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“Great, so you’ll check with him?”
“Yep.”
“Thanks, Connie. Oh, and Jordan and Ronnie can’t make it anymore, so I only need six tickets. Let me know how you go, k?”
“Sure thing.”
“Love you.”
“Yeah, you too.”
When I hang up the phone, I cast one more glance over the packed beach below and then trek back to the car. I slip the bottle into my sports back in the boot, then climb into the driver’s seat Despite all the shit I put her and Harley through, Ellie is the only person who loves me unconditionally. I can’t let her down.
I pull up out the front of Rupert’s house forty-five minutes later. The driveway is already four cars deep and there’s music pumping from the backyard. I try knocking, but there’s really no point–no one can hear over the music anyway. I open the front door and move through the house. Splashes and laughter are coming from the pool. I nod a greeting at a couple of my teammates as I make my way over to where Rupert is making out with a girl from my Statistics class. He looks up with a smarmy grin as I approach.
“Guess my invite got lost in the mail,” I quip.
“El Capitano!” He sticks his fist out for me to pound. “Welcome to the party. Mi casa, su casa.”
I manage not to roll my eyes–barely–and accept the cold beer he hands me. I nod at the bikini-clad girl still running her hand over his naked chest like I’m not standing right there. “Hey, Shaylee. Can you give us a second?”
Her eyes dart to Rupert who gives her a wink. “Be a good girl and go cool off in the pool before I set you on fire again.” My stomach churns as he squeezes her ass. She leans in, licking into his mouth one more time before slinking away to a group of her friends. He watches her for a second longer than I’m comfortable with turning his attention back to me. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
I fight to keep my face neutral as I settle back into the pool chair next to him. I came here to get something, and that’s not going to happen if I punch him in his stupid face. “I was hoping you could do me a favour.”
His mouth twists up into a smirk. “Pray tell: what could Conrad Foster want from little old me?”
Fuck.This is torture. I take a pull of my beer and just go for it. “I’m looking for some tickets to the Byron Bay Music Festival.”
He snorts. “Considering I’m Adam’s favourite cousin, I could probably help you out. How many do you need?”
His arrogance is pissing me off, so I shoot my shot. “Ten.” I’m sure the extra tickets couldn’t hurt.
Rupert lets out a whistle. “That’s quite a favour.”
My patience is running thin, but I manage to keep my voice steady. “Can you get the tickets or not?”
He chuckles, the sound grating on my nerves. “Let’s just say I pull through with this littlefavour, what do I get in return?”
“What do you want?”
He strokes his chin, pretending to think about it. I know it’s not going to be anything good. I tighten my grip on the bottle until my knuckles turn white. “Hmm… you know, I can’t quite think of anything right now. Maybe we could leave it open? I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something. What do you say?”
I feel like I’m making a deal with the devil, but I lean over to shake his hand anyway before standing. “You come through with the tickets, and I’ll owe you a favour.”
“Leaving so soon?” Rupert asks. “The boys are going to be gutted that their captain doesn’t want to hang out with them.”
That stings. Everyone knows that it’s not guaranteed I’ll keep my captaincy–and Rupert is like a shark who smells blood in the water. “Nah mate,” I say with a grin, slamming my hand down on his shoulder–maybe a little harder than necessary. I slip my top over my head and drop it onto the chair with my baseball cap. “Just going to cool off.”
I turn away and dive into the pool. I can feel the heavy weight of his stare as I break through the surface and brush my hair away from my face. Shaylee and her group of friends are watching me as well, and I channel old-Conrad and give them a wink of my own before swimming over to a couple of my teammates. As much as I hate to admit it, Rupert’s right: if I’m going to hold onto my captaincy this season, I need to build the trust back up with the boys.
NINETEEN
IVY
LATER THAT NIGHT I push the door to Tarshia’s hospital room open, holding a wriggling Theo in my arms.
Dad is perched on the edge of Tarshia’s hospital bed with a tiny bundle wrapped in his arms. “Would you like to come and meet your new little brother?” I tiptoe across the room and Theo squirms even more when he sees his mum, so I place him gently on the bed next to Tarshia.
