4
Ryan
Ipark the car in the crowded driveway – everyone has already arrived. I get out and go up to the door.
“Hey!” A voice from the darkness almost gives me a heart attack.
“What are you doing here, lurking in the bushes?”
“I was waiting for you.”
“Couldn’t you have waited for me inside with everyone else, like a normal person? Or did you do it on purpose, just to make me jump out of my skin?”
“Do you always have to be so tense?”
“Do you always have to just show up everywhere?”
“I want to be here.”
I snort and sit on the step. Nick does the same, sitting next to me. It must have been years since we’ve sat this close, just the two of us.
“I heard the news,” he says, interrupting the silence.
“News travels fast,” I comment flatly.
“I’m…proud. Really proud of you.”
A knot forms tightly in my throat.
“You deserve it, honestly. I just wanted you to know that.”
I nod gratefully, even though I can’t bring myself to accept this attempt at bonding.
“I also wanted to ask you if you’d mind me coming to watch the game.”
“Are you asking my permission? Don’t you always just do whatever the fuck you want?”
“I’d like to be there, but I don’t want to make a scene. It’s an important moment for you and I want to be there, but only if it won’t upset you.”
I get up. “You can do whatever you want, Nick. I can’t stop you from coming to the stadium.”
He gets up too. “I know, but I want…I want your approval.”
I shrug, trying to look like I don’t care, when really, his respectful, cautious attempts to bring us closer again have struck the right chords in me.
Damn it.
“Let’s go inside,” I say abruptly, opening the front door. He follows me in.
“There you are!” Mum runs right up to me. “My baby…Oh my God, I’m so proud of you,” she says, hugging me hard. “I absolutely want to be there. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I peel myself away from her and smile warmly.
“I’ve just finished calling everyone – you’ll have the whole neighbourhood cheering you on!”
“I’m playing too, you know,” Ian interjects.
“Don’t be jealous,” Riley says, hugging him from behind. “This is Ryan’s moment, and we’re all here to support him.”
