Anna laughed, her green eyes sparkling and her freckles creasing in her smile.
‘Thomas, over here now!’ shouted coach Belmore who was dressed in their team tracksuit of red, black and white. He thought he was a modern day Zorro with his pointed triangle of facial hair on his chin.
Jaz swore under her breath. She collected up her mask and picked up her weapon before heading towards the coach and the rest of the team, as Anna pulled out a book from her bag and began to read while she waited.
Taylor was just putting his mask down near his feet as she stood next to him. ‘Hey, what’s coach want now?’ she whispered to him.
He ran his hand through his hair and adjusted it. ‘Pep talk, I reckon.’
Jaz loved the way he leaned in close when he answered. He smelt divine, like an expensive men’s aftershave.
‘Okay, Team Amaris! This year it’s our turn to win,’ shouted Belmore, even though the six of them were huddled closely around him. Jaz was sure she felt spit spray. Gross.
‘We have these two who are going to do us proud.’ He waved to Jaz and Taylor. ‘But they can’t do it alone so don’t forget training on Thursday, that’s you Sutton!’ he said pointing to the largest guy in the group who almost snapped his head to attention. ‘Macintosh, don’t forget your plastron and Benson please, for the love of God, remember your sabre. It’s no good fighting with your hand, son. Right, off you go. Get some rest.’ Coach Belmore clapped them off as the boys headed to the change rooms while Jaz went to the away team change rooms.
She packed up her gear and got dressed in her cargo pants and black hoodie, and put her Doc Martens back on. As she headed back to Anna, Jaz was busy putting in her earphones for her music player when an arm closed over her shoulder. She didn’t need to look to know it was Taylor. Why couldn’t he kiss her as easily as he put his arm around her? But no, he always kept things chummy between them as if she was his best male friend. Seriously, she had a good set of breasts; she just wondered when he was going to notice them!
‘What ya listening to?’ his breath caressing her cheek as he spoke.
‘Hayley Williams.’ And when she got a blank stare, ‘You know, from Paramore.’
‘Oh, yep. What else? Still listening to Pink too?’
She smiled and nodded. For a guy that knew Jaz so well, he was completely blind to other things.
‘So you off to the gym?’
‘Yep, with Anna. Pax is off on one of his adventures. What about you? To the firing range?’
He laughed, so sweetly it sent tingles down her back.
‘Yep, they got a new Schmidt & Bender scope I wanna try out. You should come with me next time and I can show you.’
‘Sure, sounds great. It’s been a while since I’ve been.’ She’d no sooner finished before Taylor gave her a nod.
‘Can I give you ladies a lift?’ he asked as Anna joined them.
‘Oh yes please. Come on, let’s go!’
Anna looped her arm through Taylor’s and they left the school gym. Outside it was almost deserted except for the after-school sports kids leaving. Jaz noticed a guy with a full on beard leaning against a black car. He wasn’t the normal type of person around here. Clean-shaven and expensive suits were more the norm. The other thing that struck Jaz was how his eyes were trained on just those three, more to the point, Anna and Taylor who walked in front of her to his car.
Jaz caught up to her friends but kept her eye on the guy in the denim jacket. After Taylor helped Anna into the front of his blue Mustang Jaz got his attention. ‘Hey, Tay. Do you know that bloke?’
She didn’t point but gestured with her eyes to across the road.
‘Nup, why?’
‘Don’t know.’ She shrugged. ‘He was watching you like he knew you.’
‘He probably just likes my car. It’s not just a chick magnet,’ he said with a laugh.
Jaz climbed into the back while Taylor got in the driver’s side. As he drove off, she couldn’t help but glance back. The guy was still there watching them leave. Maybe he did just love a good classic car?
On the ride to The Ring Anna and Taylor chatted about guns. But Jaz couldn’t wait to get to the gym. She loved it, to her it felt like home and she didn’t care that it was in a roughish neighbourhood. They lived in richville in between the Swan River and the Indian Ocean but The Ring was in a whole different area, no designer gardens or two- or three-storey houses. Just the scraps left when development took over the area. The wealthy wanted to clean it up, to push all those people out and redevelop the area. But Jaz liked it. It felt real.
‘Still rubbing St Michael’s back?’ Anna was looking back, watching Jaz playing with the pendant around her neck. A 14 carat gold disc with St Michael on it. It’s all she had of her biological father. Her finger ran over the engraving on the back. Salvatore D.L.