Page 49 of Loving Wild

“Fuck off,” I tell my brother.

“Dude, you need to chill.”

Sitting back in my chair, I look between the pair of them and vent how I’m feeling.

“Things are good. After all the shit we’ve been through, things are finally settling down, and I’d just like us to have some normal. We’ve got Dad’s party Saturday. Introducing Lauren to Jackie is gonna be bad enough, so I could just do with a week with no fucking drama.”

I hadn’t even realised how badly I needed some normality in my life until I said the words out loud. Right at this moment, I don’t know how Lauren has gotten through these past few months and been left still standing.

My need for her hits me hard, and I reach for my phone.

“Wild, I thought you were in meetings all day,” she answers after just one ring.

My heart rate slows at the sound of her voice. I eye my brothers who are both staring at me.

“I have just finished the last one and wanted to hear your voice.”

“Shut up. What, you missin’ this lovely Essex accent of mine?” she lays her accent on extra thick, and I feel her smile radiating through her voice.

“I’m missing everything about you right now,” I admit.

“Yeah?”

“Hundred per cent, babe,” I tell her in my own Essex accent.

“That’s terrible, stick to your hot Aussie and just leave the Essex to me.”

Hearing the distinct sound of waves breaking in the background, I ask, “Where are you?”

“I needed to clear my head, so came for a walk along the beach. No one to hide from now, so thought I might as well make the most of my freedom, and where better place to do it?”

“Apart from in my bed, there isn’t one.”

My brothers gag and groan in unison, I flip them my middle finger.

“Exactly right. I was raised by the water, it’s my happy place.”

“Raised by the water? Even in England?” I question.

“Yep. Granted, the River Thames ain’t quite the bay, but you haven’t lived if you’ve never swum in the Thames dodging condoms, turds, and shopping trolly’s. Then taking a turn on the helter-skelter or in the haunted house on Southend seafront.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

There’s a moment’s pause, I reach for the pen I threw earlier, which Zac has put back on my desk, and start flipping it through my fingers.

“So, how did they go, your meetings?”

“Yeah, they went. All pretty standard stuff.” I decide to put her out of her misery and address what it is she really wants to know. “We start the demo on the McAlister job next Monday. She came in for her meeting earlier, everything’s been agreed, we just need the signed contracts, her deposit returned, and we’ll be good to go.”

“Sounds great,” she says quietly.

“The money, the work, the high-profile client, yeah, that’s all great. But at the end of the day, a job’s a job, and if you’d like me to have zero input . . .”

“No, it’s fine. I was just having a moment this morning. I’m a grown arsed woman, I need to get a grip and not throw an insecure hissy fit when I don’t like something.”

“If it was the other way around, Ren, I’m pretty sure I’d throw a bigger hissy fit.”

“Good. That makes me feel better.”