Page 62 of Playing for Keeps

“He’s taking Theo to the zoo today, and he invited us along. I thought it could be something fun, if you’re interested.” I kept my voice neutral.

“Sure. I like the zoo,” Jonathan said.

“Great.”

I divided the omelet between two plates, then took them across to the table. But I’d lost my appetite.

On the surface, I should have been happy for another opportunity for Jonathan and Ethan to hang out. After all, Jonathan was my boyfriend, Ethan my oldest friend and the father of my nephew. It would be nice if they could get to know each other better.

But I worried that part of the reason I wanted Jonathan to come to the zoo was to act as a buffer against my inappropriate feelings for Ethan—feelings that kept rising to the surface no matter how desperately I tried to keep them submerged.

Was that fair to Jonathan?

I watched him now as he tucked into his omelet while reading the news on his phone. Noticing the familiar little concentration lines on his forehead caused my chest to tighten. Jonathan was such a great guy. I shouldn’t need to constantly remind myself of that fact.

I picked at my omelet but my appetite didn’t return.

On the way to Orana Park, I clutched the steering wheel and tried to calm myself down by taking deep breaths.

We pulled up in the parking lot and got out. It was a beautiful winter’s day. It appeared lots of other families had the same idea as Ethan, as the entrance to the wildlife reserve was crowded. Still, it was easy to spot Ethan and Theo’s matching blond heads.

Ethan was wearing jeans and a green hoodie that matched his eyes. I didn’t want to focus on the fact that I was so familiar with Ethan Lewis’s eyes I could have picked out the exact green from a paint chart filled with similar shades.

Theo spotted us and ran over. “Uncle Luke. Uncle Jonathan!”

I smiled down at him. Theo was usually so reserved, but it appeared the prospect of seeing lots of animals had him almost buzzing out of his skin.

“Hey, Little Man.” I ruffled his hair, and one tuft remained determinedly stuck up at the back. Exactly how Ethan’s hair used to do.

Ethan came over and gave Jonathan and me a smile, but it had a tentative edge.

My stomach clenched. Something was up with Ethan.

There had been moments yesterday at the wedding when his happy-go-lucky mask had slipped and I’d seen the tension underneath. Now, as we paid for the tickets, he seemed jittery, not his usual laidback self. I needed to make him smile.

“Have you braced yourself for the Tasmanian Devils?” I asked as we headed through the turnstile.

Ethan glanced at me. “Nothing from this world should be able to make that noise,” he said, seamlessly picking up an old conversation after a ten-year pause.

“I think they’re quite cute, personally.”

“It’s got the word ‘devil’ in its name! There’s your first warning there.”

“I’m not sure if you can take an animal’s name as proof of how menacing it is.”

Ethan quirked an eyebrow. “You don’t think an encounter with a grizzly bear would be quite grizzly?”

I snorted out a laugh and Ethan joined in.

Jonathan’s gaze ping-ponged between the two of us.

Meanwhile Theo had come to a stop, studying the map we’d been given at reception.

“Where do you want to go first?” Ethan asked Theo.

Theo bit his lip and contemplated the map. “Meerkats,” he suddenly announced, running straight for the exhibit handily near the entrance.

“Now these are animals that I can support,” Ethan said while we watched the meerkats do their thing. Which involved a whole lot of standing on their hind legs and surveying us. They were kind of cute though.