Chapter 5
Luca
The mood in the changeroom after the game is euphoric.
We beat our rivals, Blue Haven University, three-two in a nail-biting finish.
In the eighty-ninth minute, I got the slip on not one, not two, but three defenders before hitting the top corner from my left foot.
The keeper had no chance of saving it, and it sailed straight over his head.
It helped that my ex-teammate and Coach Rourke’s son, Dylan, had a point to prove.
He tried to take on the team by himself and played the worst game I’ve seen him play in a long time.
His BHU teammates were giving him dirty looks on their way into the opposition changerooms—I’d hate to be him on the team bus back to Blue Haven.
“What party are we hitting up tonight, bro?” asks Theo, whipping me on the arse with his towel as he walks past.
I grunt at the searing pain, then bite my lip as I try not to think of a certain blonde angel doing that to me. The last thing I need is a raging hard-on in the changing rooms.
“I’m busy,” I tell him.
“Aww, come on. Don’t be like that, Cap. Your boy is ready to console all the broken-hearted pussies you’re gonna leave in your wake. I’ve got your back.”
I shake my head. “Not happening, Theo.”
Opening my bag, I pull out my phone and subtly check the Euphoria app, but there’s no response to the three messages I left her this week asking if she’ll meet me.
Disappointment coils in the base of my stomach.
I’ve been all tied up in knots since she walked out on me last month, and I’ve refrained from touching myself as repentance.
But what good is that if I never see her again? I’m only torturing myself.
Maybe I should go to the club anyway. Who knows? Maybe she’ll decide to show up. Decision made, I quickly shower and get dressed. I won’t have time to go home and change, so my black jeans and white shirt will have to do.
Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I push open the door to the changeroom. My smile fades when I see my manager waiting for me with Dad, Gwendoline, and my stepsister, who looks like she’d rather be anywhere else.
I run a hand through my damp hair before moving towards them and shaking my manager’s hand. “Felix.”
“Great game out there tonight, mate.” He grins as he claps me on the back. “It came down to the wire.”
“Thanks.” My gaze drifts to my family. “What’s going on?”
“We’re going out for dinner,” my father says. “Felix has some good news.”
Gwendoline beams at me, and I give her a tight smile. Despite being in my life for the past four years, I don’t feel comfortable around her. She just gives me a bad vibe.
I glance at Willow, who’s dodging my gaze by staring down at her scuffed Converse.
My stepsister is a bit of an enigma. She avoids me at home, and I know absolutely nothing about her.
The last thing I want to do is have a family dinner forced on me when all I can think about is getting to Euphoria to find my angel.
“Look, guys, I’d love to, but I already have plans.” I look at Felix. “Can you just tell us now?”
He opens his mouth to speak, but my father cuts him off. “Your plans can wait. We’re going out for dinner as a family to celebrate your achievements, son. I won’t hear another word about it.”
“Yes, sir,” I mutter as I swallow down my resentment towards the old man who only gives a shit about the prestige that’s sure to come with whatever news Felix has for me.
My father doesn’t care about me; he only cares about living out his broken dreams through me. George Whitford played a couple of A-League games for Redlands United FC before breaking his leg in a horrific tackle. I can’t wait to get out of Beckford and away from his suffocating attention.
I pull out my phone as I follow my family to the car park and shoot off one final DM to my angel via the Euphoria app, begging her to give me two hours.
I can’t have her leaving because she thinks I’m not coming—if she shows up at all.
As I slip my phone back into my pocket, I notice Willow checking hers with a slight frown.
Maybe she had plans tonight, too. Not that she’d tell me if she did.
“Wait,” she says, coming to a halt beside my father’s two-door Maserati. She glances up at her mother with a scrunched brow. “How am I supposed to get to the restaurant? I came with Leni, so I don’t have my car.”
“Your brother can take you,” Gwendoline says in an exasperated tone.
Stepbrother. And I’m sorry, what? I scrub a hand over my tired face. The last thing I feel like doing is making small talk with Willow.
“I have plans after dinner,” I remind my father.
“It won’t kill you to drop your sister home first,” he says as he turns his back on me and opens the car door for Gwendoline.
“Stepsister,” I grumble under my breath. To Willow, I nod towards my Jeep. “Let’s go.”
She hesitates, her eyes darting to my father’s car as if trying to work out if she could fit on her mother’s lap to avoid having to ride with me. After realising she doesn’t have a choice, she heaves a deep sigh and follows me to my car.
As she shuts her door, I’m suddenly overwhelmed by the scent of vanilla and oriental lilies.
My cock twitches in response, and my phone burns in my pocket as I think of my angel, hopefully waiting for me at Euphoria.
I clear my throat and squirm in my seat as I start the ignition and shift into reverse.
“So, what did you think of the game?” I ask, focusing on the rearview mirror as I back out of the park.
“It was fine,” Willow replies. She stares out the window as we drive towards town.
Christ, she’s really not going to make this easy on me. “What are you studying?”
“You don’t have to pretend to be nice to me, Luca. I want to be here even less than you want me here.”
Her voice sparks something familiar inside of me, but I push it down. My thoughts are so consumed with my angel that I’m surely going crazy.
I shrug. “I’m curious. We’ve been living together for four years, and I don’t even know what course you’re doing. Don’t you think that’s a little weird?”
Willow finally turns her head to look at me, her pale blue eyes studying me before she answers. “Music.”
“You play an instrument?” I ask.
“Piano and guitar. I want to be a songwriter and composer.”
“You sing?” My brows shoot up, impressed.
It’s her turn to shrug. “Not in front of people.”
“Why?” My curiosity is piqued.
“What are you studying?” she asks in an attempt to change the subject, but I’m not letting her off that easily.
“Why don’t you sing in front of people?”
“I don’t like being the centre of attention, I guess.” Her words feel pointed, and I cast a quick look over at her. Her blonde hair falls over her face, hiding her expression from me. For a brief second, I imagine reaching over and tucking it behind her ear, but I shake that off quickly.
“There has to be a reason for that,” I prompt.
“You really want me to tell you?”
“Yes.”
“In our final year of high school, I was in the senior choir, and we were doing a performance at assembly. When I stepped up to do my solo, Breanna tripped me, and I fell flat on my face in front of the entire school.”
I wince. “That was you?”
She looks at me in bewilderment. “Are you serious?”
My wince turns into a grimace. “I missed that assembly because we had state championships, but I remember the guys laughing about …” I trail off when I realise what I’m saying. “Shit, I’m sorry. I had no idea. You seemed to get along when she was at the house. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why would I?” she asks with a humourless laugh. “What would you have done? Asked her to leave me alone?”
She has a point. If I had said anything to Breanna back then, it would have only made her target Willow even more.
“You know, my life was so much simpler before our parents’ marriage. I may not have been popular, but at least I could fly under the radar. I never asked to be subjected to the insecurities of your jealous ex.”
My eyes widen, not expecting her outburst. “Breanna was many things, but she was never jealous,” I grind out.
If she was, maybe she never would have cheated on me.
Willow makes a dismissive noise. “Keep telling yourself that. Did you ever wonder why your biology lab partner transferred to another class? Or why Arianna Symmons transferred to BHU after she outbid Breanna at the charity auction during our first year? Being associated with you was like a death sentence when you were dating Breanna. Imagine what it was like because I lived with you, through no fault of my own.”
Ouch. “I think you’re exaggerating. She wasn’t that bad.”
All I get is a roll of her eyes. “Of course you would defend her.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, wondering why the hell we’re talking about my ex, a woman I haven’t even spoken to in two years.
“I’m not defending her. I’m just…” I trail off, unsure what I’m doing.
“Look,” I say as I pull into a park in front of the restaurant and kill the engine, “I’m sorry it’s such a fucking hassle living with me.
It’s not like you ever speak to me, let alone tell me what’s going on.
I can’t be held responsible for something I didn’t know was happening.
If it means anything, dating Breanna was the biggest mistake of my life. ”
Willow shrugs before unbuckling her seatbelt. “Whatever. It’s in the past.” Without another word, she climbs out of the car and closes the door behind her.
I rest my head on the steering wheel and take a few deep breaths, trying to mentally prepare myself for whatever I’m about to walk into. It’s hard to concentrate with the lingering scent of vanilla and water lilies, and all I can think about is my angel.