✅ My Sister's Problem

59. Unforgivable

This chapter is dedicated to Santoro, with all my thanks. And we're finally getting to the scene that was the "main" event and climax of the original plan for this story. It isn't the end now; but I think it works so much better when there's been a whole story leading up to this point.

"Hey," Hugo said with a smile. I had expected to run down to the street, then back up the drive next door and jump in the car ready to go. But I saw him there, slightly out of breath, and I told myself that a couple of minutes couldn't hurt.

"What's up?" I asked. "Shooting drill? I'd offer to join, but we're about to head off."

"I don't think so," there was a slight laugh in his voice as he waved me over to a spot beside the hedge. Any farther down the driveway, the foliage broke up into bushes and I would have seen Mum and Lindy struggling to pack the car; but here there was only a little break between the greenery so we could see them without making it obvious we were watching. "Looks like they're having trouble. But they're in each other's way, they don't need any more hands. Or an observer laughing."

"Oh, right," I glanced at the ball in his hands again, and the basketball hoop. The edge of the street was normally his three-point line, but he couldn't get halfway there without being visible to my struggling family. "Give them a little privacy. So what are you up to?"

"Try this," he said, placing the ball in my hands and putting his own hands on my wrists. My heart raced again; it had been a while since he stood this close. But we weren't even on the court, were we? We stood at the corner of the house, so the hoop was about ten feet away, and I could see the back of the backboard. This time he turned my head as well, and traced two gentle lines down my forearms to show me the angle and speed he thought I needed. Was it even possible to get it in from this angle?

Yes. I missed, and the ball tumbled onto the driveway, but it was a pretty close thing. I dashed over to recover the ball, and then Hugo took the same shot. He just about got it in, but even he couldn't make it look as effortless as his usual play.

"Trick shots," he said. "You never need to shoot like this in a game, where the backboard is in the way. But taking the hard ones really pushes you to get better at judging where it will go. Want another try?"

I stepped over to the gap in the hedge again, where I could see a little sliver of my family's activity without being too obvious. Without the rustling of leaves between us I could catch some of their conversation as well.

"–talking to Hugo in the back yard, you'll probably have to call her a whole bunch of times–"

I probably had five minutes, at least. I picked up the ball and took a shot, but this time I was miles off. It just barely clipped the outside edge of the hoop. Hugo didn't take his turn; instead he put the ball back in my hands and helped me to line it up.

He was so close, I could smell the soap he used, and just a faint trace of sweat. Well, he'd been working out already this morning. But he was so close, and it was hard to keep my mind on the task at hand. I realised that when Nadine had tried to learn basketball, she'd had this treatment for every session, feigning incompetence so she didn't have to try by herself. For a moment I envied her.

"You okay?" Hugo's voice asked, an inch from my ear. How could he possibly be so close without it being an intimate moment.

"Uhh... yeah, sorry. Just distracted myself. I mean, it's hard... Uhh... Sorry."

"You look a bit flushed. Are you coming down with something? Maybe... Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't realise, I was just thinking about the pose. I didn't mean to be that close, that isn't... isn't anything. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." He backed away sharply from where my shoulders had just been touching his chest. I couldn't be sure what he was talking about, but I wondered if this time he'd managed to get himself a little flustered, just like I was feeling.