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Sophie blushes. Dave groans, smacking Kody over the head. “Ignore this bonehead,” he tells her, accepting his own drink. “He’s got no manners.”
“It’s fine,” Sophie squeaks.
Wren passes me a cup and I take a sip. Vodka soda–she knows me so well. They were generous ice, and the cool drink is a nice respite from the scorching heat. It’s not even noon, but it’s already creeping into the low thirties.
“These tickets are incredible, Conrad,” Sophie gushes Thank you so much for getting them.” No one else notices the grim look shared between Dave and Conrad–or the subtle shake of Conrad’s head. Sophie keeps jabbering. “They get us into the mosh pits right in front of the stagesandthe exclusive bars where the bands hang out. I swear we were just in line with Jack Gray just now.”
“Yeah, thanks man,” Brady says begrudgingly. I’m shocked to hell when he goes over and offers Conrad a fist bump. His blue eyes find mine as he pounds it, but they drop again quickly.
I’m desperate to talk to Conrad, but I don’t know how I’ll get him alone. I’ve gone from zero to one hundred–from hating him to realising what I’ve dreaded all along–I want him. Not hearing from him for days only solidified that. I just need to figure out how to break it to everyone.
I watch from my peripheral as he downs his drink. I don’t need to look at him to picture the way his throat bobs as he swallows. The thought alone makes the temperature soar ten degrees. Kody and Dave both brought swags and they’re setting theirs up while Conrad works on his two-man tent. We now have an array of tents and swags set up with an open space in the middle for our three large eskies.
The first bands don’t take the stage until three, so once everyone is set up, we sit around with our drinks. I sit directly across from Conrad, but he’s deliberately not looking at me. He just stares into the beer that he’s been nursing for way too long. It would have to be warm by now.
Because I can’t keep my eyes off him, I don’t miss the way he keeps casting sideways glances at Harley and Tom–which only leaves me more confused than ever.
TWENTY-NINE
CONRAD
IT’S TORTURE SEEING Ivy and knowing I can’t pull her into my arms. In the span of a few days, my entire world has fallen apart. Ivy’s the only source of comfort I want, but if I even so much as look at her, Brady will beat me into the ground. But maybe that’s what I need to feel something other than crippling despair.
Coach called to let me know my blood tests were clean–I’ve been cleared to get back to training. Dave told me that the rest of the team had to be re-tested He also said Palmer was sweating bullets. Good. There’s no news on the results yet, but the prick deserves whatever’s coming to him.
The guys questioned where I was but thank fuck Dave and Kody had enough sense to brush the questions away, explaining my absence with “family shit.” I’m so fucking grateful for the two of them. After losing Jasper, I’d have lost my mind if they hadn’t stepped up.
Ivy sits directly opposite me, and I can feel the heavy weight of her gaze. Dave and Kody are to my right and Ellie to my left. I’ve been avoiding her as well since I found out about Sam Breed. I have no idea how I’m going to tell her.
I half expected Bill to have done it for me in yet another ploy to drive a wedge between me and my family. Though when I called Ellie this morning, the only question she had was when I would be coming home. I gave her a non-committal answer and ended the call as quick as I could. I didn’t trust myself not to blurt out the truth. I wasn’t alone when I made the call, and I don’t want Kody and Dave knowing all my dirty laundry.
I’d been worried that Ellie was upset with me, but when she threw herself into my arms, I was relieved. I quickly cleared up the misunderstanding, letting her know about my new test results. She launched into a rant, telling me she never believed it in the first place and tried defending me, but Dad told her she’d be better off without me. I’m grateful she refused to listen, although I don’t know if she’ll feel the same when she finds out about me being her boyfriend’s half-brother.
Speaking of, I have no idea how to even feel about being here with Harley and Tom. It’s not like Harley and I have ever really been friends. We’ve been civil to one another lately for Ellie’s sake, but I was a dick to him last year. I haven’t spoken to Tom much either since he’s been home. Even though I had nothing to do with it, I was too much of an idiot to clear my name back then–I didn’t give a shit what people thought. I do now. Especially since it impacts being with Ivy.
“Has anyone played Chase the Ace?” Dave asks, pulling out a deck of cards. He removes the jokers and three out of the four aces before shuffling the rest. Everyone nods except for Sophie, Wren, and Ivy.
“Okay,” he says, pulling out his wallet. “Everyone needs three tokens. A coin will do.” He shakes some coins loose, and everyone else does the same, placing their three coins on top of the eskies in front of us.
He deals out one card to each of us, face down. “Each card is worth its value, with the king being the highest. The goal is to have the highest card at the end of each round. You can either choose to keep the card or swap it with the person to your left. Play continues around the table until it gets back to the dealer: me. I can either choose to keep my card or swap it with the one on the top deck of the remaining cards. Once we’ve all made our play, we flip the cards and the person with the lowest card loses a token.”
“What if you have a high card and you don’t want to swap?” Wren asks.
“You have to unless you have a king,” Brady explains. “If you have a king you can refuse, but only if turn your card over to prove you have it.”
“The player with the lowest card by the time I play my hand,” Dave continues, “loses a token. We then start a new round. Once you lose all three tokens, you’re out.”
“What if more than one player has the same low card?” Ivy asks. I glance up to see her sucking on her bottom lip. I get the urge to forget the card game and close the gap between us to kiss her. Instead, I take a large swallow of my now warm beer, grimacing at the taste.
“Both lose a token,” Kody offers.
“Everyone clear on the rules?” Dave asks. When he’s met with confirmation, he indicates cards laid out in front of us. “You can look at your cards, but don’t show anyone.”
I pick up my card and glance down at it–a four. I place it face down back again and swap with Ellie. Two of spades. Guess I’m shit at this game as well.
Sure enough, I lose the first round–and the second. Harley lets out a low whistle when I’m tapped out in the third around. “Geez, man. I’ve never seen someone so unlucky in a game of chance. You must’ve pissed someone off in a past life.”
Brady’s snort turns into a grunt as Ivy elbows him in the stomach, while Tom smacks Harley over the head.
