the match tomorrow.
Tilly: Pass, next question.
Santino: I’m being serious, Tilly. I’m not sure I’ll be able to be around you and him at the same time.
Tilly: Why? Are you scared you won’t be able to control yourself?
Santino: I’m scared you won’t be able to control yourself. You made me meet you for lunch this week three times just so you could suck my face off in a dirty alley.
Tilly: Balls. We were always next to some beautiful street art because that app you found is amazing. And need I remind you that you were the one who turned it into a dirty groping session.
Santino: You were the one who stuffed your knickers in my suit pocket!
Tilly: That was supposed to be funny.
Santino: Oh sure. It was a real laugh getting a hard-on at work just thinking about them sitting there.
Tilly: See, you have no control.
Santino: I could make you lose control easily.
Tilly: You overestimate your charm, Rossi. I can resist you in the direst of circumstances.
Santino: Is that a fact?
Tilly: Yes, which is why we are not telling my brother yet because I can control myself.
Santino: This sounds like a challenge.
Tilly: Please don’t try to give me your boxers. I’m afraid it doesn’t have the same effect in reverse.
Santino: God, you really do have a cheeky mouth. I’m going to really enjoy fucking it after the match on Saturday.
Tilly: Don’t go threatening me with a good time!
Santino: God, I cannot win with you.
Tilly: Best to just give up now.
Santino: Just you wait until Saturday. I’ll figure something out to pay you back for that cheeky mouth.
Tower Park on game day is even more incredible than a private tour at night, which I never thought possible. The energy of the fans all decked out in green and white as they pour into the stadium and have food and drinks before they take their seats is electric. When I grew up, football was a religion at our house. My father and granddad would discuss Mac’s career like Mac had no say in the matter while Mum and I worked to just be his cheerleaders and support system. A professional athlete’s life isn’t easy, and Mac has always been such a pleaser that oftentimes, he’d lose sight of what he wanted in his life just because he was so focused on making others proud of him.
That’s why living with him this past month and a half and witnessing first-hand what he’s like as a husband and soon-to-be father has been such a pleasure. He’s definitely coming into his own and asserting himself more. Freya and I are currently riding on the back of a utility golf cart for our trip through Tower Park because even though Freya’s doctor cleared her for some light activity and walking, Mac still didn’t think she should walk all the way up to the family suite.
My brother really is an adorable, stubborn ox.
If they have a daughter in the future, that poor girl will have no chance of a normal life.
The cart just barely fits on the lift to take us up to the upper level, and as we draw closer to the VIP suite, the noise of people inside is noticeable.
“Thanks for the ride, Sedgwick,” Mac says, hopping off the cart and coming to the back to help Freya.
I slip out the other side and offer Sedgwick a nervous smile. “Thank you.”
He winks knowingly and taps his nose, not saying a word about the fact that I was here with Santino just a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if Santino said something to him? Surely, he must have. Lord knows Mac would not have been happy to hear his sister was escorted around an empty football stadium at night by a man he loathes.
I hate the fact that Mac has hard feelings towards Santino. I’ve told him before that he had nothing to do with what happened to me five years ago. I know Mac believes me, but he also knows there’s more to the story, so until I’m ready to tell Mac everything, I just don’t see how I can change his mind.
And the truth is, I don’t want to tell him. I’m horrified to think of the situation I put myself in. Telling Mac and my parents that I didn’t even remember the name of the bloke that night is a disgrace that I cannot stomach. Ever. So, once I’d lost the pregnancy and changed my life around, I decided leaving the past in