Page 37 of Easy
‘Go.. . ’ Ella purses her lips as though searching for the right words. ‘Bash someone on the opposing team.’
‘Aye,’ he affirms. Taking her hands in his, he presses his lips against her forehead, smiling as he inhales deeply as though her scent is a balm to him.
The tender moment makes me feel uncomfortable. Like witnessing this kind of bond seems sort of wrong—like I’m a voyeur to their intimacy. But as I look around, no one else seems to be paying their affection and actions any mind.
‘Sweat dries,’ Ella murmurs, her dark eyes warm on his. ‘Blood clots, and bones heal.’ He returns her loving smile as the babe’s arms and legs begins to imitate a starfish between them.
‘And chicks dig scars,’ he replies in a gruff tone.
‘Oh, they do. But not cauliflower ears.’ Her smile turns sweet, her arms stretching out between them as he pulls away, each reluctant to release the other’s hands, right until their fingertips.
‘Sickening, isn’t it?’ From behind me, Will bends to place his lips to my ear.
‘You’re just jealous,’ Mac grunts. His eyes slide from Ella’s as he turns, his gaze touching mine for the briefest of moments, before sliding over my shoulder to Will.
I see a question in that look. I have no idea what it was, but I’d sure like to know the answer.
Chapter Fourteen
SADIE
The menfolk head off to change as Ella leads me to a “sweet spot” on the front row. Baby Juno is still strapped to her front, and the little boy, Louis, sits on the bench between us. As well as the possibility of mud, Will also forgot to mention the possibility of splinters from the aged seats, so I stand.
The game begins, and I can’t say I understand the rules at all. There’s lots of stop and start, bursts of activity, followed by moments of nothingness. There are moments when the players all seem to pile onto the ball. A ruck, I think it was? And there’s violence—so much force in each tackle, and the fact that the ball is supposed to move backwards, even to go forward. A touchdown is called a try, which just seems silly. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to call a winning “try” something like a “success”?
Maybe I’m wrong—what I know about sports in general could be written on the back of a stamp—but I’m not a fan of the bone-crushing collisions of man against man. The sound of bodies impacting in such a vicious way. But what Icanget behind is a man in a pair of tiny shorts.
Given the chance, literally.
Football—the stuff back home—is okay, and the uniforms not too shabby. An athlete wearing skintight pants? Hell to the yes. But these guys currently throwing themselves around in the mud?
So. Much. Thigh. On. Display!
Not that I’m looking too hard or anything. But let me just say, along with those broad shoulders, Will has thighs that make my knees feel a little weak. His body is built for impact in the most delicious of ways.
‘So you’re a teacher?’ Ella stands, bouncing gently to placate the baby strapped to her chest. We’ve chatted amiably as well as two women who don’t know each other can. I like her. She’s warm and funny, and sort of wholesome looking in the very pretty sense.
‘Have you known Will for very long?’
‘No, not at all.’ Her responding bright smile is a little off. ‘I’m just here on vacation. Well, actually, I’m dog sitting for my friend’s cousin—’
‘I have a dog!’ interjects Louis, Mac and Ella’s son. ‘He is stinky, and his name is Charles.’ His pronunciation renders the wordSharles, which makes me curious as to why their son’s accent bears a touch of French, while theirs does not.Not that I’d ask.
Ella smiles down at her son’s bent head as he concentrates on his iPad.
‘Is that how you met Will? Did he accost you while you were walking your charge?’
‘Walking the dog? No.’ How strange.
‘Will loves dogs, as well as babies and small children,’ she says by way of explanation as she allows Juno to wrap her grabby hands around her index fingers, as though to remind me or prove a point. ‘There are plenty of men who are willing to show their affection for canines, but not so many who’ll show their unabashed attention to children. Especially those not sprung from their own loins.’
And I have no idea where she’s going with this.
‘There’s something inherently good about a man like that, I feel.’
Oh, so that’s where this is going. Ella’s on Team Will, obviously.
‘I really don’t know him very well. I mean, I can see he’s good with kids—and dogs—but we really don’t know each other well. It’s just a case of me staying under Will at the moment. Wait. That sounded...’
