Given a Buckley's Chance by Nikki Perry & Kirsty Roby

Author:Nikki Perry & Kirsty Roby [Perry, Nikki & Roby, Kirsty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pink Van Publishing
Published: 2023-09-30T22:00:00+00:00

“I don’t really know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it.” He paused, took a deep breath. “I saw you, that night. I saw you and Brett behind the stable. God, this has eaten me up for years that I didn’t do something.”

“Man, that’s embarrassing.” Keri tried to laugh it off.

“No, Keri. I could tell you didn’t want it and I should have stopped him. I should have confronted him instead of running off to tell Joan.”

“You told Joan?” Keri was shocked. “What did she say? Was that why she fired him the next day?”

Kevin gave her a wry smile. “You know Joan. She was a cold old cow. She told me you were ‘just like your mother’ and that I was a pervert and she slapped me.”

“God, really?”

“Yeah. I was telling Zach how I went to my room and I cried. I didn’t tell him why, we were just talking about crying in general. I felt so useless. I mean I was seventeen, I felt like I should have been more of a man and I feel so bad for not helping you, or saying anything to you.”

“Aw, Kev.” Keri gave him a big hug. “Thank you. Really. I’m sorry you’ve kept that inside all this time. But I’m okay. It’s okay. We were just kids and it was a long time ago.”

“Still, I’m glad he left. Even if he did get the blame for Stephen being in the shed. Serves him right.”

Keri laughed. “Maybe. It’s not like I said no though, just regretted it afterwards. I always felt I should have spoken up for him. Joan probably refused to give him a reference. It’s a small community — he would have found it hard to get work.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” he said. “I worried about you after that.”

“I’m okay,” she said. “I’m really okay.”

And actually, she was.

She wandered back to the tents, feeling strangely cathartic about it all. It was almost like Kevin had validated her feelings. That she hadn’t changed the narrative about that night to suit her own agenda. It was as if she could let it go now, set the memory free.

She opened the tent flap, expecting to see Niall, but Linc was there instead.

“I did a trade,”he told her. “Niall’s in with Phil. Hope that’s all right?”

Keri felt a bit breathless. “That’s good with me.” She turned towards her bag, feeling a bit inept as she fumbled around getting out pyjamas and her toiletries. She wasn’t going to assume anything. She’d go and brush her teeth, get changed and come back, all nonchalant, and hop into bed. She’d claimed the one on the left by default of leaving her bag on it earlier. But she turned and Linc was pulling his shirt over his head, the fine brown hairs of his underarms exposed. She took the time to stare at him, at his chest, while his head was hidden in the folds of material.

“I can feel you looking.” His voice was muffled but he grinned when his head popped out through the neck hole.

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