Page 72

“Take care of her,” Mark warns over the hood of the car.
“I will,” Banner replies.
Mark shuts my door after I get in. I wave goodbye to them, chuckling quietly at their sad, pouty faces.
“Brothers?” Tom asks, leaning forward in his chair.
Blindly, Banner slaps him back, looking in the rear-view mirror. “Sit the fuck back and put your belt on.”
“Yes, Dad.”
Smiling at his teasing, I answer him. “No. Mark’s my cousin and Levi’s his boyfriend.”
Tom starts choking. “They’re gay?”
I narrow my eyes, pissed. He doesn’t sound judgemental, but you can never know. When I look at Banner, he doesn’t even blink, not seeming fazed.
“Yes. Why?”
“It’s a shame they aren’t single. My brother needs to get laid. He has shit taste when it comes to men.”
I relax when it’s clear he doesn’t have a problem with them being a couple. Well, not for the reasons I presumed.
“Sorry. I could ask them if they have any gay friends who are single, if you want.”
“Yeah. They can’t be arseholes though. Nathan let his last boyfriend walk all over him. Pissed me off.”
“I bet,” I tell him quietly, feeling the tension ease from my body.
“So, mate, what are we going to tell Coach when the organisers tell them we brought girls with us?” Tom asks.
“You didn’t tell me there would people working there.”
Banner looks at me from the corner of his eye. “Yeah. They keep the place clean and shit. There’s showers, toilets, a mini café that closes around eleven, and a store that sells essentials for those who forget stuff.”
“Don’t need the café, though. I brought some steaks. Throw them on the barbie and we’re good to go.”
“Sounds yummy,” I murmur, hoping one of them know how to cook.
We pull up outside another house and Banner blares his horn. I wince, wishing he could have warned me so I could cover my ears.
A guy, who I presume is Connor, walks out with a girl in tow, his expression miserable. He gets in the car, sliding over to the middle to give room to the girl he’s with.
“Hey, guys,” he greets, sounding as miserable as he looks.
“Do you guys know if there will be bugs? Or if they have some hand sanitizer? I’ve only got a small bottle and Connor said they’ll be a shop there.”
I watch Banner open his mouth to answer, but the girl continues without taking a breath. “And I won’t have to go on long walks or anything, right? I don’t want my feet to dry up or crack. With the cold, it’s been hard to keep them soft. Oh, and I can’t drink anything but bottled water, so I hope they don’t pour it from the tap.”
“Kelsea, seriously, just stop talking for five minutes,” Connor moans.
My eyes widen at his bluntness, but Kelsea doesn’t seem affected. “I need to work my vocal cords. My singing instructor said I should concentrate on talking instead of singing for a bit.”
“Probably wanted to stop you singing,” I hear muttered.
“What?”
“Probably couldn’t believe his ears,” Connor says loudly.