Conviction(83)

Everybody else seems stunned into silence. I like Ethan, he’s a nice kid. We went to watch him in a football tournament the Saturday before and because everyone is so used to seeing Conner at his games, nobody bothered him and he just got to enjoy the matches.

“Come here,” I tell him. He walks over and sits on the coffee table in front of me.

“Conner and I, we’ve known each other most of our lives. We went to primary school together, but then on to different secondary schools. We still used to see each other out and about and when I was fifteen, we started going out with each other,” I look at Tyler and Jenna, unsure of how much I should tell him. He idolises Conner and I’d hate for him to judge his uncle on a fabricated story.

“Tell him what happened, Neen. The truth,” Tyler tells me.

Conner sits silently, gripping my hand and stroking my tattoo as I tell his biggest fan the truth about that night. Making a point of letting him know that I was sixteen and we were very much in love.

“Next time one of my mate's tweets that you’re a dirty perv who shagged a fifteen-year-old-girl, I’m gonna tell them to shut the f*ck up,” he says, marching out of the room before anyone can pull him up on his language. -

We don’t put the news on. I’ve no desire to listen to the horrible things that are being made up about Conner right now. The happy glow he had going on earlier is gone. His mood seems to be somewhere between anger and sadness and I’m not really sure how to handle him, especially as he seems more determined to drink than to talk.

Deciding that leaving him to get drunk with his family, might be what he needs, I eventually head off up to bed at the same time as Beth and Jenna, leaving Conner sitting around the dining table with his brothers and his dad, who had come back over when he heard the story on the news.

After my fitful sleep of the night before, I fall instantly into a deep, dreamless land of nod.





It takes me a few moments to get my bearings when I wake up to the sound of a woman laughing. Reaching for my phone I check the time. It’s three in the morning and I’ve been sleeping for about three and a half hours.

I get up and make my way downstairs, assuming that Beth or Jenna have gotten back up and are talking with Conner, but instead I find Lawson Knight and a dark haired woman sitting on the sofa. Conner has his back to me and the woman looks over his shoulder and straight at me as I enter the open space of the family room.

I feel extremely uncomfortable, dressed just in sleep shorts and another old Shift T-shirt of Conner’s. Her eyes give me a cold stare as she looks me up and down. Conner turns to see what she’s looking at and my eyes meet his. He smiles and my legs move instinctively to where he is.

Holding out his hand, he pulls me into his lap when I attempt to sit next to him. He nuzzles his nose into my neck and says loud enough for everyone to hear, “You smell like sleep and our bed.”

“You smell like your mate, Jack, the one that you’ve spent most of the night with.”

He smiles lazily, or drunkenly, or maybe it’s a bit of both.

“Sorry Nina, did we wake you up?” Lawson asks, “I’d completely forgotten that you’d moved in and came over to check Reed was doing okay, after the shit that’s been on the news tonight.”

I look up at Conner. “You doing okay?” I ask him. He shrugs and I know that he’s not, that knowledge makes my heart hurt for him.

“We’ll get our legal team onto it in the morning and make sure the press report the truth. I just suggested to Reed that perhaps an interview with the pair of you wouldn’t be a bad idea. If the public hears your side of the story, Nina, it’ll put all of this underage sex bullshit to rest,” Lawson says.

“Were you though, having underage sex I mean?” the woman sitting next to Lawson asks.

“I’m Amanda, by the way. I’m Lawson’s PA and sometimes f*ckbuddy of his and Reed’s.”

My head jerks back at her words and I feel a nerve twitch at the corner of my eye. Conner’s arm snakes around my waist and pulls me tighter into him.

“Get out,” he says, his words moving my hair. “Get the f*ck out of our house and don’t you ever come back here again.”

I watch as her eyes move between his and mine. She’s a beautiful woman, probably around forty, slim, with dark hair and brown eyes. She pulls her shoulders back and looks to Lawson.

“Let’s go.”

He shakes his head at her. “Why’d you do it? Every time I give you the benefit of the doubt, and every time you have to open your f*cking mouth and cause trouble?” Lawson tells her.

“That’s the last time, Laws. I don’t know how many times I’ve said it now, but that’s my final warning. You keep her away from my house and you keep her away from me and Nina. Now f*ck off, both of you.” They get up and leave in silence. Conner tilts his head back and looks up at the ceiling.

“So,” I eventually say, “You’ve f*cked her?”

“I’ve f*cked a lot of women, Meebs.”

I know this is true and yet my nose still stings, my eyes fill with tears and my heart feels a sharp stabbing pain at his words. “Wow, just what every girl wants to hear from the man she’s just moved in with.” I try to push up from his lap, but he tightens his grip. He turns his head to look at me. His eyes are glassy and a little bloodshot, which isn’t surprising considering the amount of Jack Daniels he’s consumed.