She twists her gaze to me like I’m the idiot. ‘This is without a doubt the biggest season of your career, where you have to make the most impact.’
‘I know.’
‘How the hell are you going to do it with a coach who’s never coached?!’
‘That’s not strictly true,’ Trey pipes up. ‘I coached my brother through Little League.’
I shut my eyes and inhale.
‘Your brother’s now twenty-one,’ Isa retorts.
He lifts a shoulder. ‘Still counts.’
I know he’s my blood relative and I love him, but I really wish he’d shut the fuck up and stop making things worse.
Isa looks at the night sky in despair. ‘We’re so screwed.’
I give her a side hug. ‘Nah, you’ll see. Families stick together. It’s the best way.’
She pulls out her phone with a noise that’s somewhere between a growl and a grunt.
‘It’s going to be awesome,’ Trey’s saying. ‘Travelling, races, parties?—’
I raise a disapproving finger. ‘No parties.’
‘Right, no parties.’ He nods solemnly. ‘Or… we can party, and you can… stay in the room and watch TV.’
‘That’s so boring. It’ll be like I’m thirteen ag—’ I’m interrupted by Isa sonic squealing.
‘Oh my god, Jules’ best friends Minnie Roberts and Asha Chakravarty have been pictured leaving her home in London.’ She turns to shake my shoulders. Pretty sure I’ve now got wine down my back.‘Do you know what this means?’
I stare vacantly at her.
‘Could it be F1?’ She has to know she’s talking to herself. In a language no man can understand. ‘I mean, Minnie’s presence alone doesn’t mean much – she’s an F1 reporter and she’s dating Jack Bowden, but they’ve been friends for years.
‘Butthe simultaneous presence of both Minnie and Asha suggests they’ve just had Reveal Day, indicating Jules has chosen her man and she’s about to make her move. The timing certainly checks out with the F1 calendar.
‘Andeven more than that, as they were leaving, a girl in the bushes overheard Asha say “koala”. Where are koalas? Melbourne, where the Australian Grand Prix is happening next week.’
Trey swigs his beer. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘It’s this influencer Isa’s obsessed with,’ I say, stifling the urge to yawn. ‘Don’t pay attention, it’ll only encourage her. I’m pretty good at blocking her out.’
Isa smacks me in the stomach, squeezing the air out of me. Not that she cares. ‘Jules isamazing. She gives life advice,fashion guidance, beauty tips, she has a podcast on how to build your personal brand, she shows her life?—’
‘You mean that British chick, right?’ interrupts Trey the Traitor. ‘I know who you mean. Great rack.’
I raise my eyebrows. ‘Show me her profile.’
Isa ignores us. ‘She’s perfect. She’s the literal perfect woman. She’s the reason I got my bangs like this.’
‘Wow.’ I widen my eyes. ‘Profound.’
She cuts me an icy look. ‘I’m going to check the poll.’
‘What poll?’
‘If you listened toanythingI say, you’d know she dates a different sportsman every year. She gives him a huge glow-up and they become the year’s ultimate power couple,’ Isa explains at rapid speed. ‘The choosing period is all anyone on Instagram can talk about for months, and there’s currently a poll running on Jules’ Jewels’ fan page anticipating which sport it’s going to be. I voted, obviously, for F1. You voted for F1 too.’
