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The cab ride is made in complete silence as we all concentrate on the task at hand.
Staying alive.
* * *
BRIDGET
“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Ethan says dryly.
“Yeah, well, you fell for it.” Matt laughs as he throws his cards onto the table.
I sit with the two boys and watch on.
We are on the plane, on the way to Kamala. Ben lies back in his seat, fast asleep. It was as if as soon as we took off from the ground, and he knew his friends were here to watch over me, he could finally relax. The trip to the airport went smoothly and I really am beginning to wonder if this isn’t a whole lot of fuss over nothing.
Jed is in his seat, reading. He’s different to the other two. Quieter, steely, and a lot like Ben.
Funnily enough, he is the one who has been with Ben in the army since a young age, along with Rick. His home life was apparently similar. Did he come from tragic family circumstances, too? I find my eyes are constantly drawn back to him to try and seek out more information.
It’s funny how the quiet men are the ones who interest me.
“So, Ben didn’t tell us you were this hot.” Ethan smiles cheekily.
Matt laughs as he shuffles the cards. “You’re going to get yourself fucking murdered,” he mutters as he deals. “You playing, Didge?” he asks.
“No, still watching.” I smile. I was Bridget for all of half an hour, and now I’m already Didge to them, as if they’ve known me a long time. The three of us are sitting at a triple seat with a table in front of us. I was keeping Ben awake with all my fidgeting, and I thought it would be a good chance to get to know these guys. It felt really awkward this morning when we first met, but now six hours later I’m warming up to them. Ethan is cheeky; he reminds me a lot of Cameron. Jed is pensive and quiet, and Matt…well, he’s just a ratbag who happens to be very entertaining.
“So, do you guys have girlfriends?” I ask.
Ethan smiles as he arranges his cards into a perfect fan. “I have a lot of friends.” He smirks as his eyes stay on the cards.
I smile, knowing that’s code for ‘friends with benefits’. “And what about you, Matt?” I ask as I turn my attention to them.
“Yeah.” He throws his first card down. “I don’t like to be friends with the girls I fuck. I’m into one-night stands.”
There’s something about his honesty that’s endearing. “So you just like to meet a girl and go home with her?”
He shrugs. “Yeah, pretty much. I don’t want to hang out with them.”
I roll my lips because this is how Ben was. “Why not?” I ask.
“Because I’m either in love with someone or I’m not.” He shrugs.
Ethan holds his fingers up in a duck quacking symbol. “You lie.”
“Fuck off,” Matt snaps.
Ethan rolls his eyes. “He’s still in love with the girl he lost his virginity to when he was sixteen.” He rubs his hand over Matt’s hair. “Aren’t you, lover boy?” he teases.
My mouth drops open as my eyes flicker between them. “Really?” I smile.
“Will you shut the fuck up?” Matt snaps as he elbows Ethan sharply in the ribs.
“Tell me,” I urge.
“Nothing to tell.” He throws a card onto the table. “I met a girl when I was sixteen. Her father was in the army and he caught us in naked in bed.” He shrugs.
I wince. “What happened then?”
“Nothing. He took a posting in another country and I never saw her again.”
“How old are you now?”
“Twenty-seven.” He throws another card down.
“You’ve been in love with her all along?”
“No.” He’s clearly lying.
“You have so. We’ve searched the fucking globe for this chick. Ben’s even looked for her father through army records, but we think we have his name wrong or something,” Ethan interrupts. “We couldn’t find him. He’s told us if he can’t have her, he doesn’t want anyone.”
My mouth falls open. “Oh, that’s so romantic.” I put my hand over my heart. “So you stalked her?” I ask.
“No,” Ethan replies. “We stalked you, though.” He winks cheekily.
I laugh. “What?”
“Totally. Since Ben came back five years ago, we’ve all been watching you.”
I frown. “Like, how?”
“Like, Ben would lose it when you got a new boyfriend and we would all see him on your Facebook.”
“You’re friends with me on Facebook?” I shriek.
“No, through one of Ben’s mate’s account.” He frowns as he thinks for a moment. “Is it Cameron or someone?”
“Ben has the log-in for Cameron’s Facebook account?” I shriek.
“Yeah. It’s an old account that he doesn’t use, though.”
Oh, my God. What the hell have I posted over the last five years? And to think he saw it all. Oh, the horror. I look over at Ben, who is sleeping like a baby, and I just want to smother him with a pillow. My attention turns back to his friends. “So, what do you know about me, then, if you’re such great private investigators?”
