Page 247 of Double or Nothing

I’m acting like a brat, but I can’t help myself. It’s far easier than expressing the pain.

“Our families are very compatible,” Christopher says. “That’s what matters.”

“Priority number one. Yes, of course. My apologies.”

He sighs as though I’m exhausting him. Good start to a load of bullshit and pretending.

I could walk away.

I could collect Jack’s case, call a cab and go back to his place. Dad would be absolutely furious and Bryce would still be scared shitless, but Jack would open the door and give me a high five. I know he would.

But what then?

Where would we go from there?

“There’s something you don’t know,” Christopher says, snapping me from my thoughts.

His expression changes. Turns serious.

He lets out a long, deep sigh.

“My father is dying.”

“What?”

The room becomes silent. Begins to spin around me.

“Cancer,” he says. “Terminal.”

Every prepared quip I’ve got for him disappears. Evaporates into nothing.

Christopher checks that the hallway is still empty. Closes the door before he reapproaches me.

“They can treat the symptoms and perhaps buy him some time, but there’s nothing more they can do.”

Fuck. I don’t know what to say. What is there to say, besides the obvious?

“I’m sorry.”

The words feel inadequate. Stupid.

“I didn’t know,” I say. “Nobody told me.”

“No, I didn’t expect so. Dad wants it kept private. As private as possible.”

“How long does he have left?”

“Months, most likely. Possibly less.”

I lower myself onto the edge of a chair, trying to get some stability.

Trevor Otley has been part of the landscape of my entire life. Loud at Christmas. Red-faced on golf courses. Laughing so hard at his own stories.

I don’t like his son, but that doesn’t mean I want Trevor to die.

The thought makes me want to vomit.

“Does Dad know?” I ask.