50
Ryan
“Ipopped round this morning,” Nick says, coming up to me in the garden as I’m desperately trying to enjoy a beer on my own before lunch.
“How come?” I ask distractedly.
“So we could have breakfast together. But you weren’t in.”
“I went out for a run.”
“The day after a big match?”
Fuck.
“Maybe I just didn’t want to let you in.”
“I went inside and you weren’t there. Actually, I’m sure you didn’t even sleep there last night.”
“You went into my apartment?” I say, raising my voice. “Who the fuck gave you a key?”
“Ian,” he says, pointing behind him.
“What did I do?”
“Why did you give him a key to my apartment?”
“For safety.”
“Safety? Safety from what?”
“In case something happened to you and I wasn’t around…”
“Jesus Christ, Ian! What would happen to me?”
“What’s all this shouting about?” Dad pops his head into the garden.
“Just a brotherly argument.”
“Again?”
“No big deal,” Nick interjects. “Just that Ryan didn’t go home last night so…”
“For fuck’s sake, Nick!”
“What?”
“Mmm…interesting,” Dad says, starting to put the pieces together.
“Thanks a lot!”
“It wouldn’t have anything to do with…”
“It’s got nothing to do with anyone. It’s nothing!”
“But you slept somewhere else,” Mum says, jumping into the conversation from God knows where.
“Does every detail of my life have to be publicised?”
