Liquid Fire (8 page)

It was a couple of weeks after the threesome with Mandy and I’d been cleared to return to sport, much sooner than the doctor had anticipated. I felt alive once again, standing under the lights at Hawthorne Park. The grass was covered in a thickening layer of dew underneath my treads. Coach Graves made us assemble in a line, all facing him.

“We’ve lost the last two games, but Fanning’s back now and we all know what a difference he can make to the team.
In fact if any of you have bothered looking at the ladder, we’ve dropped off the top. It’s finals next week, and if we don’t win this week, we’re gone. You boys can kiss holding that trophy again goodbye since this division only takes the top four teams.”

“We’ll win
, Coach, don’t worry!” I said enthusiastically.

“You better
, Fanning, otherwise; I’m out of here and this is your last chance to win the cup!”

The team got stuck straight into training, with handling the ball. Graves hadn’t been real happen last with the amount of handballs they’d fucked up. According to Coach, I was the
best handler there was in the team. He pulled me out for a demonstration.

“On the weekend this is how I saw some of you hand balling!” he yelled, carelessly smashing the Sheridan far over my head, making me chase it. “I know under pressure it is hard, but you should have enough room to make a clean precise pass. Pass it back
, Fanning,” he ordered.

I complied, giving it back to him, with a long, precise pass that went no further than fifteen meters. Graves caught it in both hands and pointed it at each of the boys. “That is how you handball. Get to it!”

Everyone broke into twos or threes and Coach booted each group a ball. I was paired with Graves, as he wanted to talk strategy for the weekend and he knew my skills were well up to scratch even with three or four weeks on the bench.

“I want you playing
at the forward line on Saturday. You and Bret need to kick as many goals as you can if we’re going to win and we need to improve the margin. I’ll put McCoy at halfback like he’s been the last two weeks. He’s not as good as you are, but he’s not bad. We’re up against the Eagles this week and you know what they’re like.”

I nodded at
Graves’s logic. Aside from Cooparoo the Mount Cotton Eagles were some of the toughest competition we had. We’d lost the last three games to them by at least twenty points, and it would take some serious magic and hard work on my boot to slow them down.

“Your kicking was shit last week!” Graves suddenly roared across the field. “It was like you were all under sixes not knowing how to find your man! Get in a line
and I want a drop kick on the run straight to me. If it lands five feet away or I have to move to get it you’re going around the field and giving me fifty!”

I jogged into line in front of Bret. I’d put him to shame. I watched Graves send at least half the team around the oval, his face turning red with the amount of yelling he was doing. “If you can’t kick to the right fucking person, how are we meant to win!” he roared. My kick came just after this outburst. “Come on
, Fanning!” I tapped the ball lightly, sending it in an almost perfect arch. Graves reached up and grabbed it just above his head. “Beautiful kick, get to the back of the line! Move it up, Jones!” A few seconds later Graves was in another rage. “You’ve got to be fucking shitting me! You can do three laps around the field!” Typical of Bret to be a smart ass.

The rest of the training session continued with Graves busting his nut at everyone, pushing them further. By the end he broke out into a huge smile, saying we’d be ready for Saturday. I lugged my gear into my car and saw my phone light up in my back. Standing under the boot I pulled it out and saw it was a text message from Alexis.
Are you busy tonight? I need you.

“Who’s Alexis?” I heard Bret say from right behind my shoulder.

“Fuck’s sake, Bret! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” For a big guy Bret could be pretty stealthy when he wanted to be.

“So who is she? Not Alexis Rain is it?”

“Christ, Bret. If I wanted you in on my personal life I’d have said, ‘hey Bret come check this chick I’m fucking!’” I half yelled careful to make sure everyone else had already left.

“
Woah shit, man, slow down. You’re fucking Miss Rain?” he said astounded. I turned away from him, returning to the text. Bret ripped it out of my hand, read what Alexis had just sent me and scrolled up. Some messages even included photos. “Fucking hell, you really are. You stud, bro.”

I punched him
savagely in the gut once and wrenched the phone out of his grip. Bret crouched over in pain, and almost swung back at me. “What the fuck was that for?”

“Don’t ever butt in again alright. If I want you to know something I’ll tell you, I want this kept secret for a reason,” I growled at him, slamming my boot shut.

“Dude, what’s the big deal? I wanted to join in!” said Bret.

“I thought you were fucking Grace or whatever her name was,” I said.

“I can drop her anytime I like mate, she’s not real good,” insisted Bret.

“I’m going to tell
you one last time, cunt. Stay away from Alexis and me.”

After today I needed to relax, and I knew where I’d head. My Lancer rumbled into Alexis’s driveway just after eight. I was still pissed about Bret as I knocked on her door. She opened it a few seconds later completely naked save for a short blue night gown that she hadn’t done up. In her other hand she held a glass of coke. Alexis was already smiling which told me she’d peeked through the hole in the door and undone her gown when she knew it was me.

“Can I come in?” I asked her.

“Yeah sure, I thought something was wrong in your text message. What do you need?” she said, getting that little worried frown on her face.

We sat down in her armchairs; this was no time for being close. I could hear soft music being played from her
bedroom; chances were she’d been masturbating which explained the urgency. Now she looked genuinely concerned about me, and the usual sexy glint in her eye was not present. The rest of her body language also suggested she wasn’t after sex.

I took a deep breath and decided to be blunt. “Bret knows.”

“Bret knows what?”

“He knows about us. What we’re doing. He even saw a couple of the pictures you’ve sent me.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! How did he see your phone!” she almost screamed.

“He grabbed it off me when I was replying to your text. I managed to smash him and get it back before he got too far,” I tried reassuring her.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, Sam! He knows about us; he’s already got way too much on us. Jesus fucking Christ!” Alexis leapt up and paced around the room, trying to gather herself. She was in her own bubble and it was best just to let her do her own thing. “You’ve got to leave right now!” she said suddenly, hustling me to get out of the chair.

“What for?
Nobody will have found out this quickly!” I protested. Sure I was worried but I still wanted to fuck her.

“We’ve got to be low key for the next few days. I’ll talk to you when I can,” she whispered pushing me out the door.

“But why?”

“Just go;
I’ll talk to you when I can,” she said hurrying back inside. “I don’t have time to explain it to you yet.”

I heard the door slam shut and knew she’d be returning to me very soon. She’d left the window open for me to climb in and I heard her signal me in. It was an easy reach up and pull for someone in great physical shape like me. I’d been hanging off her third floor balcony for the last fifteen minutes after climbing the last two floors from the ground up. I let out a low growl as I saw her walk into the room, barely covered by the night gown.

My heart got caught in my throat
; I thought this would finally be the night I’d get to bury myself into her. It had been far too long since I’d last seen her and she would be ready for me tonight either way. She was so willing to let him inside her, yet I had been much around longer, waiting. It infuriated me and I wanted to flip her onto the bed right now, but we had business to attend to.

“That’s done. The seeds of doubt have been planted in his best friend. This whole saga will be over soon,” she said.

“Good, I’ve continually done my part. When do I get my reward?” I growled.

“I sent him home, you’re
mine tonight,” she whispered drawing close to me.

I closed my eyes and let the pleasure I’d waited so long
for to take over.

Graduation was nearing and the footy team had cleared the semifinals with the big one to come. So far I’d passed all my subjects and well, like usual and the only big thing I had left was the grand finale against Cooparoo. The boys and I were running hot after the last three weeks of solid wins, and Cooparoo were under strength.

Excitement was running high throughout
every year twelve, and I was among them. The end of the first chapter in our lives was coming to the end, and I knew for a fact that I couldn’t wait to get out and start doing something worthwhile. Alexis had kept a low profile, rarely texting me once a week and with the distance I needed her more than ever.

I’d taken up a new “friendship” with Mandy using her to fill the void that Alexis had once filled.
Not only was she great company outside of her more than lavish bedroom, she also performed exceptionally in it. I’d left Bret and Casey alone, never seeing the latter except when in class together. The three of us rarely exchanged words now, and I could always see them glaring at me, out of jealousy or hatred I couldn’t tell. I usually returned the glances, but Mandy kept me calm, gripping my leg. She acted like Kate had, and there might be something coming out of it.

Alexis had kept her around for me to use as
a cover relationship, and between the both of them I had my hands more than full.

“What are you thinking about?” Mandy asked me, rolling over
to half lie on my stomach. Her hair fell in a long blonde mop around her angelic face. In every physical way she was a copy of Alexis, but her concern and personality was all Kate. It was too soon to say I loved her, especially when I was still feeling the loss of Kate and couldn’t get over how Alexis had technically dumped me.

“
Everything,” I whispered.

“Maybe I could do something to take your mind off everything?” Mandy whispered tracing her fingernails over my stomach, making me shift.

“You’re kidding right? We just fucked and you want to go again?”

“Hmm, well I’m horny
, and we’ve only got limited time today,” she said groaning slipping a finger inside of her.

I couldn’t help but enjoy what she was doing. Mandy lifted her left leg and ran her foot along her right leg. She groaned at me as she slid another finger in and began moving with it.
I couldn’t help but feel myself to make sure I was still hard and thankfully I was. Mandy closed her eyes and I took advantage catching her hand. She opened them again, feeling the physical contact and grinned, knowing what I’d do.

“Hmm
, you going to fuck me again?” she moaned.

I didn’t verbally reply, but instead flipped her over onto her stomach, and picked
her lower body up off the bed. Mandy squirmed at my touch. “Are you sure you want this?”

“Positive,”
she almost squealed in delight before I penetrated her once more.

“Officer Parsons called,” said Dad as I walked in the door.  “And where the fuck have you been?”

“What did he say?”

“They’ve still got nothing on whoever killed Kate. Answer my question.”

I ground my teeth in frustration to both responses. “I’ve been out,” I growled.

“What all afternoon? You’ve been very funny since Kate died,” Dad said suspiciously.

“
I’d like to see how you’d act if Mum turned up dead!” I shouted at him.

“Don’t talk to your father like that,” Mother’s head appeared above the longue.

“Well what would you do! Go a little stir crazy. I know I sure would!” My foot was on the stairs when Dad grabbed me from behind, by the scruff of the neck.

“
I want to know what’s going on with you right now boy.”

“You’re not going to find out anytime soon,” I said shrugging myself free.

I stomped up to my room, slammed the door shut and collapsed onto the bed, pulling open my laptop. The first thing to pop up onto the desktop was Facebook messenger. I had one inbox from Casey.

Hey bro, I need to talk to you. Can we meet down at the Café tomorrow
?

Yeah sure what time
? I responded.

Just after
twelve if it suits you
. Casey replied immediately.

Alright I’ll talk to you then
.

Thanks man, I really appreciate it
. The next second his green circle changed into the grayed out mobile symbol meaning he was offline.

I was exhausted from today, so I headed straight to bed, not wanting to think about what tomorrow would bring. If Casey wanted to see me it would probably be bad.

My alarm went off at the usual time, and I groaned rolling out of bed. I hit the floor and began my workout I hadn’t done for the past few weeks. Finally
, after half an hour I felt lean and flexible again before making my way downstairs. There were no regular classes for the last two weeks, so I ate an early breakfast and drove to the gym.

It was quiet as always during the week, and I was glad to have the space to myself. It was core day
, and I worked like I was on steroids. The chick on the counter checked me out a few times I could tell, but other than that I had no interaction with anyone in the gym. The core had taken me two hours, so I decided to keep going and work my legs until just before one.  I packed up and headed to the Café that was less than five minutes away.

Casey was easy to spot, sitting alone under one of the maroon umbrellas, not far from the road.
He looked up at me as I approached and nodded. I took my seat opposite him, waiting for the conversation to ensue.

“Hello
, Sam,” he said evenly.

“Casey, what do you want? You haven’t spoken me to weeks and you suddenly get me here and tell me whatever it is you want to talk about is urgent? What’s your game?” I asked.

“I don’t have a game. I’m here to let you know something you ought to know.”

“Yeah what is this valuable piece of information?” I said, clearly not impressed.

“Bret knows about you and Miss Rain,” he whispered.

I laughed almost hysterically, before getting serious again. “That’s old news.
I’ve known for weeks.”

“The way I heard it, Bret was pretty pissed and is ready to go public about it. Be a bit of a scandal wouldn’t it?” he said winking. “But I think I could get to the press first.”

“What do you want from me, Casey?”

Casey opened his mout
h to reply, but before he got a chance to speak, his head exploded. I never saw the bullet enter his head, but I was stunned barely catching a glimpse of it burst out the other side of his skull. Everyone within a short distance screamed and hit the floor immediately. I wasn’t far behind them, taking cover under the table.

There was no more screams for several seconds, and I poked my head out from underneath the wooden table, looking up at the rooftops for any sign of the shooter, still scared shitless. Across the road I saw someone clad in matte black dissembling a full sized military rifle into what
appeared to be a guitar case. They stared down at me before slamming the lid shut and vanishing off the roof.

Casey’s mutilated head bled all over the concrete tiles. I looked around and people were hesitantly looking in my direction and at the body.
Many were urgently texting on their phones, probably to inform relatives, while others were calling the emergency services. I hoped that whoever killed Casey was the same person that killed Kate, so then I’d only have one person to find.