Give Me Love by Kate McCarthy

tight-lipped, but it became public knowledge that she cheated on him. Frog, being wild and crazy and a rule bender, was popular at uni. This made Rachel very unpopular, and three months later, she packed her bags and transferred back home.
    One month after that, Coopers girlfriend Natalie copped a mugging and a black eye, blamed Cooper for it in the twisted way that Natalie managed to blame everyone for everything bad that happened in her life, and dumped him on his ass.
    No one had ever liked Natalie and the feeling was mutual, so seeing the back of her earned Cooper a one week supply of free alcohol at the uni bar. We would have made it longer, but if you knew how much he could put away you would understand.
    At our knock, we heard a voice yell that the door was open. Jenna came out of the kitchen at our arrival, rushing over to envelop me in a sweet smelling hug. I hugged back―hard because I’d missed her. Both she and Steve had visited us in Melbourne every chance they got, and Mac and I would take her shopping on Chapel Street, my favourite place to spend money.
    “Genevieve, honey...” she palmed both of my cheeks in her hands “...how are you?”
    She looked into my eyes, concern filling her gaze because Jenna was always a mother first. She was sharp and capable, kept herself toned with regular yoga, and wore her blonde hair in a neat bob. She was also pushing for grandkids harder than a drill sergeant on a recruitment drive. With all the Valentine offspring currently unattached, it wasn’t looking good for her. Without waiting for my reply, her green eyes gleamed as she leaned in. “Jared is out back, honey. You should go say hello.”
    She winked at me meaningfully, and I knew she’d been apprised of recent events between Jared and me. It appeared Mac had been busily recruiting while I had my eye off the ball. This did not bode well.
    She reached around me to pull Henry into a hug.
    “Hey, honey, how are you?”
    “Uh, good thanks, Mrs Valentine,” Henry managed.
    “Jenna, please, honey.” She took the proffered plate out of Henry’s hands. “Oh, are these for us? You know how much everyone loves this slice, Evie.” She smiled at me kindly, obviously remembering I made it for them in honour of their first visit to our Melbourne apartment.
    “Well, half of it's gone now, thanks to banana one and two there.” I rolled my eyes towards Frog and Cooper.
    She raised one eyebrow in a mock glare. “Well. None for them later then,” she said, putting the slice down on the kitchen counter to grab them both in a hug.
    “Hi, Mrs Valentine,” they both mumbled.
    “Jenna, please,” she addressed them. “Go get your butts outside. Steve is manning the barbecue, and the esky is by the big table,” she called out as we headed outside.
    The yard was half tiled with thick sandstone, and the other half had a lush green lawn with Jenna's prized vegie patch running along the side of the fence. A rectangle pool sat to the left, surrounded by a clear perspex fence, and was half covered under a big cream coloured shade sail. The water rippled invitingly in the early afternoon sun, and a heated game of water volleyball was going on. A bikini clad Mac was smack bang in the middle of a Hot Guy Volleyball Sandwich and looked as though she was in no hurry to rectify the situation.
    “Genevieve!” Steve called out and made his way over, waving his tongs about through the throng of people as Henry, Frog, and Cooper made for the esky. He grabbed me in a big hug, lifting me off my feet, and I shivered with delight because Steve was the big gruff dad I never had. Once again, I squeezed back hard.
    “You look beautiful, my girl,” he said, indicating my outfit.
    “Thanks, Steve. How's it going?”
    “Good, good, apart from the fact that Jenna invited half of Sydney,” he muttered covertly, though I could see the twinkle in his eye. He loved entertaining since his retirement from the force, living for the weekends when