Page 57 of Almost Ours

Oscar wags a finger at him. “You. You daft prat.”

“Alright, keep your knickers on, bloody hell.” Cam slides off his stool.

I wrap my hand around my pint, quiet again, but there's a weight in my chest that doesn't hurt for once. I could truly like it here. I could make friends here. Possibly even live a life that looks so different to the one I’d always pictured.

Watching Cam saunter to the bar, my eyes land on Bonnie. She’s chatting with a friend, a redhead that I don’t know nor have I ever seen.

The warm feeling vanishes.

“He’s a lot,” Oscar tells me, looking at Cam as he makes the bartender laugh.

I shoot Oscar a look. “But worth it?”

Oscar nods once. “Yeah. He is. He’s the best mate I’ve ever had.”

I laugh, but it cuts off almost immediately. Oscar is peering at me, an intense look on his face. It makes my mouth go dry and nerves attack me. I can feel myself start to sweat.

Is he about to ask about James?

Oscar opens his mouth and I prepare myself, but instead he says, “You’re a really good player, mate. I’m feeling a bit put out.”

Relief hits me so hard that I have to look down at my drink. “Thanks.”

His gaze is assessing. “You’ll fit in fine.”

Can he see all my doubts? “Will I?”

“If not with the whole team, you’ll definitely fit in with me and Cam.”

Not sure about that. “How do you know?”

“How does anyone know anything?” He picks up his pint which is almost finished. “Sometimes you can tell.”

I don’t know what to do with that, but I feel grateful Oscar is confident in saying it.

Cam drops his pint onto the table with a thud, and the moment dissolves fast. I feel an odd mix of frustration and respite.

Oscar wipes the condensation from his glass with the side of his thumb. “How does my sister seem, by the way? Is she alright?” His tone is casual but his lips are tight around the edges.

The question catches me off guard. Is he on about Bernardo? Has she told him? I don’t know why it bothers me, it just feels like it’s ours. “Alright? Yeah. She seems fine.”

Fine feels too small for Ruby. She is bright, beautiful, and unapologetically herself. There is nothing uncertain about her. If anything, I feel like I’m the unsure one when I’m around her. But I know I bloody love spending time with her.

Oscar nods, like he needed to hear it. It makes me rethink the question. Was she alright? Is Ruby someone you need to check in on? It doesn’t match the girl who has dominated the entire conversation every time I’ve met her and actively mocked me. But given how he reacted to her being busy on Wednesdays and now this, something is off about it.

“Was she meant to not be alright?” I ask carefully, trying to keep the tone light.

Oscar looks at me for a moment, then he shakes his head once. “Don’t worry about it.” It’s not rude or defensive but a very clear brush off. Doesn’t stop me wanting to know though.

“She seems really confident,” I hear myself tell him. “We hang out a bit. I bumped into her again earlier. She was shopping, making inappropriate jokes.”

That earns the faintest smile from him. “Yeah. Sounds about right.”

“She’s single, isn’t she?”

Fuck.

Why the hell did I just ask her brother that? What is wrong with me? The words are barely out and I want to cram them back into my fat gob. I know she’s single. She already fucking told me.