Betting On Love

by Danielle Dickson

  My eyes widen at his statement but I give his parents a small wave as I’m pulled onto the dancefloor. I look up at him but he won’t look at me as he wraps an arm around my waist and encases my small hand in his large one; starting to sway to the beat of the music.

  “I’m sorry about them, Billie. It’s not you, fuck, it’s definitely not you.” Our eyes meet and he looks conflicted. “Are you really Catholic?”

  My lip turns up at the corner. “Me? No, you don’t have to be to work at the academy. I guess your mum missed that memo.”

  He scoffs. “She misses a lot of things. On top of this ridiculous display she always puts on to keep up appearances with all the fake people that come, they’ve always been strict with their religion. Mom more than my dad really, but he just backed her up to make things easier on himself. I could put up with the dinners and the galas and being polite for the night, but I couldn’t put up with their punishments and them pushing their religion onto me and Casey. We had a stunted childhood because of them, we always had to act proper and go to mass, read our Bibles…” He trails off and his chest heaves so I give him an encouraging hand squeeze. “None of that was me, I wanted to go to college and get a degree in architecture, but they wanted me to join them and eventually take over the family company. They said they’d only pay for college if I got a degree in accounting. I was miserable and they just pushed me away further, so when it came time for me to graduate, my trust fund was released to me and I turned down my position in the company and went to work in construction, much to their dismay.”

  “The charity,” I mumble, finally understanding why he founded it.

  He nods slightly. “Some of the kids we deal with are exactly like I was, they’re forced to study something they aren’t happy with and saw no other alternative than to go along with what their parents wanted. If I knew there was a charity out there like this one when I was college age, I would’ve left every single penny behind just so that I could do what I wanted to do.”

  I’m so overcome with emotion that I just “mhmm” back at him.

  “But most come from bad backgrounds, they can’t afford college. Community college is an option, sure, but these kids…” He trails off as his eyes mist over. “These kids are fucking smart, I mean the likes of lawyers and doctors, but they didn’t get the scholarships they needed.” He looks down into my eyes. “Everyone deserves a chance to do what they have a passion for, it’s not their fault they were dealt a shitty hand.”

  I’m drowning in my gushy feelings toward him right now, I’m glad he’s holding onto me firmly, otherwise I’d be a puddle on the floor. “You really are amazing, I can’t believe you don’t shout about this from the rooftops.”

  He shakes his head. “That’s the opposite of what I want, I sometimes meet with the kids and sit in on meetings when I can, but all I want is to be a silent partner. My name is on everything, but the majority of the face to face is done by Patricia. Anyway, I’m talking about myself too much now.” He blows out a long breath as I rest my head on his chest. “I really am sorry about my parents.”

  I shrug. “I can deal with your mum, sounds like she’s going to be my new best friend anyway. You have nothing to worry about.”

  He shakes his head. “She’s a lot of hard work, and… I’m sorry, I’m turning this into a fucking awful date.”

  “Everyone has family shit going on. Tonight, yours just happens to come with a free bar, and yet we’re on the dancefloor completely sober,” I reply, trying to lighten the mood.

  He grins at me. “You have a point.”

  If it wouldn’t cause a huge scene and upset Billie and Case, I’d disown my parents right here, right now. How they spoke to Billie before she announced she was a teacher at Mom’s beloved Holy Cross was unacceptable.

  “Two beers and two whiskey chasers please,” Billie says to the barman and I smile.

  If she wasn’t here tonight, I wouldn’t have even gotten out of the car with the mood I was in. I wasn’t expecting Patricia to be here though, I don’t know why my mom invited her. Oh no wait, I do. It was to make me look bad for not doing so first.

  Billie turns around and passes me my beer and tumbler of whiskey and clinks both her glasses against mine once she picks them up. “Let’s have some real fun.”

  She gulps down her beer and shoots back the whiskey, screwing up her face. “Bleurgh, no matter how much whiskey costs, it always tastes like shite.”

  I’m in awe, she can drink like a man. She motions for me to do the same so I do while she orders another round. I didn’t want Billie to find out about the charity, I guess that stems from all the meaningless hookups. I’ve never divulged as much information to a woman before as I have tonight. Her looking at me through emotion-filled eyes as she told me she approved was all I needed to pull her in close. I didn’t know I needed that approval, but it turns out that I did.

  I see Case walking up to me and smile at her, feeling sad that I don’t see her nearly enough as I should.

  “Hey, Case. Good escape back there.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I’m trying to avoid them as much as I can tonight.”

  “How come Jude isn’t here with you?” I ask, raising my brows at her and she narrows her eyes at me. “I guess you still haven’t told them about him.”

  “I can’t, Mac, you know what they’re like,” she replies, shaking her head.

  “Why do you care what they think anymore? You’re a grown-ass woman, I told you this when you were at my apartment the other week.”

  “Next rou— Oh, hi, Casey. Here, you can have mine, I’ll order some more,” Billie says, holding out her beer and whiskey to Case who looks down at them and shakes her head, but gives Billie a thankful smile. “I can get you something else if you want? Champagne?”

  Case looks at Billie intently, looking like she wants to say something but doesn’t. I don’t miss her hand that briefly brushes the bottom of her stomach though.

  “Fuck me,” slips out and both heads swing toward me.

  My eyes are trained on Case’s hardly noticeable bump and when I lift them to her face, she shakes her head, a panicked expression forming over her features as she looks around us. “Not here.”

  She brushes past me, and Billie trips as I pull her toward the door Casey just exited through.

  “I’m not a dog, I can walk on my own,” she says gruffly, shoving my hand off her wrist.

  “Sorry, B.” I loosen my grip on her wrist and rub it gently, turning around to face my twin sister. Her face is blank at first but it breaks out into a gorgeous smile as she cups her growing belly.

  I don’t waste a minute before I have her in my arms. “Fuck, Case, I’m so happy for you and Jude! How far along are you?”

  She pats me on the shoulder. “Alright, you can put me down now.”

  Billie steps forward and gives her a small hug. “Congratulations, your parents must be really happy.” Case and I go silent and Billie shakes her head. “I’ve just put my foot in it again, haven’t I?”

  Case squeezes her hand. “It’s okay, we just don’t have a typical ‘sharing is caring’ relationship with our parents.” She looks at me, her eyes shining with unshed happy tears. “I’m nearly eighteen weeks now, I’m gonna be a mom.”

  I scoop her into my arms again and she hugs me back tightly. “You’re gonna be the best damn mom there ever was, and they’re going to have the coolest uncle. I promise I’m going to be there more from now on.”

  Billie chuckles. “God forbid if you have any influence over them.”

  Case giggles and flicks her eyes toward the door we came out of. “I hope so, but please don’t tell Mom and Dad.”

  I sigh not wanting to put a dampener on things. “They’re gonna start noticing soon enough, Case. The longer you leave it, the harder it’ll be.”

  “Jude said the same thing.” She looks at Billie. “Jude’s my husband, we eloped two years ago and my parents still don’t know about him either.” Billie s
tands there with her mouth wide open and Case giggles. “I know, right? It’s like a Jerry Springer show up in here.”

  The door behind us opens and my uncle waves us back in. “There you are, your father has been looking everywhere for the both of you. It’s time to sit down for the meal.”

  I roll my eyes; I hate being treated like a kid. Billie squeezes my hand and winks at me. “Let’s get this show on the road, I’m Hank Marvin.”

  Case raises a brow at me and I laugh, shaking my head. “She means she’s starving.”

  Case nods but grabs my hand. “Please let me tell them in my own time.”

  I nod and kiss her on her forehead. “I will, but it needs to be soon, and I’ll be there if you need me to be. I want you in my life more than ever now that you’re carrying around my little nieces or nephews.”

  Her eyes sparkle. “I’d really love that.”

  We’re seated with my mom and dad and I groan knowing they’ve done this for Billie’s sake.

  “Here, Billie, I saved you a seat next to me,” Mom coos.

  I pull out her chair for her and push it in as she sits down, Mom narrowing her eyes at me because I didn’t do it for her like I normally do. I refrain from rolling my eyes and sit down on the opposite side of Billie, taking off my suit jacket so I’m in just my shirt and vest.

  “So, how long have you worked at Holy Cross?” Mom asks, taking a sip of her champagne.

  “You’re a teacher?” Case interjects.

  Billie nods her head with a smile, the pride in her job showing on her face. “I am, I’ve only been there for four weeks, but it’s a great job. Mac is actually working on our renovations at the moment, did you know that?”

  Mom narrows her eyes at me but talks to Billie. “I didn’t know that, such a waste of talent.”

  “And there it is,” I grind out. “I have a very good job for one of the best contractors in the city, but that’s still not good enough, is it?”

  “All I’m saying is that you could be earning three times, possibly four, of what you are now if you only took your father up on his offer,” she quips like she knows all.

  “And all I’m saying is that I’m very happy where I am. Money isn’t everything.” I mumble the last bit to myself but I know Billie heard me from her encouraging smile. “I’m actually thinking about going back to college and getting the architecture degree I always wanted.”

  Mom’s face starts to turn red as she fights to keep her composure in front of everyone, and I notice Billie beaming up at me.

  “Mac, I had no idea, that’s amazing. Have you seen his apartment that he designed?” she asks my mom and dad.

  They both shake their heads and Case speaks up. “I have, he really has an aptitude for design. I helped—” She stops talking when my mom shoots her a glare.

  “I haven’t been invited so I wouldn’t know,” Mom sneers.

  “You don’t need an invite to your own son’s home, so don’t pretend like that’s the only reason you’ve stayed away,” I retort.

  “If you were a little more agreeable then we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” she whisper-shouts over Billie.

  “Agreeable? You’re—”

  “Anyway, I hear happy birthday is in order, Mr. Jennings,” Billie says, interrupting me and changing the subject.

  He smiles gratefully at her but I can tell he’s tense. “Thank you.”

  Billie tips her glass at him but as she raises her arm, the soup the waiter is carrying behind her topples over and lands in my mom’s lap.

  “Ooh, Robert, do something,” Mom huffs and Billie jumps up and starts piling napkins in her lap.

  “It’s a good job it was gazpacho,” she squeals out, mortified.

  “Good job? Look at the mess you’ve made!”

  Case has a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle a laugh, and I’m struggling to keep my laughter in myself as I pull Billie away to let Mom and the waiters deal with the aftermath.

  “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Jennings. I don’t know what’s wrong with me tonight, I normally have really good coordination,” Billie stammers.

  I squeeze Billie’s shoulder. “It’s alright, B, it was an accident.”

  “It is not alright, look at my dress,” Mom hisses.

  “She said she was sorry, Mom,” Case chimes in, surprising me.

  Mom glares at her. “And I suppose sorry will fix my dress, will it?”

  Case huffs and sits back in her seat.

  “I’ll be more than happy to pay for the dry cleaning bill,” Billie says.

  “Dry cleaning bill?” Mom shouts, scrunching up her face. “This dress may as well be used as a mop now.”

  Everyone in the room has gone silent and is looking over at the spectacle she’s making. I know it’s not ideal to have a bowl of cold soup dropped in your lap, but it was an accident and she’s making a bigger scene than is needed.

  “Come on, Mom, I’ll take you to the bathroom,” Case says, trying to defuse the situation, offering her her hand. Mom takes it and Case signals that she’ll call me later knowing I won’t be staying after this.

  Billie turns to me, a pained, embarrassed expression on her face. I’m done.

  “Come on, B, let’s get out of here.”

  “Son, we haven’t eaten yet,” Dad says, standing up.

  I face him and square my shoulders. “I turned up, but I won’t sit here while Mom makes Billie feel uncomfortable for something that was a complete accident.”

  I’m expecting him to argue but he looks between us both and nods at me, sighing and sitting down; effectively dismissing me.

  “Happy Birthday, Dad,” I mumble, squeezing him on the shoulder. It’s my mom’s fault we don’t have the relationship we should have, but I guess I can’t put all of the blame on her, he could tell her no every once in awhile.

  I call our driver to bring the car around and pull Billie into the waiting elevator. She looks down at the floor and sighs. I laugh and her head snaps up and breaks out into a grin before she bursts into laughter with me.

  “Did you see the look on my mom’s face as the soup leaked down her legs?”

  Billie snorts. “That was nothing, when your sister and I went to the toilets to wash off the alcohol I spat all over her, I made a grand gesture and clocked two women who were behind me.”

  I raise a brow at her. “Clocked?”

  “Right, it means hit, I practically sucker punched them,” she explains.

  I’m laughing so hard tears are rolling down my face. “You didn’t!”

  “I did! I don’t know what’s wrong with me tonight, you should’ve came alone,” she replies, covering her face. “I actually want to shrivel up from all of the embarrassment.”

  “Shit happens,” I say, putting my arm around her waist and guiding her toward the doors. “Remember to smile, Princess.”

  Staring up at my ceiling, I replay the night’s events in my head while cringing. I’ve never been so clumsy before, but it just had to happen tonight in front of Mac and his entire family. Mac assured me that it’s fine, but I’m still not convinced. His mum was not a happy bunny.

  When we arrived home tonight he wanted to come in, but after all the embarrassment I wanted to be alone to have a pity party for one, but I’m starting to think that was a big mistake, now I can’t sleep and I can’t stop thinking about the man that lives a few doors down from me that has gone from egotistical player to dare I say it… boyfriend material in just a matter of weeks. Learning about his charity work was an eye opener, I can’t believe I didn’t know that already, and the fact he didn’t want to tell me to impress me speaks volumes.

  How could I have been so wrong about him? I mean, yeah, he is... or was a player, but having a small glimpse into his family dynamic tonight, I’m not surprised he doesn’t want to invite someone else into his life that will possibly try to tell him what to do. I kinda get it, it’s like me not wanting another guy in my life— before I met Mac— because I don’t want to end
up getting hurt again.

  My stomach growls at me and reminds me it hasn’t been fed so I pick up my mobile and head to the kitchen; rooting through the junk drawer, I find a takeaway menu for a Thai restaurant not far from here.

  I punch in the number and just as I’m about to press call, a text pings up on my screen.

  Mac: Hank Marvin.

  I giggle and jump up to sit on my kitchen bench, snorting at his use of my British slang.

  Billie: Me too, was just about to order Thai.

  Mac: Be there in five.

  Billie: I said I was ordering Thai, that wasn’t an invitation.

  Mac: Ok.

  I laugh and wait for him to write something else, but he doesn’t. I tap my thumbs against the screen as I stare at his two letter reply: Ok. Is he not coming over? Maybe he didn’t get my sarcasm over text?

  I start to type out a reply but delete it as the three dots indicating he’s typing pop up on the screen. It seems like he’s typing forever, but when the dots disappear and no message comes through, I huff out a frustrated breath. I hate when that happens.

  What were you typing, stupid man!

  The dots appear again and I jump down off my kitchen bench and move to my sofa, settling myself against the cushions. I watch as the dots ripple, taunting me, I want to know what he’s writing that keeps causing him to stop and start.

  Mac: Is the food there yet?

  The food? That’s what he was typing?

  Billie: I haven’t ordered anything.

  Mac: Well that sucks.

  Billie: What were you writing bef I delete that and start typing again. Turns out I’m not that hungry after all.

  Mac: That’s a shame, I was looking forward to coming over ;)

  Why is he acting so wishy-washy?

  Billie: Mac, what are we doing?

  Mac: Texting?

  Billie: You know that’s not what I meant.

  …

  There’s those three dots again, I wonder how long they’ll be on for this time? My eyes start to feel heavy and I try my best to keep them open, but I must’ve fallen asleep waiting for his reply because the next thing I see after those three dots is a light-filled room and my mobile stuck to my cheek.