Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Hemi
I shut the door behind me quietly so I don’t disturb Liam and breathe a sigh of relief now that I’m in my space, well, my space for the week.
Daisy neglected to tell me her friend is one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen.
Slightly shorter than me, bright blue eyes, super pale skin that looks whiter because of the lack of freckles, and red hair with the slightest curl to hang on his forehead.
I’ll never admit it to her, but I’m feeling slightly betrayed.
How am I supposed to relax when I’m living in his house for the next ten days?
And whatever he writes is clearly doing him well.
A small house in comparison to the mansions in Wānaka, but each room is painted a different colour that is warm and cosy, and it’s in fucking Wānaka, a very expensive place to buy a house.
I sit on the bed cautiously, decorated in various light blue tones with a splash of cream, and bite the inside of my cheek.
This room is painted eggshell blue—Mum should be proud I recognise the colour.
Each room is decorated with quality pieces, even I can recognise that, and an eye for detail I’ve never had, much to Mum’s despair.
You can tell he put a lot of thought and love into each space.
It’s oddly comforting and reminds me of the house I grew up in.
“I really hope Daisy was right and he doesn’t mind me being here,” I mutter and shift to lean against the pillows.
I could always hide in my room for the week.
Not sure that would help whatever is going on in my head though, and strangely, I hate the idea of Liam seeing me sulk all week.
I feel woefully unprepared and slightly regret my decision, so hastily agreeing to Daisy’s plan.
I didn’t anticipate feeling inadequate in front of her friend.
Not because he’s attractive—when he appeared in the airport as I started getting stressed, I wanted to kiss him in relief, and then for other reasons—but because I think I’d feel inadequate in front of anyone at the moment.
Which is probably why I was given the time off, because playing rugby in front of thousands of people when you don’t feel confident doesn’t exactly equal a good game.
I didn’t realise how far it went. Liam has no connection to me or the team, so I thought it would be a good place to escape to.
But he watches the team and is close with Daisy, and now I feel like I’m being watched or judged or something.
Which I know I’m not because Liam clearly has a lot going on with the huge whiteboard in the lounge and not everything is about me.
I need to get out of my head. For a different reason now. Liam’s blue eyes flash in my head, and I shake myself and grab my phone to open the message Charlie sent me and ignore the message from Suli telling me to get some rest.
She wants to meet for lunch tomorrow. I wince.
In my haste to escape and fix everything, I forgot to tell her I’m not spending my time off in Auckland.
Or deliberately didn’t tell her so she wouldn’t talk me out of it like I nearly did myself.
I shoot her a text saying I’m not in Auckland and wait for the phone call I know will come as soon as she reads it.
While I wait, I send a quick message to Mum but decide to tell her I’m on holiday rather than mandatory leave.
She doesn’t keep up with sports news so she won’t find out I’m lying. Until Charlie tells her.
I barely manage to send the text and rub my tired eyes before my phone vibrates with an incoming call.
“Sister,” I answer.
“Brother. What the fuck do you mean you aren’t in Auckland!” she demands. “Where are you?”
“In Wānaka.”
“Wānaka? What are you doing there?” Charlie asks, surprise tinging her voice now that she knows where I am. “Is it gorgeous?”
“From the drive through to the house it is.” Neither of us have been to the famous destination, so if I venture out I’ll have to send her photos.
“House? Did you rent a place?”
I stay quiet while I figure out how to respond, but I take too long.
“Are you staying with someone?” she whispers with a scandalised edge. “Who?”
I suck in a long breath and mutter, “Maybe.”
“Hemi. Who is it? You said you weren’t seeing anyone.”
“I’m not. Charlie, I promise I’m not. The physio you met at the last game—”
“Daisy, right?”
“Yeah. Well, she has a friend here from uni and thought it would be good for me to get out of Auckland and stop thinking about everything. So I did. I’m staying with him until I fly out.”
“Is he cute?”
“Charlie!” My eyes widen and dart to the closed door in case Liam can somehow hear what she said.
“What? If he’s cute, it might be a better holiday than anticipated. Have some fun!”
“No, I’m—”
“No, he’s not cute or no you aren’t going to do anything?”
“Just no. I’m not going to do anything—”
“So he is cute.”
“Only the hottest person alive,” I mutter to myself, not intending Charlie to hear, but she does.
She hums. “So why aren’t you going to do anything?”
“Because!”
“Because why?”
I shove a hand through my hair. “Because he was nice enough to let me stay here even though I think he’s busy right now, and I don’t want to make his life more difficult by being here.
He and Daisy are trying to help me, and I don’t want to ruin anything.
” Even if I do want to bite his bottom lip.
“I want to take the leave to figure stuff out and then be back playing. And not on the bench. I don’t want to mess it up. ”
“I know, and you won’t. You’re taking care of yourself, and that’s what matters,” she says softly, “but that doesn’t mean you can’t ask someone out if you want to. You can always ask after you’ve left if you’re still interested.”
“I guess,” I mumble.
“You can,” she says firmly. “You’re staying with him until you fly out, so if you have a crush at the end of your stay, you should ask him out. Daisy’s friends with him so you know he isn’t crazy or just wanting to sleep with a rugby player.”
“I don’t even know if he likes guys.” Although he did seem flustered around me, but then again, if he isn’t used to people in his space that could explain it.
“I’m sure you’ll find out by the end of the week.” Charlie yawns and asks, “Do you have any plans?”
I lie on the bed and shift my legs on the soft blanket. “Not really. This was a spontaneous decision.”
“So you’re planning on staying inside all day instead of exploring? Hemi, you can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
Charlie huffs. “How is that supposed to help you get out of your head if all you’re planning on doing is staying in a stranger’s house all day thinking about rugby?”
“I was going to read,” I protest. “That’s thinking about something else.”
“Only if you actually read instead of staring at the page blankly thinking about rugby. Isn’t that what you’re going to do?”
“No,” I say even though she’s right. She knows me too well.
“So ask Daisy’s friend to show you around.”
I shake my head and frown at the door as if I can see him through the walls. “I think he’s busy. He’s a writer, and there was a huge whiteboard with tons of notes on it in the lounge. He got upset when I saw it and dragged it away.”
Charlie huffs again in frustration. “So ask him what his favourite places are or his favourite restaurants and go by yourself. If you wanted to sit on the couch all day and read, you should have stayed in Auckland so I could visit. I expect photos.” And with that, Charlie hangs up and leaves a ringing silence in my ear.
She’s right. I need a plan. I can’t escape Auckland and expect that to fix everything.
I should actively try to help myself since I want to play when I’m in South Africa.
But what should I do? Do I ask Liam? I don’t want to take more of his time than I already have, but I have no idea what’s around here besides knowing the scenery is stunning and people travel from all over to see it.
I really should have prepared more.
I dig the heels of my palms into my eyes until I see black spots and then I jump up. Fine, here’s the plan. I’ll shower and get ready for bed, then tomorrow after a hopefully restful sleep in a new place, I’ll ask Liam about seeing the sights.
The next day dawns and I sleep in, ignoring the need to get up and train.
I didn’t set my usual alarm and drooled into my pillow until after nine o’clock.
Unheard of for me during the season. I’ve been getting up for early trainings since I was fifteen.
Usually, I don’t even sleep past nine during the off-season, preferring to get my training done in the morning.
But I feel rested even if I feel like half the day is gone and it’s barely ten.
After a shower and shave, I slip into warm clothes and pad to the kitchen in socks.
The kitchen is bright and filled with natural light that bounces off the buttercream painted cabinets, and a large window looks out to the garden.
I haven’t seen Liam yet today, but there’s a bowl and spoon in the sink, so he must be awake.
The door he dragged the whiteboard into was shut when I walked past, so he’s probably working.
I purse my lips. I don’t want to disturb him, but I also don’t want to rifle through his kitchen without permission.
I turn to the fridge and find a bright pink post-it note stuck to the steel decorated in magnets. Peeling it off the fridge, I grin as I read.
Use/eat whatever you want. I’m plotting :D and when I start that I’m usually locked away for hours.
See you whenever the plot reveals itself,
Liam
But plotting what? World domination or books? I chuckle quietly and shake my head as I open the fridge and figure out what to eat.