Also, no matter how close he and Carly were, he was still a guest in her home and that made Brian feel awkward. He wanted to be in his own place, with Schrody’s fur scattered across the floor and Andrew’s dirty work boots a trip hazard in the garage. He knew exactly what Andrew would want to watch on TV and how to make his coffee. And he also knew how long Andrew showered for, so he could time his toilet flush without causing an upset. He’d swapped out confusion and anger at Andrew for nerves and anxiety at Carly’s place.
Brian wanted to go home. He wanted Andrew back. Three days apart and he was a mess without him.
They finally parked, grabbed their gear and headed in. Elle messaged to say she was running late and had anyone heard from Andrew lately? Brian checked his phone and shook his head at Carly’s askance expression.
“I’ll message him,” Carly said dryly when it was clear Brian wasn’t about to.
They were trotting up the stairs to the gates when a familiar hunting horn sounded not far away. Brian homed in on the annoying sound of Andrew’s phone getting a message and let out a long breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding.
Andrew was leaning against the wall not far away, looking at his phone screen. He had on shorts, sneakers and a T-shirt Brian had got him for his last birthday. It was green and had a picture of two backhoes and the slogan I spend my day with hoes.
“I hate that shirt,” Carly muttered as they headed for him.
Brian snickered. “I love it.”
“You would.”
Andrew looked up at that. “Would what?” He focused on Carly.
“Just verbally rolling my eyes at boy humour.”
He glanced down, almost guiltily at the shirt, then up again. “Sorry. It was all I had clean.”
Brian frowned. Unless Andrew had gone through a dozen shirts in the past three days, that was a lie. They’d been buying each other bad-pun-shirts for years.
He nudged Carly. “It’s okay. We’ll buy him a shark hoodie in the gift shop.”
“Then we’d never see him again!”
They laughed and Andrew looked between them, confused.
“We’ll tell you about it later.” Carly hooked her arm through Andrew’s. “Did you remember your pass?”
Andrew held up the card James and Troy had got them for free entry.
“Elle’s running late,” Carly told Andrew. “Should we go see the koalas?” They were her favourite.
Neither of them objected so they headed into the wildlife reserve. The large stretch of naturally wooded land next to the water park wasn’t fenced, so wild animals could come and go as they pleased, but there were more or less permanent kangaroos, wallabies, water birds and koalas. There were guided educational tours along the walking tracks, but they’d all been there enough to know where they were going. The koala sanctuary was at the far end of the reserve and Carly told Andrew the missing kid story as they walked. Andrew smiled but didn’t laugh. Brian watched him closely as he trailed behind. He looked okay and happy enough as Carly chatted about the kids in her classes. Of course, he hadn’t actually spoken directly to Brian but for now, seeing him was good enough.
There were several koalas within sight, curled up the Vs between branches high in the eucalypts. Carly pulled out her telephoto lens, clicked it onto her camera and quickly lost herself in capturing images of the grey fluff balls.
Brian and Andrew kept out of her way, watching the ebb and flow of parents and excited kids.
“How are you?” Brian asked when Andrew’s silence got too much for him.
“Okay. How was work?”
Holy shit, was this awkward. “Good. I didn’t piss off my current mentor at least.”
Andrew’s smile was real and made his eyes spark. “Of course you didn’t.”
Four words and a lot of Brian’s anxiety eased.
“Did you work while it rained?” He knew Andrew often didn’t have an option but to have unpaid days off in bad weather.
“Yeah. On Friday I worked up in Brisbane.” He shaded his eyes against the sun and looked around. “When does the ski show start?”
“One thirty.”
Andrew kept looking away from him and just when Brian’s frustration was about to make demands, he turned back and smiled. It was a bit tentative but it was there and it was pointed right at Brian.
“Wanna go play What Wallaby Where?”
Brian scowled. “No.” He had absolute shit luck at spotting the wallabies in the reserve and the others had made a game of trying to be the first to see one. Brian swore he’d only ever said “what wallaby where?” once and yet it had stuck.
“Come on.” Andrew put a hand over one eye. “I’ll give you the advantage.”
He tried to resist but the sight of Andrew having fun, even at Brian’s expense, was too overpowering. Brian sighed and nodded.
“Awesome. Carls! We’re going to play What Wallaby Where,” Andrew called to her.
Carly waved them off with one hand. “Good luck, Bri Bri.”
“Thanks,” he muttered and trudged along with Andrew to the swampy region where the wallabies hung out. It was cooler under the thicker canopy but the scent of stagnant water was strong. The view was beautiful though, with the tall, ragged paperbark trunks and carpet of vibrantly green ferns.
Being the weekend, there were a lot of families out at the park and reserve, so it made spotting any wildlife hard when the animals were alerted by kids running back and forth along the raised boardwalk. Every wallaby Brian thought he’d found turned out to be a tree stump or blasé kangaroo. The smaller wallabies just weren’t around.
“What wallaby,” Andrew said, pointing.
Brian peered into the trees. “Where?” he asked before thinking.
Andrew snickered. “It’s gone now. You scared it off.”
“You’re lying.”
“I swear there was a wallaby. Look! It’s back.”
One eyebrow raised sceptically, Brian followed the direction of Andrew’s arm and sure enough, there was a squat, brown wallaby standing between two trees, its finely pointed face directed towards them.
“Look,” Brian whispered. “A wallaby.” He caught sight of them so rarely this was a treat.
Beside him, Andrew snapped a shot with his phone and a moment later, Brian’s pocket buzzed with an incoming message.
“So you can prove it to the others.” Andrew smiled at him. “I’ll even tell them you saw it first.”
“They wouldn’t believe you.”
“True.”
They wandered on, trying to find more of the elusive critters. Thanks to the presence of so many others, they had to keep close and Brian was very aware of every brush of Andrew’s arm and nudge of his hip as they moved over on the pathway to allow others by. The familiar scent of his deodorant drove away the damp rot smell of the swamp. Since the night of the epic wank, every moment Brian wasn’t distracted by work, he’d been thinking about almost kissing Andrew. About how much he still wanted it to happen. Kissing and . . . more.
“I’m sorry,” Brian said softly as they walked. “I shouldn’t have said those things. I didn’t mean them.”
“I know. I’m not upset about that anymore. Thanks for the apology.”