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Luke didn’t sleep well that night, either. For a different reason than the desolation of the night before, when he’d realized that even his best mates might not want to be his mates anymore.
No, it was Hayden.
He was a man who compartmentalized. There was no other way to live his life and play his game. He didn’t fall head over heels. He didn’t walk around in a fog. He couldn’t afford to.
Hayden was bursting through all his compartments. Because you’re not playing, he tried to tell himself, and knew it was a lie. Because you have to see Dad this weekend. Maybe, but at two in the morning, with his body about to levitate off the bed from sexual tension?
No.
The next day, he filled in the details on a rocky cliff while Nyree painted in swooping blue swallows, then, the second the cliff was dry, added gnomes digging for gemstones. While he painted, he thought about tonight.
Someplace flash. Someplace absolutely high-end. The kind of place he’d never been with a partner, because it would look romantic. The thought made his breath catch and his stomach seize up, but he knew he’d be doing it anyway. In fact, he went outside during a break in the action, found the right place, and made a booking.
That was that. Time to put this out of his mind and paint.
He managed it for an hour or so, until Rhys knocked at the bedroom door.
Nyree said, “Go see who it is, will you, Luke? But do not let those kids in. There’s no peeking.” She was painting like fury now, a smear of blue on one cheek, that deadline approaching fast. Not looking much like a woman getting married in … three days.
Luke opened the door. Rhys. That was good. He wasn’t going to have to tackle Casey, anyway. Nyree called out behind him, “Whoever it is—you’re not allowed to see.”
Rhys smiled, and Luke stepped out and closed the door behind him.
Rhys said, “How’s she going?”
“Oh, you know,” Luke said. “Says she’ll be done in an hour.”
“Will it be today, you reckon?” Rhys asked, which showed that he understood Nyree’s flawed sense of time.
“Yeh,” Luke said. “Because I don’t see Marko putting off the wedding for this wall. But not in an hour.”
Rhys said, “Casey wants to have an unveiling party tonight, for her bedroom and Isaiah’s. Nyree painted his ceiling.”
“Oh.” Luke wasn’t sure what else to say.
“And she wants to invite everybody,” Rhys said. “You and Kane, for two, and a few more. Zora’s parents, and Hayden, of course. Finn Douglas, too, and his family.”
“Oh,” Luke said again, but he could feel the flush creeping up his neck. Zora’s parents would be Hayden’s parents, too. He’d never met parents. Not in his life experience. But they wouldn’t have to know, right? Not like he and Hayden had to announce anything. Not that there was anything to announce anyway. He’d be Nyree’s brother, that was all.
That was when the second half of Rhys’s announcement hit him. Finn Douglas, currently coaching at the Blues with Rhys. Luke had only played with him on the All Blacks, but he knew one thing for sure. Playing with him, like playing with Rhys, was heaps more comfortable than playing against him. Finn was a South Islander, like Luke himself, born to a farming family, a bit rough around the edges, and as hard a taskmaster in the gym as Luke. Not exactly the type to embrace different forms of sexuality.
And his family. “What family?” he asked Rhys. Stalling, he knew.
“Wife,” Rhys said. “And four kids, with the fifth coming any day. Anyway—this is meant to be an invitation, one you can pass along to Kane as well—and tell Nyree, obviously. I warn you, Zora’s working like mad on Nyree’s wedding flowers, so the kids and I are in charge of this party. Sausage rolls are likely to feature heavily.”
“Oh.” Luke hesitated, and Rhys asked, “What?”
Nothing to do but say it. “I was going out with Hayden tonight. After this.” Luke stared straight ahead and didn’t think. Not about Finn Douglas, especially. Finn had been what Luke himself had aspired to be, back in those early days. A hard man. A disciplined man. A team man.
A straight man.
Harden up. A mantra that normally never failed, but was getting more difficult all the time. He could make his body do almost anything. His mind, though … his mind didn’t want to go there.
“Ah.” Rhys scratched his nose. “OK if I invite you both anyway? Can you go out after? If not, say so. The kids will want Hayden to be there, but you could leave straightaway, if you like, and avoid the sausage rolls.”
Luke smiled just a bit. “Nah. If it won’t be fraught, with the parents and all.” And Finn, he didn’t say.
“Mate.” Rhys put a hand on Luke’s shoulder, and Luke felt the weight of that hand. That Rhys wasn’t afraid to touch him the way he’d have done before, after a match. “It’s my house,” he told Luke. “Mine and Zora’s. We invite who we like, and if anybody doesn’t like it, they can bugger off.”
