“You and Roe should come too,” I added, finally giving in to temptation. I wanted both of them there, and damn it, I was going to ask.
Cara pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I’m not really into that scene, and I’m not sure where Roe is. He went home this morning.”
Her words were like a punch to the gut. I’d wanted to distance myself from them, but I was like a moth to a flame. I didn’t care whether they came out—I was equally happy chilling in the hotel and nursing my bruises with ice packs, as long as I was with them. But if he wasn’t with us, then what? Would Cara even want to see me again?
This was why I shouldn’t have even been asking the questions. I should have stuck to my guns and walked away from them.
So why couldn’t I?
“Is he coming back?” I asked.
She nodded. “It’s the winter solstice,” she explained, but that didn’t make a lick of sense to me. She added, “It’s a hard day for him. He might be staying with Zali tonight, but he’s definitely flying out with us tomorrow.”
A confusing mix of disappointment and unreasonable happiness surged through me. I wanted to see him, but knowing that he would be back in the morning allayed my fears.
Fears that I had no right experiencing.
***
Cara skipped the bar but insisted that Gauthier show me what it was like. We ended up in a part of the city that was old and comfortable, filled with dark corners and loud music. The two-storey building had to have been a hundred years old, with a wraparound balcony and intricate ironwork on the railing. But it was the round cage on the floor and the TV screens lining the walls that held everyone’s attention.
In the centre of the cage was a crate attached to a pulley. Inside it was a mass of hopping, slimy, gross-looking frogs clambering over one another to get free. The volume of the music dropped,and an MC who sounded nothing like Michael Buffer crowed, “Let’s get ready to rumble!”
Cheers erupted, and I looked across to Gauthier, who was nursing a beer.
“Just watch.” He gestured to the screens.
The announcer explained, “All entries are closed. Get your tickets ready, and cheer on your cane toad.”
A hush of anticipation fell over the crowd, and he yanked on the pulley. The crate was lifted up. The entire bar erupted, cheers and screams echoing around the room. Toads hopped every which way, and the MC turned horse racing announcer gave a rapid-fire commentary on every toad’s trek.
Gauthier explained, “Whichever toad gets to the side of the cage first wins. There are ten tickets for each toad, and whoever picks the winning toad gets free food vouchers.”
“Oh,” I responded with a shudder. “That’s fucking gross.”
“Isn’t it?” he quipped with a grin. “They’re pests here. They were introduced to kill the cane beetle and have multiplied into the hundreds of millions. They don’t really have any predators here because they’re poisonous to all the wildlife. Humans too. Once the races are over, they’ll probably go into the freezer so they can be disposed of. The pub only does these races when it’s been raining and they can catch the toads.”
“I’m going to—” I gestured to the bathrooms with a grimace. “—go wash my hands. That’s…. No—just no.”
Gauthier barked out a laugh as I pushed away my half-finished beer.
I heaved myself up and walked to the men’s room. Minns stepped out in front of me. I side-stepped him, but he used his bulk and shoved me into the corner. It was dark, shadows falling over us. Still, it was a risky move for someone so deep in the closet to be seen cosying up with another man, though I didn’t think he’d get physical with me.
“What do you want?” I asked, already bored of him. I missed him a lot less than I expected to—and that wasn’t even because of Cara and Roe.
“I saw you cheering for me out there.” He licked his lips and stepped closer, pressing his hips against mine. He was half hard, but while it had once turned me on, my skin crawled at the contact, even through the layers of clothing separating us. I shoved against his chest, pushing him off me and moved out of the corner, needing to get away from him.
He frowned as if he didn’t understand why I wanted him off me. I didn’t back down. The tension between us was so thick, it could be cut with a knife.
But I did need to think about the team. I’d put them through enough already. I’d fucked up enough too. I needed to diffuse this awkwardness if I had any hope of avoiding a trade.
“I was cheering for the team, not you.” There was no heat behind my words. They were matter-of-fact. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the wall, waiting him out.
Chris shrugged and took a keycard out of his wallet. He slipped it into my suit jacket pocket. “Room 1005. Why don’t you head back there and get ready?”
He may have asked it as a question, but his tone suggested anything but that. He actually believed that I’d agree.What the fuck?
“I’ll leave in ten, and we can celebrate the win how you like it.”
