Page 101 of Playing for Keeps

“Your dad is a great player too,” I said.

“And you can be a great player, Theo, if you keep trying hard,” Dad said. “You could play for New Zealand one day too.”

Theo screwed up his face. “I want to be a superhero.”

“Rugby players are probably the closest thing you can get to superheroes in New Zealand,” Char said, her face impassive as she refilled her wine glass.

My mother waited until Char set the bottle down before picking it up herself. But she only added a small swill to her own glass before placing the bottle further down the table, out of Char’s reach.

Ha. It was as if my mother didn’t realize Char was all grown up now.

I tried to catch Char’s eye to share my amusement, but her gaze remained firmly on her plate.

“Have you heard from Jonathan?” Mum asked. I snapped my attention back to her.

“Yeah, he called me to say congratulations when the squad was announced. He’s got a promotion at work, and he’s really excited about that. Which is good because his job was kind of a backward step after what he was doing in Japan.”

Mum looked wistful. “He’s such a nice guy. Are you sure you can’t work things out?”

My father choked on his mouthful of mashed potatoes and then covered it with a cough.

I took a sip of wine and set my glass down carefully before I replied. “I’m sure.”

“Maybe if you tried counseling...” Mum began.

“Alison,” Dad interjected. “It’s Luke’s business. Besides, he’s young. He doesn’t have to have his love life figured out yet.”

I stared at my plate as if the mint sauce drizzled over the lamb was the most fascinating sight I’d ever seen. The thing was, I did have my love life figured out. I’d figured out who I wanted when I was eight years old, and nothing had ever changed.

When I glanced up, I found Char watching me, her expression serious. For a second I thought I saw knowing in her eyes, and panic flooded me.

Could Theo have said something? I’d hung out with him and Ethan some of the previous weekend, but we’d been so careful about not touching when Theo was around. I was fairly sure all of Theo’s attention had been on the new Beyblades I’d bought him.

I hadn’t felt any guilt about Char when it came to what was currently happening with Ethan. Was that normal? Surely I should be feeling guilty about sleeping with a guy my sister had also slept with? The father of her child.

He was mine first.

The thought slipped uninvited into my head.

To claim possession over someone seemed wrong. Ethan wasn’t like one of the toys Char and I had squabbled over when we were kids.

Maybe I should turn the idea around.

I belonged to Ethan. I always had. I always would. Us sleeping together had just cemented that fact.

The only issue for me was where Ethan was currently positioned in the love/lust matrix. He definitely liked having sex with me. And I was fairly sure he loved me as a friend, because you couldn’t be as close as we were without there being some form of love, right? But did it translate to romantic love? Could he see a future for us?

I couldn’t imagine Ethan craving me like I craved him.

I was prepared to handle that though. I was fine with loving him more than he loved me, as long as I got to be with him. That was all that mattered.

Char broke our gaze to pick up her glass of wine. She took a large swallow.

“How’re your paintings for the exhibition going?” Mum asked Char.

She smiled tentatively. “Good. The gallery opening has been pushed back a bit, because the redecorating has taken longer than they expected, but I think it’s going to look good. They’ve got a few other artists also lined up, so hopefully it will give me some good exposure."

“I’m sure it will,” Mum said.