Cocky Notes: A Hero Club Novel

by Leesa Bow

  Reef starts the engine. “So, it’s just you and your dad?”

  I nod. “Yeah. You don’t have to look at me with pity. She never died. Well, in my heart, she did. The day she walked out the door and said we were too much for her, her wings had been clipped, and she needed to fly out of the cage we kept her in.”

  His eyes widen before veering the car and merging with traffic. “Sounds like you’re better off without her around.”

  I don’t say anything.

  “Is your father home?”

  “What? Oh, yeah, he is.” I want to plead to Reef not to push me for more today. “You’ll meet him soon, okay?”

  I reach for my phone and see a missed call from an unknown number. I hesitate because of spam calls. It rings again in my hand. It’s the same number.

  “Macy, it’s Bernadette.”

  “Is everything okay?” I ask quickly.

  “Yes, yes. Your dad can’t find his phone. So, he asked me to call you and let you know he’s coming to mine for dinner tonight. He didn’t want you to get home and panic. I’ll drop him home later.”

  “Sure. Thanks for letting me know.”

  I end the call and breathe through the tightness in my chest. It’s crazy to feel like this. I love my dad is finding happiness with another woman, but I hate how he doesn’t need me right now. Tonight I had hoped to talk to him about the way I feel about Reef.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah. My dad’s not home for dinner. He’s found this woman and…” I don’t want to talk about this now, so I shrug.

  “Are we going to mine or yours?”

  I’m grateful he’s concentrating on the road. He has no idea what a big deal it is to me that my father has a girlfriend. “Mine. I just want to go home.”

  “Fine with me,” he says as though it’s an invitation.

  “Reef…” Before I say I want to be alone, my brain resorts to thinking as I always have, using sex to numb pain. “Would you like to come in?”

  “You sound hesitant.”

  I’m nervous about him seeing my personal space.

  “I want you to come in,” I say in a stronger voice when we pull up out front of our quaint cottage.

  Reef looks past me to the front door. “Number eleven.” He smiles.

  “What?”

  “It’s my playing number. Has to be lucky, right?”

  “So, it’s why you always sit at table eleven.”

  “Yep.”

  “Are you superstitious?”

  He chuckles. “In a way.”

  Holding the key to the front door, I pause. “Stepping into number eleven could be the start of your nightmares.”

  “If you’re giving me an opportunity to head back to the car, it’s too late. I’m already possessed.”

  I place a hand on his cheek and leave it there for a second before pushing up onto my toes and kissing him on the lips. It’s a quick peck before I drop my hand and lead him down the hallway pointing to doors of importance as we pass. “Bathroom. Loo. Lounge room… would you like a cold drink?” I ask when we reach the kitchen.

  “Sure.” He gulps down water and places the glass on a sink. “You missed an important door.”

  I don’t say anything. Instead, I pick up my bag and lead him to my room. I open the door, and I’m grateful I made the bed before dashing out yesterday morning. “It’s not much. Nothing like your room.” I look at the walls with photographs and inspirational quotes. “But… it’s me.”

  Reef drops onto my bed, kicks off his shoes, and lies back to stare at the ceiling, hands linked behind his head. “So, this is what you see.” He looks around the room from a lying position, then he holds out a hand for me to join him. “I lie awake thinking about you at night. Imagine where you are. What you’re thinking.”

  I snuggle in beside him. He untucks an arm for me to lay my head on and pulls me closer to him.

  “I usually fall asleep quickly because I’m exhausted. Sometimes I read.”

  He eyes the stack of books on my side table. “Stephen King.”

  “In the darkness, I lay awake thinking about stuff. Stuff I can’t change or have no power over, but I can’t help but worry.”

  He kisses my forehead. “I do the same and tell myself so be it.”

  I have no idea what he’s worried about unless it’s football and being selected in the team each week.

  “We all carry a burden.”

  “You know mine is my dad and—” I stop before bringing up my mother again. “What’s yours?”

  A large hand squeezes my shoulder. “Something you won’t have to worry about,” he rasps as though he finds it hard to say. His hand finds my breast, and he toys with it as though it gives him comfort.

  I lean up and kiss and roll onto him, so our bodies align as one. His hands are all over me, under my clothes tugging at my bra. His mouth is hot. His kiss ignites every sexual part of my body.

  Breathless, I manage, “I’ve never had a guy in my room.”

  Another first.

  Reef pulls away, holds my gaze. “Never?”

  I shake my head. “I’ve never invited a guy to my home.”

  Taking my face with both hands, he kisses me with a new passion, gentler than before. “Let’s keep it that way for now.”

  I adjust my clothes when he springs off the bed.

  “I want to take you out for dinner.”

  “Are you asking me on a date?”

  “I am.” He holds out a hand. “Just you and me, somewhere quiet.”

  I laugh. “In case you haven’t noticed, restaurants are not quiet.”

  “Did I say a restaurant?” He grins, a half-smile making my heart thump harder. “We’ll head to the beach, grab something simple to take with us. And a blanket for the sand.”

  “So, I don’t need to change?”

  “No. You’re perfect like you are.”

  I lean into his chest, and he wraps his arms around me. I feel safe with my cheek pressed against a wall of muscle.

  Dinner on the sand.

  I can handle that too.

  A slice of beach not far from Reef’s house is protected with boulders. It’s shaped in an arc, so when the ocean rolls in, it doesn’t quite reach the rocks. Walkers take the track above on the esplanade path to get to either side since the tide blocks access, fencing in the tiny beach.

  It’s private and perfect for our dinner.

  The sun is low on the horizon before it falls into the crystal blue water. Seagulls squawk nearby waiting for a fry or scallop to be thrown their way. At this time of night, the water is only metres from our feet.

  A soothing, gentle breeze caresses my face and rustles my hair. There’s nothing quite like the aroma of salt-infused air mixed with the spicy scent of a gorgeous man—one who has his head in my lap.

  “I could stay the night here,” he says. “Like this. With you.”

  I brush my fingers along his jawline. “Another time.” I inhale a deep therapeutic amount of air. “I have to go. I want to see my dad and catch up on his new girlfriend.”

  He rolls onto his stomach and takes my hands in his. “Want to tell me about it?”

  I do want to talk to him in a way as though we trust each other. And I give him a brief rundown on his accident, how close my father and I are, and how, until a few weeks ago, he’d never invited another woman to our house. Then I mention my mother, and I can’t stop.

  “When Dad was in the hospital after his amputation, you’d think his wife would be by his side and worried sick. Not my mother. It was a chance for her to continue her affairs. I’m not talking about one. She had multiple. A different man every night if she could. I hated hearing the moans coming from her bedroom, hated seeing shadows of men pass my bedroom window because they never used the front door. Their bedroom had an external sliding door. They’d walk the side of the house past my bedroom to access it. Mum used to say the door was a perfect entry to the garden to sit and enjoy morning coffee.”
I roll my eyes. “Liar.”

  Reef squeezes my knee. “It makes me nauseous for you. Were you scared?”

  “I became used to it until Dad was in the hospital.” I shake my head. “It was when I needed her the most. When I couldn’t sleep with worry and scared for Dad, I heard more of what took place in the bedroom.”

  Reef rubs my thigh, and I inhale a deep breath. “I wanted to sleep at the hospital. I was there ‘til late, anyway. Mum said she didn’t have the time to visit with running a household. And yet, I laundered my school clothes and made my own meals except for dinner because I usually shared some of Dad’s meal at the hospital. It was our time together, bonding and reassurance knowing Dad was coping. I enjoyed hanging out with him, and it was somewhere I could concentrate to complete my homework while he watched television with earphones. It was a much more relaxing environment than being at home.”

  “Jesus, she’s a class act,” he murmurs, disdain lacing his voice. He pushes up onto his knees and takes me in his arms. I melt into the hug. He kisses the top of my head. “You know, I’m here for you, Mace. We’re also friends, so you don’t have to run off with Chance if you’re spooked and need to talk.” He takes my hand and helps me to my feet.

  “Thanks. But you’re the one who sometimes spooks me.” I give him a half-smile. “I have my girlfriend, Georgia, but our friendship is more about the good times. We’re close, but not super close, and we don’t tell each other everything. Honestly, I’ve never opened up, kept a lot of stuff to myself. You’re the first person I’ve really blurted it all to. I’m sorry to lay it on you like that.”

  He glances down to the rug on the sand before meeting my gaze once more. “Don’t be. I like you trusted me enough to tell me. You might’ve noticed I’m not a man of many words. Tend to keep to myself. Being friends with Chance, well, it was easy because he has a way of saying things, and it comes out right—even through school, and especially with the ladies. I love him, but I can’t help being protective when it comes to you.”

  “Me? You know he’s seeing someone, right? A model.”

  “Yeah. I know that, but there’s something about you, and when you went away with him…” He scrubs a hand through his hair. “I’m not usually the jealous type.” He reaches out and touches my cheek. “I wasn’t happy with him. As I said, I’m possessed.”

  And so am I.

  Chapter Sixteen

  MACY

  “Have you decided what you’re doing for Christmas?” Reef asks while sitting with me at a table during my break.

  “We’re not doing presents, right?” I blurt out after swallowing a mouthful of gnocchi—Dominic’s special dish of the day.

  “I may have bought you something small.” He grins as though he’s thinking about it. “And I wasn’t referring to gifts. What are you and your dad doing on Christmas Day? Do you have a tradition? A special dish?”

  “Lucky I bought you something small also.” I jab my fork in his direction. I bought it in Broken Hill and decided to keep hold of it until the right time to surprise him. “So, nothing else, okay?”

  “You haven’t answered my question.”

  “Oh, right.” I shrug. “We usually stay in under the air conditioning, exchange presents, and I cook a turkey breast in the morning. We keep it simple with roasted vegetables, or if the heat’s unbearable, we have salad. I buy the microwave pudding and custard. In the afternoon, we watch an old-time classic movie together. What about you?”

  “Yeah. Something similar, I guess. I’d prefer to have lunch with your father and you. It sounds enjoyable.”

  “Christmas at yours isn’t enjoyable?”

  “It’s not relaxing.”

  “What do you eat?” I offer him some of my gnocchi.

  Reef lifts a hand from the table. “I couldn’t eat another thing. I ordered three times waiting for you to have your break.”

  “That’s true love.” I chuckle, then freeze realising what I’ve said. I don’t make eye contact, keep eating, and act blasé.

  He’s staring at me, and I can’t meet his gaze.

  “Roast meat. Seafood. Much of the same,” he murmurs. “People always wish for expensive gifts at Christmas. As if the more expensive the gift indicates your degree of love. And it makes them happy to think you spent X amount of dollars on them.”

  “Don’t worry, I don’t think along those lines.” I swallow down more pasta with water, wondering where he’s going with this.

  “I know. You’re unique. I know you’re not with me for the money I can spend on you.”

  I meet his gaze. “No. I didn’t take you to be careless with money.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Neither am I.” I place my fork on the table, no longer hungry because I have a feeling he’s getting to a point. “I don’t know what you bought me, but I wasn’t expecting anything. And I’m wondering why we’re discussing it now.”

  “Because I wanted to spend more on you.” He takes a sip of his sparkling water. “Didn’t because I thought it would spook you. And then I got to thinking—”

  “You’re making assumptions about me. I thought we decided not to. You said we’d discuss things.”

  “It’s what I am doing… I guess it led me to thinking what you want for your future. What do you wish for most? Not for Christmas but in life?”

  “What?” I choke with a muffled cough. This conversation has turned heavy.

  “Start smaller. Where do you see yourself in a year? Then five years and ten years?”

  “It’s fine. I can answer all.” I dab my lips with the napkin and place it on the table. “In life, I hope to be in a better place financially to take care of my dad. If something comes up and he needs more money for medical reasons, I’d like to think it wouldn’t stress me out as it does now.”

  He takes my hand and squeezes it but doesn’t say anything, so I continue talking. “Since I was eighteen, I’ve never lasted more than a year in a job until I came to work at Lombardi’s. So in one year, I think I’ll still be here because Oliver is a great boss. I’m happy and now have job security. Five years…” I shrug. “I have no idea. Ten. Maybe married with children.” I shrug again because I assume that’s what people say to that amount of time, and I want him to think I have it figured out and not see the conflicted person I really am.

  He nods, and I watch his eyes glaze over as though he’s miles away. “What about you?”

  Reef blinks, and he glances down to our linked fingers. “I want to keep playing football. Be a better player. Hopefully, win a premiership within the next ten years. Maybe get married.” His eyes meet mine again. The blue hue has changed—darker—like his own form of a mood ring. “I see myself travelling the world. Not tied down, so I can experience places and culture. Have you ever wanted to travel?”

  “Of course. Not at the moment because I wouldn’t leave Dad, and I can’t afford it. When you say not tied down, do you mean—”

  “Financially. I want to spend a few years travelling and hope to save enough to do so when my football career is over.”

  “Right. And what about work if you’re finished playing?”

  “I’m studying on the side. I’ll work when I get back.”

  “Won’t you have a mortgage?”

  “Mace, you’re killing my dream.” He smiles, and I’m grateful because he was sounding too serious and different from the Reef I know.

  “Where would you like to travel?”

  “To the best surfing spots around the globe.” His smile turns into a grin.

  I roll my eyes. “Count me out since I can’t surf.” I push up from the table, and simultaneously Reef tightens his grip on my hand. He gives a little tug, and I lean down and kiss him on the lips. He holds me there for a few seconds longer than I’m comfortable with in the restaurant where I work.

  “Will I see you tonight?”

  I shake my head. “No. What about tomorrow? Did I mention Ava swapped weekends off with me? I’m free this entire
weekend.”

  Reef lets go of my hand and pulls out his phone. “I’m sending you a message now asking you to go on a date with me. You have to read where in the message.”

  “C’mon, tell me. My phone’s in the office.”

  “Nope. I’ll call you tonight. But you won’t need to pack much.”

  “Pack?”

  He leans in close. “In fact, bring nothing at all,” he whispers in my ear. “Because I’ll have you naked the entire time.”

  The way his lips caress mine, and the whisper of his voice in my ear, are enough for my breath to hitch. I turn and watch him walk out the door—his sexy arse, those long legs, and broad shoulders caging me when we—shit, I have to focus.

  This man knows how to rip the seams holding me together without even a single touch.

  When I arrive home from work, Dad is on the phone talking to Bernadette. I’m amazed how he’s come to life the last few weeks. She has certainly brought out the best in him. And he seems far more capable and independent. Or was I making him dependent? I know I have issues and hang-ups, but there’s something about Bernadette I’m unsure about and if I can trust her.

  “How was your day, love?” Dad says when he ends the call.

  “Yeah, good. Reef came in and sat with me during my lunch break, so it helps make the time pass quicker.” I plop my handbag on the kitchen table and reach for my phone ready to search for the place on maps where Reef wants to take me this weekend.

  “I told Bernadette your boyfriend meets you for lunch. Then she suggested arranging for an Uber to pick me up once a week, so I could see her at lunch. There are plenty of cafés near the beach where she works.”

  I take in a breath. “You’re getting serious pretty fast, don’t you think?”

  “Not a lot of time to spare at my age, love.” He walks around the table wearing his prosthesis at home. “We get on well. We enjoy each other’s company. She makes me happy. Same reasons you’re with Reef.”

  I nod, pushing the thought that he also makes me orgasm more than any other guy I’ve been with out of my head.

  “You’ve just met.”