Give Me Love (5 page)

Later that night, Jared's message arrived.

J: How was your first date at the museum?

E: Beetle Bob was very attentive & I got to see a feeding demonstration. Very cool.

J: Cool, huh? What was your favourite bug?

E: Praying mantis, I think. Those things were pretty cute.

J: Don’t they bite the head off the male after sex?

E: Oh gross. They do?

J: lol. Didn’t you learn anything at the exhibition?

E: I guess not!

Four weeks later, I actually received an invitation inside the inner sanctum that was Beetle Bob’s house and promptly met Draco. Draco liked a good piece of mango and hung out on my arm while I made him watch
So You Think You Can Dance
. He really seemed to like it. I snapped a photo of Draco head-bobbing and texted it to Jared.

E: Isn’t he cute?

J: Is that Beetle Bob? If so, he’s much better looking than Hairy Parry.

I laughed like a loon while Beetle Bob gave me the freaky eye, and Draco just kept on head-bobbing on my arm.

Then six months later, Jared got knifed in the side by a drugged up lunatic who thought waving it about inside a store and locking up customers seemed like a good way to earn money.

Panicked and scared, it almost got me on a plane to Sydney.

E: Are you okay?

J: Just a scratch. I had worse at ten years old when I jumped off the roof of our house.

E: What trying to be Superman?

J: Wolverine. His thing is an accelerated healing process. Sadly mine took a metal pin and eight weeks in plaster.

Four months later, our Melbourne festival appearance hit YouTube and received a really decent viewing. That night found us at the local university watering hole dancing and singing and liberating the bar of all alcohol. Unfortunately, Beetle Bob, as usual, decided to leave early to tend the insects in his care, and while the thought was admirable, for a brief moment, I was tired of coming second best to a bunch of creepy-crawlies. Thus began a knock down drag out shouting match that levelled the entire building to silence.

I left in a drunken snit and promptly messaged Jared when I got home.

E: Beetle Bob has been effectively crushed. I will miss Draco.

J: Plenty more dorks in the sea.

Two weeks later, Beetle Bob came by, Draco in tow because he knew I’d do anything for the little lizard dude, apologised, and told me he would be a better boyfriend.

I immediately felt bad because it wasn’t like we were in love, and I
was
being a bit of a selfish mole, but Beetle Bob was otherwise a good person, so I took him back. I snapped a photo of me holding Draco and messaged it to Jared.

E: Beetle Bob is back on.

J: You just want him for his big lizard.

E: Guilty :-D

It was six weeks later when I saw Coby on the news as he rushed some random dilapidated brown weatherboard house.

E: What the hell are you up to?

J: You know I can’t discuss details. We are all good.

Two weeks later he messaged a photo of what was left of Casey’s car after his high speed chase.

J: Walked away, the lucky bastard.

E: He must be the real Wolverine. Lucky you weren’t in the car. You would have been in traction for months.

J: Har har.

A few inane messages.

J: What are you doing?

E: Face mask. Can’t talk.

J: In that case, a string walks into a bar several times and asks for a drink. Each time, he is turned down by the bartender. Finally, the string asks a stranger to tie him in a knot and frazzle the ends a little. The string walks back into the bar and the bartender asks him, “Hey aren’t you the same string I just turned down?” The string replies, “I’m a frayed knot.”

I snorted water out my nose, and my mask promptly cracked into a thousand pieces at his lame, dorky joke.

Six weeks later, I met Herringbone, Beetle Bob’s new baby python. His greeting was simply a pair of beady black eyeballs peeking out from the inside of my running shoe. I snapped a photo and messaged Jared.

E: So I thought I’d go for a light jog this morning.

J: Nice snake shoes. Bet that made you run fast.

E: Like you wouldn’t believe.

Two months later.

J: Finally, a weekend off. Thought I’d come visit.

I panicked.

A long distance friendship was all good and well from the safety of another state, but we all knew how well I managed in Jared’s real life presence.

E: This weekend? What a shame. Beetle Bob and I will be away visiting his sister and brother-in-law in Canberra.

We weren’t, but Beetle Bob had been making noises about it, so no time like the present. I messaged Beetle Bob, and in a matter of moments, our weekend was arranged.

Two months later, we arrived at the conclusion our musical career would take off better in Sydney and made the decision to move.

J: Mac tells me you’re moving to Sydney.

E: Yes, our band is going to be the next big thing.

J: Does this mean we get to hang out?

E: You should be so lucky.

Three months later found us all set to move. Over the internet, we picked out a newly renovated duplex based in Coogee, a pretty beachside suburb just out of the city and a short walk to the beach. It had three bedrooms on one side and three on the other with a joint basement that housed a shared laundry and tons of space for musical equipment. It was perfect for the six of us. Coby did the inspection and when he gave us the nod telling us it wasn’t really a fallen down ramshackle in a desperate state of disrepair, he arranged the rental for us. That simply left us with four weeks to pack up our lives in Melbourne and make the move.

Two weeks later, Beetle Bob and I decided to part ways. Long distance visiting was simply not feasible when it came to the care of his creatures.

J: So you and Beetle Bob, huh?

E: Draco and Herringbone will fill the empty void that I leave behind.

One week later, Jared and Travis arrived for an overnight stay to help move some of the heavier furniture. The plan was for us to follow in a few days with the rest of our possessions and the band equipment.

Unfortunately, on the afternoon of Jared’s arrival, I’d received some snide comments from Beetle Bob’s friends at the local store, and feeling angry and a little let down, I met up with Henry at the Zen bar, our new local watering hole since graduating uni.

It was later that night, after five Metropolitans, that Mac arrived at the bar, Jared and Travis in tow. Metros were like Cosmos but better because they were made with black-currant vodka. I had been busy happily bashing Beetle Bob’s friends to Henry to make myself feel better. Henry, who was trying his best to offer support but not used to Metros, was having trouble keeping his seat.

My first thought when I saw Jared venture into the bar alongside Mac and Travis, was thank God I finally looked decent. My long waves of hair were curled into lush waves that very morning. My skin was tinted rose from the summer sunshine. No longer donning ratty pyjamas or the last minute wrinkled outfit worn to lunch, I was dressed in tailored grey shorts with pink pinstripes, a loosely fitted cream blouse, and strappy lemon coloured wedges. It was the perfect ensemble: casual, chic, and pretty.

My second thought was that he hadn’t changed one bit since I saw him last. His effect on me was as strong as it had ever been. My breath still lodged in my throat, and my palms sweated so much I had to wipe them discreetly on my shorts. Communicating via messages from another state was so much easier and safer.

I overheard Henry informing Jared of the spiteful comments by Beetle Bob’s friends. Soon after, I felt Jared’s hand grasp mine as he hustled me into a quiet dark corner of the bar.

“You okay, baby?” he asked, his brow furrowed with concern.

The endearment sent my pulse racing, and up close, those fierce green eyes of his were amazing, the golden flecks highlighting the vivid shade of emerald.

I ducked my head from the intensity and picked at a loose thread on the hem of my blouse. “I’m okay Jared, thanks. I just… We parted on good terms so it wasn’t expected.”

“Don’t let them get to you. They’re just jealous.”

I huffed out a little laugh at his words. “What? Jealous of me?”

“Jealous that your Beetle Bob managed a catch like you.”

“He’s not
my
Beetle Bob anymore.”

I felt the light brush of Jared’s fingers as he gently swept a rogue curl of hair off my shoulder and tucked it behind my ear.

I met his eyes at the touch, unable to look away and not wanting to.

“Good,” he muttered.

Slowly, he bent his head, and I felt the whisper light touch of his mouth on my collarbone as though he’d needed the very taste of my skin on his lips.

My heart thumped painfully in my chest, and without thinking, I tilted my neck. At the silent invitation, his tongue came out to trace hot, lazy circles on my skin, slowly and maddeningly making his way up to my ear. I felt my knees buckle, and he shifted towards me until his body pressed me into the wall.

“Fuck,” I heard him mutter before his lips came down on mine.

He swallowed the moan climbing up my throat, his tongue flooding my mouth. One hand grasped the back of my neck, reaching up to thread his fingers through my hair. The other hand tugged at my leg until he had it wrapped around him, ensuring I was pressed against him hard. A warm, possessive groan rumbled from his chest and set a slow burn through my body.

Somewhere, somehow, my mind let out a feeble whimper of protest. Panting, I yanked my head back faster than you could say “break your silly idiot heart.”

Not realising we had gained such an enthusiastic audience, I faltered when my eyes hit the little group that was comprised of Mac, Henry, and Travis. Mac was watching with unconcealed delight. Henry, squinting in his blurry drunken state, appeared no less delighted, and Travis simply looked on with amusement.

Jared groaned. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“You shouldn’t have?”

He tugged gently on the rogue strand of hair that broke loose and was currently hiding the disappointment on my face.

“We need to talk, Evie.”

We did?

“We do?”

“You’re moving to Sydney in a week, and I think it’s time that—”

I cut him off quickly, worried about the direction the conversation seemed to be taking. “Actually, it’s time for me to get going.”

His eyebrows lifted in surprise, and shifting around him in a manoeuvre that would impress James Bond, I raced back to the table and picked up my bag.

“I’m sorry,” I said to the table, “but I have to go.”

Panicking because I could feel Jared coming up behind me, I avoided the questioning gaze directed at me by both of my best friends and escaped the building with all the grace of an elephant charging through the scrub, no doubt making a spectacle of myself that had me burning with embarrassment.

Not quite ready to face Jared, or the cavalry, or
that
kiss, I stayed the night at Cam’s apartment, snapping off a message to Henry to let him know where I was. Not long after, messages came through from both Mac and Jared while I struggled to find sleep.

M: It’s come to my attention after tonight’s events that nothing is more perfect than you and my brother together. I know you, Sandwich. Give it a chance.

When I didn’t reply, because I planned on fighting it with all the arsenal I had at my disposal, her messages became, unsurprisingly, more direct.

M: Sandwich, stop being so retarded and come home.

Then there was Jared.

J: I’m sorry, Evie. I didn’t intend to upset you. Please talk to me?

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say, so I didn’t reply to that either.

A week later, I hadn’t heard from him at all, apart from that one text. I could only conclude that he either thought I was an idiot and decided I wasn’t worth the effort, which I tried to tell myself was a really good thing, or he was waiting for our move to Sydney so he could talk to me face to face.

Now, I found myself surrounded by traitorous bastards formerly known as my friends, wondering if it was going to be the former or the latter and knowing that I would soon find out.