Page 63 of The Fullback
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Aiden
I got backto Jonny and Devon’s about half eight, when I was sure they’d be at training. Hopefully Jonny hadn’t noticed my shoes were missing from by the back door, and I’d deliberately taken an Uber last night so my car would still be outside when he left.
At some point, I was going to have to be honest with him about what I’d been doing with Hunter and Bailey, probably sooner rather than later. I already knew it would be fucking awkward, but I had to get over myself because I felt bad about lying to him.
Jonny and I had never really had the sort of relationship where we talked about dating and shit. It wasn’t our thing. But he’d rung me last year to tell me about him and Devon, so I kind of owed him. At the time, I’d thought he was calling to say someone had died, because we never called each other.
Plus if I was going to be staying here for a few days, it was polite of me to give him a heads-up before I pissed off out every night. He’d worry more if he didn’t know where I was.
We might only be eleven months apart in age, but Jonny had always taken that seriously. He was my big brother in every sense of the word, and he’d always tried to look out for me, even when I didn’t want him to. But we were both close to thirty, and I needed him to learn to let go.
I spent most of the day curled up on their sofa watching random movies on Netflix while on the phone to the insurance and the building management, then sending emails to ensure everything we’d talked about had a paper trail. Because there was no fucking way I wasn’t getting everything in writing.
The building management were being cagey about whether we’d get a reduction in rent for the period the building was unusable, and I assumed whoever was answering emails had been instructed to keep it vague and noncommittal until they’d heard back from their insurance.
The whole thing was a fucking mess, and it was giving me a headache. When I’d started running my own business, I’d known there would be issues and random shit to deal with, but this hadn’t been on the list of things I’d anticipated. Maybe it should’ve been, but a burst water main wasn’t exactly something I’d expected to happen.
I’d been more prepared for a drunken customer to try and stab me with a broken glass.
Once again, life lessons from Bacon only came in handy in certain circumstances. And none of them seemed to apply to me.
Maybe it would be worth considering finding another unit to rent. At this rate, it might be less hassle.
Jonny had casually tried to suggest that, if I wanted to move, I could always look for a place closer to Lincoln. And while I appreciated his desire to be more involved in my life, I didn’t know how I’d cope with us living so close together.
Moving also meant I’d have to give up my markets and the local shops I supplied and move both my business and mypersonal life, and that sounded like too much fucking stress. And money.
I wanted someone neutral to talk this whole shitshow through with, but I wasn’t sure I had anyone. Maybe Bacon, but if I mentioned moving, he might also act like I was considering upping sticks across continents instead of fifty miles away. Devon might be an option, if he promised not to immediately discuss everything with Jonny and if I could get him alone. Greenie would just tell me to talk to Bacon.
Hunter and Bailey might be an option, but I didn’t know if that would be too much for where we were in our… situationship? Friendship? Relationship? Who the fuck knew. That was another thing I should probably talk about, only I was much more reluctant to do that because I didn’t think I could deal with the emotional damage if we wanted different things.
I still hadn’t admitted what I wanted to myself, not really, so saying it out loud would be a completely different ball game.
Fuck me, why did everything have to come at once like fucking buses?
“Hey, we’re home,” Jonny called out as the front door creaked open, his face appearing around the living room door and splitting into a smile when he saw me.
“Hey. How was training?” I asked, pausing the film on the TV and surprising myself when I realised it was totally different to the one I’d expected it to be. Showed how much attention I’d been paying for the last forty minutes.
“Not bad.” Jonny shrugged. “Same old shit really. Do you fancy a cup of tea? I was gonna stick the kettle on.”
“Sure, sounds great. Thanks.”
He nodded before ducking out of the room, and I heard him ask Devon the same question as he walked towards the kitchen. I could hear the hum of their voices through the wall but not what they were saying. I doubted it was about me, though.
I turned the TV off and glanced at my laptop, checking to see if anything had come through in the last few minutes before closing the lid. There was nothing on my phone from Hunter and Bailey either, which didn’t surprise me. We’d messaged a bit across the day but nothing exciting. Just me venting about shitty building managers and them talking about training drills—completely mundane and boring as fuck, but exactly what I’d needed.
If I had stickers, I’d have given myself one to celebrate enjoying an everyday conversation and not trying to start drama. That felt like a first for me, at least in a relationship.
Which this wasn’t.
It was sex with added conversation.
“How’s your day been?” Jonny asked when he returned a few minutes later, offering me a huge mug of tea. The mug had dice all over it, each patterned with a different Pride flag. I’d always known my brother was a bit of a nerd, but I’d never expected him to start playing Dungeons & Dragons. That was a whole new level of nerd.
It sounded like they were having fun, though, and it was kind of wholesome to hear about a bunch of huge rugby lads, most of whom could flatten you without trying, having fantasy adventures with their pet goose.
