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I squirt some water in my mouth. Of course, it’s delicious and I feel instantly refreshed. Damn him.
“What’s next?” Lyle asks, picking up his borrowed gloves.
Robin laughs. “You? Gardening? I’ve got to see this.”
Lyle looks at me, waiting for instructions, and I murmur, for his ears only. “Aren’t you clever.”
He slips me a smile. “Thank you.”
I swat him with my gardening glove, and he laughs, breezy and carefree like he wasn’t huffing and puffing and swearing under his breath just a few minutes ago.
“All right. Trim these shrubs back.” I show him how to use the shears and where to cut, then hand them over. “Have some fun with that while I show off my muscles clearing some of the big stuff.”
Lyle’s eyes flash.
I lean in. “Yeah, I’m clever too.”
“Robin,” Lyle calls. “Come here, let me tell you a funny story from work.”
Dammit, Lyle.
I load up the wheelbarrow and disappear around the front, their shared laughter following me around the side of the house. Somewhat more aggressively than I might usually unload a wheelbarrow, I hurl dead wood and green waste into the bed of my truck, then decide on a five-minute break. Scott answers on the second ring. “Hey bro,” I say.
To which his first words are: “You got me that lizard yet?”
“You’re out of luck.”
“Remember I’ll blab, Jase.”
“Not if you ever want to stay with me again.”
Scott swears under his breath.
“Besides,” I say, staring towards Lyle’s wisteria-draped villa. “I don’t want to be that guy.”
“What guy?”
“The guy that lets fear push him around.”
“Ha! A zebra can’t change its stripes, you know.”
“Tiger.”
“Dude, you’re definitely the zebra.”
“You’re such a tender, loving brother.”
“Just doing my duty.”
I roll my eyes. “Whatever. I’ll tell him and let the cards fall how they may.”
“Ah-ha. When?”
“Before you get here.” Better yet, tonight. Yeah. I’ll take him to the fir and say my truth.
“Doubt it. I still want Dusky.”
“Tough luck, Scotty.”
“I’m coming down next holidays still, right?”
“Not sure. Mum said she wants you to stay up there. But you can come over the winter holidays.”
“That’s so long away! It sucks here. Wellington’s way cooler.”
“It’ll be winter before you know it. Then it’ll be me and you again.”
“And Robin, right?”
“Yeah, and him.” I hope.
“You think if I got Robin a really sweet wax comb that he’ll let me have—”
“Later, bro.” I hang up, shaking my head. He’s persistent, I have to give it to him.
A rapping comes at my window, and I look up to Robin with his hands shielding his eyes as he peers inside. He leans in when I wind down the window, folding his arms on the sill. “I was just about to head off for fish and chips. What do you want?”
I shake my head. “Thanks, but I think I’m winding up for the day, and”—I gesture towards the truck bed—“I gotta get rid of all that.”
“Oh.”
Does he look . . . disappointed?
My hands grip the steering wheel tightly. “Can I pop round to yours later?”
“Hey, Robin,” Lyle yells as he emerges from the house, making Robin jerk out from my window. “Get me a spring roll as well!” I glare at Lyle through the passenger window. I could’ve sworn he can’t see me, but suddenly his gaze meets mine. His lips curve into a smile.
“Spring roll. Sure thing!” Robin says to him, and then to me, “Chat later?”
I nod, wiping my clammy hands over my shorts. I really hope so.
The last thing I want to be is the zebra.
Chapter Six
I’m so the zebra.
To be fair, though, I only show my stripes at the last moment.
Robin looks at his watch and jumps up from our cosy spot in front of the fir. “Crap. I promised Lyle we’d go for a midnight surf.” He glances up. “Full moon tonight.”
Moon? Who cares about the moon? I’m still stuck on “midnight surf”. That sounds . . . well, romantic. Doesn’t it? “Do you often go, er, surfing together in the middle of the night?” Jesus, the way I say it sounds positively dirty. Please say no!
“Yeah, whenever we can.” I stare at the cat in my lap and try not to imagine the two of them tangled up together, naked.
I lift the cat and put him down next to me as Robin says, “It’s a rush. Like flying.”
I know he’s talking about surfing, but now everything he says turns erotic.
“You all right?”
I look up to find his gaze soft on mine. He reaches out an arm, and this time I take it, no hesitation. When I’m standing, he doesn’t let go right away.
“There’s something honest and raw about the dark, don’t you think? Everything feels . . . more intense, somehow.” He lets my hand go and twists towards the fir. It’s forty-eight centimetres now. “Maybe one day you’ll know how it feels.” I watch his profile as he smiles and slips his hands into his pockets. “It’s like this fir. Magic.”
