07:30, Dan [mobile]
You up bro?
07:37, Andy [mobile]
Yep. Sup?
07:41, Dan [mobile]
Just letting you know training is still on. See you later.
“He’s gotta be kidding.” Andy put his phone back on the bedside table and stared up at the ceiling. His disbelief had nothing to do with Dan not cancelling football training. It was the fact he’d felt it necessary to send a text to confirm it, never mind asking if he was awake at half seven on a Sunday morning. What parent with a baby, or two, got to sleep in on a Sunday? OK, so technically he wasn’t ‘up’ if he was lying on the bed and only wearing his boxers, but he’d been awake for nearly three hours.
He’d fed the twins at five, after which he’d been for a run and taken a shower. He was only here now because he’d come tearing into the room when he’d heard his phone vibrating, slipped on the rug and made a dive for the mattress. Shaunna hadn’t stirred at all, which was something, but he’d have preferred not to chance it, especially when it was only his brother texting to state the bleeding obvious.
Of course Dan wouldn’t cancel a training session when victory was in their sights. Seven games played, six wins and one defeat, leaving them in second place in the league…three points behind the Anchors. Their next match, on Tuesday evening, was against Comco—the local glass company—who were a decent side, but if they could beat them, the win would put them level on points with the Anchors ahead of next Sunday’s grudge match. Ignoring for one moment that Dan could visit Adele and the baby any time of the day, and also that wild horses couldn’t have dragged Andy away from the hospital when the twins were born, not forgetting Dan and Adele had been trying for this baby for two years, there was no reason to cancel their training session. At all.
“He’s off his trolley,” Andy muttered to himself.
Shaunna rolled over, lifted her head and glared at him from under her mess of hair, grunted, and flopped back onto the pillow.
“Hey, RHB,” Andy whispered, brushing her hair out of her face.
“What time is it?”
Andy checked. “Ten to eight.”
“Too early.” She puffed her pillows and put them over her head. It made Andy smile. If there was one thing he’d learnt from the passionate week that had marked the start of their affair, aside from her being insatiable—not a complaint—it was that Shaunna was not a morning person. If she got her lie-in, like she would this morning, no problem. But if she was woken before she was ready to face the day, she’d huff and snarl at anyone brave or stupid enough to attempt interaction. He usually just pushed a cup of tea in her direction and kept his head down, but there were those, like Adele, who, in spite of knowing her for all of living memory, persisted in their efforts to engage first-thing-in-the-morning Shaunna. If they were lucky, they lived to walk away with their tail between their legs.
Which one is Adele? Brave, or stupid? He’d honestly never thought of her as stupid, though he knew she often thought it of herself, with her ‘ignore me, I’m a ditzy blonde’ excuse always on standby. She was ditzy, and she was blonde, but she also had Dan wrapped around her finger, and from what Andy had heard, before she went on maternity leave, Adele had, essentially, been managing the fitness suite where she worked as a beautician. Actually, that was a bit insulting. She’d been employed to run the beauty salon, and she was a highly qualified beautician, or beauty therapist, he wasn’t sure which, or if they were one and the same thing. He had the same trouble with Sean and Josh. Sean was a clinical psychologist, Josh was a psychotherapist, but they’d gone to uni together, graduated with the same degree, and both talked for a living.
Maybe he’d ask Sean at footy later, not that it mattered. They were simply rambling thoughts for a Sunday morning when Andy had nothing better to think about, because his red hot baby was snoring under her pillow, and his daughters were fast asleep in the room next door.
I could get some work done.
With that thought in mind, he shuffled carefully to the side of the bed, put one foot on the floor—
“You getting up?”
“Err…yeah.”
“OK.”
Wrong answer, possibly. “I’ll make you a cup of tea.”
“Hmph.”
“Or I can stay here?”
“Whatever.”
With one foot still on the floor, which was putting tremendous strain on his obliques, Andy tried to figure out which was for the best. He could go downstairs, make her a cup of tea, and if she wanted him to stay when he returned, all well and good. If not, he’d go back downstairs and work. He got up and moved towards the door.
“Get back here.”
Andy sighed in fake exasperation and did as he was told, sliding his boxers down along the way and kicking them across the floor. Sunday morning sex. They could’ve taken their time, a slow, gentle buildup, lots of kissing and teasing, but it was never like that. Andy pulled back the covers and waited for Shaunna to roll onto her back. She didn’t, so he knelt on the edge of the mattress and leaned down, brushing her hair back to access her neck and kissing his way up from her shoulder. With his knees under her hip, he eased forward until she flipped over. She grinned at him and licked her lips, eyeing him like she was preparing to devour him. He quickly moved in, tugging her nightshirt up and over her head and settling between her thighs, sliding upward and thrusting lightly until his body joined with hers. She gasped and arched her back, her left forearm pressed to her mouth, a flesh mute, because—
“Ohhhh. Mm…”
—she was not a quiet lover, the perpetual salve on Andy’s ego, the fuel that fired him to do as she asked and ‘take’ her. Her body…it had featured in his every fantasy since his school days, when in his mind, one by one, he’d slip each button out of its hole and peel back her white school blouse, baring pale round breasts, soft belly, smooth warm skin. As he’d grown older, the fantasy had matured with him, and he’d pushed her skirts up, or jeans down, buried his nose in dark fiery curls, teased and caressed and ultimately made love to her.
Funny how in all those years of imagining, the F-word had never entered his head. He loved, ravished, worshipped with his body, but he’d never fucked her, he didn’t think. Even the two occasions they’d lost to alcohol, he wanted to believe he’d made love to her, like now, as he gave her what she asked for, the harder, faster, no holding back until—
“Ugh. God, yes.”
She ground against him, her words and her actions combining to trip the switch. He was catching that wave and there was no stopping him. His body and mind were lost to the motion, no longer fighting to keep control but giving in to the sensation, consumed by it, and then, finally, he was coming down the other side, struggling towards the shore, his limbs useless, not a breath left in his lungs. Washed up and broken, he collapsed on top of her.
“Morning, baby.” He smudged a kiss on her cheek.
“Morning, sexy.” She sighed, a deep, deep sigh of purest satisfaction. With his one open eye, he caught her smile. “Shall I make us some breakfast?” she asked.
“I’ll do it.”
“Or…I can?”
“You work all week.”
“Andy. Please let me make breakfast.”
“OK. If you really want to. Don’t you like my breakfast? I was thinking poached eggs, crispy bacon—”
“I love your breakfast,” she interrupted, “but let me make it for once.” She pushed up with her pelvis to get him to move, and he rolled onto his side of the bed. “I’m going to have to start doing more anyway. You’ll be back at work soon. We should get into a routine.” She got up and grabbed her dressing gown. “I need to express. What time were they up?”
“Five.”
“OK. I’ll just do enough to ease the pressure, then, and feed them at the pub.” She collected the breast pump and returned to the bed. “Training is still on, isn’t it?”
“Yep,” he answered, distracted by her efficiency. Pump plugged in, bottle attached, breast connected, all systems go.
“Cool,” she said and rested back on her pillows, closing one eye in a wince as the pump started up. “Mike’s coming. Did he tell you?”
“No, he didn’t mention it. To play, you mean?”
“Yeah, and a good thing it is, too. I told you, didn’t I? About the day the she-devil kicked off at The Blue Anchor?”
“Yeah, I think so.” He didn’t have a clue, and she knew it, so she told him anyway.
“He was saying how much he missed playing, and he was planning to talk to Dan about it but didn’t, so I mentioned it on Mike’s behalf, although that was ages ago. I can’t believe it took him this long, but better late than never, I suppose. He doesn’t seem interested in anything at the moment. I think your brother gets a bit of depression.”
“Dan?”
“Ha, no. You’ve got to be capable of feelings to get depressed.”
Andy turned and looked at her, to see if she was serious. She gave him a grin and swapped the pump to her other breast. Andy watched in silence, his thought processes still stuck on the start of their conversation. He’d thought they had a great routine. Now he wasn’t so sure.
“Going for a shower,” Shaunna said and got up from the bed. He hadn’t even heard the pump switch off, and it wasn’t a quiet machine. “Then I’ll make breakfast,” she added, which was a threat. She left the room.
Andy stayed where he was. The cool draught from the open window wafted over his body, giving him goosebumps, but he was hardly aware of it. You’ll be back at work soon. He supposed that was true, although, between the admin they’d brought in and Alice, they’d got it covered. Maybe Dan had mentioned something to Shaunna, or even to him, and he hadn’t been listening. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been oblivious to what was going on around him, but until this morning, he’d assumed everyone was as happy with the arrangements as he was. He was a full-time dad, and he was getting in a few hours of work here and there. He was pulling his weight, or so he’d thought.
Jeffries and Associates was the perfect setup for them. It was small-scale, bespoke logistics, connecting customers with suppliers, which usually meant spending some time working with the customer to pin down their requirements. If the jobs that came in needed both of their input, he and Dan would work together. Otherwise, it was a case of first dibs for the fun jobs, or taking on those that suited them best.
Kitting out Black Hole Studios, for instance, needed both construction and technical expertise, so they’d worked on it together. Checking quantities where they were only responsible for sourcing and delivering construction materials usually fell to Andy. Pinning down the right gadgets and gizmos for a job with a high tech spec was within Dan’s jurisdiction. The work was varied and steady, and the boring paperwork side of it had always been outsourced.
Shaunna returned from the bathroom with her hair wrapped up in a fluffy cream towel, which she unwound, releasing the flowery scent of her shampoo and her glorious red curls, darker for being wet. She stood at the end of the bed, rubbing her hair with the towel and studying Andy. “Are you getting up?”
“Nah.” He gave her a cheeky grin. She shook her head vigorously, spraying him with droplets of cold water. He shivered for effect and sat up. “I was thinking,” he said.
“What about?”
“I’m happy with the way things are.”
“What d’you mean?”
“With work, and being at home with the girls. Obviously, I’ll need to cover Dan over the next couple of months, but after that, I’d like to carry on as we are now.”
Shaunna picked up her hairbrush and pulled it through her hair. It became tangled, and she swore under her breath. Andy got up and took over the untangling, still stark naked, but Shaunna wasn’t paying any attention. She was staring up at him while he kept his eyes on her hair.
“You’re not bored yet?” she asked.
“Nope.”
“OK.”
“You thought I would be?”
“I hoped not, but with your track record…”
“Fair comment.” Andy shifted his eyes to meet hers. “Are you happy?”
“Yep, totally. I want to do another course after Christmas, though.”
“Another psychology course?”
“Maybe. Is that frivolous?”
“Not in my vocabulary, that. What’s it mean?” Shaunna shoved him in the midriff. “No, it’s not frivolous,” he said.
“But isn’t it a waste of money?”
“Not if it’s something you want to do.”
“I don’t want to give up hairdressing.”
Andy frowned. The brush came free, and he handed it to Shaunna. “What’s doing a psychology course got to do with giving up hairdressing?”
“Well, it’s…I don’t know. Nothing, I suppose, but Hayley gave me a pay rise the last time, just in case I was thinking of deserting her, and even you thought it. When we were looking at this place—”
“Yeah, and you put me right. You’ve got a job you love. Why would you even consider giving it up? It’d be like me giving up the business to teach surfing. Mind you…” Andy peered upwards, pretending he was thinking about it. Shaunna nudged him, and they both laughed. She stood on tiptoes to kiss him, taking the opportunity to run her brush through his unruly hair, which on this occasion he’d already brushed, but he liked it, so he let her carry on.
“Thanks,” she said.
“For?”
“Understanding?”
“Err, no worries, I guess.” He wasn’t entirely sure why she was thanking him.
“So we’re fine as we are,” Shaunna said.
“Yep. We’re good.”
***
“Right, let’s get started,” Dan called—loudly enough for Andy to hear from The Red Lion’s car park, which was on the other side of the road to the playing fields. He and Shaunna were in the process of transforming the twins’ car seats into pushchairs, and he stopped and glared at his brother.
“You go. I’ll deal with this,” Shaunna offered.
“No, he can damn well wait.” Andy shook his head in irritation. Dan had thrown the ball onto the pitch, where the other players were now kicking it around, but his brother’s attention was on him, not them. It was typical Dan behaviour; he was obviously pissed off with someone, which may or may not be Andy. Either way, he was going to get it in the neck, but that wasn’t the reason he was taking his time.
“You really shouldn’t wind him up,” Shaunna said as they waited for a car to pass before they crossed the road. “Not today.”
“I know, but it’s fun. So what d’you reckon? Adele’s given him his orders?” Andy affected a high-pitched voice. “You’d best be here by one o’clock, or I…I’ll tell everyone about your tiny—”
“No way would she say that!” Shaunna looked scandalised.
“The truth hurts.”
“It’s so not true.”
“Oh, yeah? How d’you know?”
Shaunna blushed. “Women talk about these things.”
“You do, huh?” Andy nodded smugly. Shaunna laughed and said no more, although he was a bit curious to know if they talked about him as well. If they did, there’d better not be any of that tiny—
“About bloody time you got here.” Dan stopped in front of him and looked him up and down. “Kit?”
Andy reached under Rosie’s pushchair for his boots and smirked as he dangled them in front of his brother’s face.
“Get ’em on, then.” Dan moved off backwards, turned and jogged across the pitch. “Right, George. Can I have a word?”
Andy dropped his boots to the ground, keeping hold of the pushchair while he kicked off one of his trainers and shoved his foot into the corresponding boot. It had rained overnight, not too much, thankfully, but it would still mean playing in wet socks if he lost his balance.
Shaunna peered under the pushchairs’ hoods. The twins had woken for their feed when they were about to leave the house, which was why Andy was late, although only by five minutes. Now they were sound asleep again.
With both boots fastened, Andy did a few quick stretches to warm up, even though he’d had plenty of exercise already this morning. “Are you gonna stay out here?” he asked Shaunna.
“For now, yeah. We’ll go and join the Sandison-Morleys.” She pointed to Libby and Josh, standing near the goal so they got to see as much of George as was possible without invading the pitch. No sign of Pez, though, which was strange. Match or training session, he was always there, although perhaps it was as well he wasn’t today. “Where’s your Mike?” she asked.
Andy automatically looked on the pitch.
“He’s not here,” Shaunna said.
“Didn’t you say he’s supposed to be playing?”
“Yeah, but maybe something came up,” Shaunna suggested. Andy raised an eyebrow. “I’ll give him a call.”
“OK. See you in a bit.” He kissed her and jogged off to join his teammates.
***
“Oh! I was just about to call you.” Shaunna put her phone away and gave Mike a brief hug around Bethan, snug and content in the baby sling strapped to his chest.
Mike peered down at his daughter. “Someone let Daddy sleep in this morning.”
“Did she? That’s…good?”
Mike smiled. “It’s amazing. I actually feel human today. I’m going to see Robbie later. Visiting’s two till three, yeah?”
“Yep. We’re going this evening. Andy hasn’t met him yet, either.” Adele was still being stitched up during afternoon visiting the previous day, and everyone had left the evening slot clear for Barbara and Len. Apparently, it had got a bit heated when Len asked if Adele’s mum had met her new grandson, but he wasn’t to know that Adele’s mum was a bitch and Adele had told her never to contact them again. Or rather, Len more than likely would’ve been present when Adele’s mum had come up in conversation, but he didn’t pay attention unless someone was talking directly to him.
“What’s up with Dan?” Mike asked, his eyes following his youngest brother’s path down the pitch to where Sean was leaning on the goalpost, arms folded, and looking bored. Dan looked like he was on the warpath.
“Just this game against the Anchors, I think,” Shaunna said. “You know what he’s like.”
“All too well,” Mike agreed. “Wish I’d brought my boots now.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I’m a bit stiff from working yesterday. Plus, I’ve hardly seen this little lady all week.” He affectionately smoothed Bethan’s hair: the dark demi waves shared by all of the Jeffries clan other than Rosie. Bethan looked up and gave him a toothy grin.
“She’s so beautiful,” Shaunna said, taking Bethan’s little hand between her finger and thumb. “Daddy’s gorgeous girl, aren’t you?” Bethan babbled in response, and Shaunna gasped. “Really? That’s very interesting!”
Mike laughed. “I wonder what she’s saying?”
“Oh, all kinds of wonderful things.” Shaunna shifted her gaze up to Mike. “Andy’s got another pair of boots in the car. Do you want me to go and get them?”
Mike wrinkled his nose. “I dunno. Maybe, in a minute. I want to ask you a favour, actually.”
“Right?”
“The salon’s shut on Wednesdays, isn’t it?”
“No. Thursdays.”
“Ah.”
“Why?”
“Never mind, then.” Mike turned to watch the football.
“What were you going to ask?”
“It’s fine. I’ve got this mediation meeting at the court, but I can go on my own.”
“With Rachel’s mum?”
“Yeah. Did Andy tell you what’s happening?”
“Yes, he did.”
“My barrister reckons Rachel’s mum’ll change her mind, which is why we’re having this meeting. I’m not sure how they work.”
“I’ll give Hayley a call, see if I can swap my day off.”
“Thanks, but I don’t want to put you out.”
“You’re not, Mike. I’ll give her a call now, while I get those boots from the car. How about that?” Shaunna gave him a hopeful smile, and he nodded.
“Cheers, Shaw.” She narrowed her eyes at him, and he grimaced out a grin. “Shaunna.”
She laughed and patted his arm. “Be right back.”
* * * * *