ‘We Belong Together’ or ‘Always Be My Baby’, and I have some options when it comes to the tap dance. How do you feel about sequins on costumes?
Sophia: Running the risk of killing the joke prematurely here, but I’m quite impressed with how quickly you named those songs.
Bryson: Naming diva bangers from the 90s is probably my most redeeming quality.
Sophia: Five stars, honestly. And sequins are always encouraged.
Bryson: Consider yourself to have plans tomorrow night then. Dinner and a show.
Sophia: I’ve written it on the calendar. With pen, so you can’t take it back now. Have a good practice x
That settles it. I’m officially one of those smitten guys who grins at his phone.
“Carley,” I say as I answer the phone.
“Why do you always greet me like I’m a business associate or something?”
“All I said was your name.”
“Exactly, I’m your sister, not your acquaintance from the country club or something. You sound like you’re ready to give me a firm handshake.”
“Sorry. I can be all ‘ heeeey bestie’ if you want me to be.”
I hear her soft laugh. “ Slay .”
“So what’s the goss, queen ?” I drawl.
“Okay, I take it back. You can talk to me like a robot, this is giving me the ick.”
Probably for the best. I’m giving myself the ick too.
“What’s up?” I ask her as I lay down on the couch and swing my legs up.
“Just checking in. Wanted to see if Mum had been calling you, trying to get you to talk me out of going to France?”
“She’s certainly tried.”
“What did you tell her?”
Her voice turns quiet, sad maybe. It seems like she’s got something serious on her mind.
“I told her to let it go. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume she didn’t listen.”
She sighs heavily.
“Not only did she not listen, but she’s losing her mind. I’ve packed up all my stuff and gone to live with Brent at his aunty’s. The woman is crazy, I swear.”
Her voice cracks at the end, like she’s on the verge of tears.
Fuck. Shit must have gone down.
“What’d she do?” I ask warily. I’m not sure I even want to know the answer.
I hear her sigh and know it’s not going to be good. It’s not often that she sounds genuinely disappointed with our mother. I think Carley learned a long time ago to try and appreciate the woman for what she is, and not expect anything more from her, but this must have been too hard to ignore.
“She called Brent a bunch of names. Right to his face. Told him he wasn’t good enough for me, that he’d never succeed at anything and basically that he should disappear or she’ll make him disappear.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. ”
“Yeah.”
“Is he alright?”
“He’s fine. He wasn’t really too bothered. He laughed at her, actually. I guess it’s hard to care too much about what a botched housewife thinks of you when you’re loaded and just got a full scholarship to study accounting.”
That’s good shit. Way to go Brent. Laughing in the face of botox – what a legend.
“Are you okay?”
“I guess so. She really lost the plot after that. She was just screeching and yelling. She wasn’t even making any sense. We walked out, and I asked Gabby to let me know the next time Mum was going to Pilates so we could come and pack up my stuff.”
It sounds like maybe finally, Carley is getting a taste of what this family is really like. As sad as she sounds, I’m fucking over the moon that she’s out of that house already. I thought I was going to have to wait a bit longer, but Christmas has come early.
“I’m proud of you,” I mumble.
“I’m proud of me for not scratching her eyes out.”
Wouldn’t have mattered. We cover up assault in this family anyway.
“When did all this happen?”
“She lost her rag yesterday morning and we took all my shit in the afternoon.”
Fuck. I wished she’d called me to help. The fact that she had all the support she needed makes my chest feel all full though.
“I haven’t heard from her in a while. But I stopped taking her calls, so she probably didn’t even bother trying me this time. Are you okay?”
“I guess so. Sometimes I think about how close some of my friends are with their mums and I just feel sad. I love her, and it’s not like she’s a bad person or anything, but she’s just not like other mums. Do you know what I mean?”
I know what she means, alright. I probably felt more love and care from Pax and Cullen’s mums over our high school years than I did from my own mother. I gave up feeling sad about it a long time ago. But it’s different for Carley. Girls need their mums.
“I know what you mean.”
“I guess she’s just trying to protect me, but I don’t know. This whole thing has gotten crazy.”
I know damn well my mother isn’t trying to protect Carley. She’s trying to control her. Carley is the last thing left that Mum thinks she has any power over. That’s why she’s having a full mental breakdown over this, because she knows that the last shred of control she had over someone with the last name Decker, is about to come to an end.
It’s sad really.
“Dad is never even around anymore,” she says quietly.
Breaks my heart to hear the sadness in her tone. Makes me want to tell her how much of a good thing it is that the piece of shit is never here, but I won’t. She’s got enough on her plate, she doesn’t need a serving of trauma to top it all off.
“I wouldn’t let it keep you up at night, Carley. You’ve got Brent. Your friends. You’ve got me.”
“I know I do,” she replies quietly.
“And you’re going to go and live your best life in France. Things are looking up.”
“That’s true.”
I feel for her. I remember when I had to mourn the loss of the idealism of real parents. Thankfully Carley gets to do it without a black eye and fractured ribs.
“I hope you took your car with you.”
If there’s one thing our parents are good for, and it’s probably only this one thing, it’s buying us a car each.
“You bet your ass I did. That thing’s in my name. She’d have to pry the keys out of my cold, lifeless hand,” she says proudly.
I chuckle.
“You want to hear something crazy?” I ask her, looking for a way to take her mind off things.
“Let me guess… you switched from trim to full cream milk?”
“Don’t be insane.”
“Spill the tea then…”
“I’m seeing someone. ”
“As in like, a girl, or more of a ‘I see dead people’ vibe?”
I huff out a laugh. “A girl.”
That shocks her into silence.
“Does she know you’re still in love with your teenage crush?”
I smirk. “What makes you think I’m still in love with my teenage crush?”
“Oh please , you send me a snap of everything you make from those videos she does. You’re subscribed to her channel for crying out loud. You’re still obsessed.”
I chuckle. “Maybe I am.”
“See. You could at least tell the poor bitch, it’s hardly fair.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“But anyway, tell me about her, what’s her name? How long has this been going on? What’s she like?”
I bite back a laugh. “She’s the most incredible woman I’ve ever met, and only a week, but we go way back.” I pause. “Her name’s Sophia.”
I can pretty much see her thoughts through the phone line.
“Sophia, huh?” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“Yip.”
“Good for you, Bryson. I guess both of us get to be proud of something today.”