Chapter Six
‘You actually thought your wish had come true?’ Rhys studies my face for a moment, his features slowly drooping into a frown.
‘Like, actually come true, like magic? Like a birthday wish? Poof! It’s done!
Here’s the dream man you requested?’ His eyes widen and then he’s doubled over, clutching his stomach as he pisses himself laughing at me.
Which is valid, I know, but I’d still like to kick him in the spuds.
‘All right, mate, it isn’t that funny.’ I don’t kick him, but I do give him a shove, which nearly topples him over. He manages to right himself by grabbing onto Freddie’s jacket and pulling himself back up to full height. He’s still tittering as he claps Freddie on the back with a ‘sorry, mate’.
‘Don’t worry about it, darling. I never complain when a handsome man puts his hands on me.
’ Freddie winks at Rhys and I spot a flicker of a frown on Jonah’s face before he pushes it away.
He turns and shuffles forward a couple of millimetres in the queue, practically piggybacking the woman in front of us.
It’s been three days since my disastrous two-date evening and I’m back at the retail park, only this time I’m bowling with my friends for Jonah’s pre-birthday celebration rather than suffering through a swashbuckling dinner with a man-child or being subjected to a bitter, woman-hating rant.
‘You have to admit that it was weird that I had two meet-cutes after making that wish.’
Rhys shrugs. ‘Or maybe you’re just really ditzy?’
He has a point. Both meet-cutes did involve me being a bit of an idiot – first colliding with Morgan with my tray of drinks and then trying to hijack Ethan’s taxi. But I won’t concede. I can’t. The smug look would never leave Rhys’s face.
‘I still think it’s weird.’
‘I think it’s you that’s weird.’ Rhys holds his hands up as I narrow my eyes at him and purse my lips.
‘Hey, that isn’t a bad thing. Weird is good.
Normal is boring. Everyone knows that. Am I right, Freddo?
’ He winks at Freddie and I give Rhys a subtle nod of approval as Freddie’s nostrils flare and his jaw tightens.
The signs of displeasure are microscopic, but I feel a sense of satisfaction that they’re there and I’m desperate to high-five my friend.
Because Freddie hates being called Freddo and Rhys knows this because he’s the one who coined the nickname when he first met Freddie a few weeks into his relationship with Jonah.
It was a friendly, jokey thing that was supposed to welcome Jonah’s boyfriend into the group, because we all have goofy pet names for each other, but Freddie was not a fan and made it known.
By using the name, Rhys has enacted a petty act of revenge on Freddie for the flirting in front of Jonah a moment ago and I love him for it.
Jonah doesn’t seem to have noticed this latest interaction between Rhys and his boyfriend, as he’s looking down at his phone.
He slips it into his pocket and turns to us.
‘Thea and Daniel should be here in about ten minutes. There’s been a problem with the babysitter.’
‘We’ll probably still be in this queue in ten minutes.’ Freddie sighs and looks down the line of people towards the desk. ‘What’s taking so long? I told you we should have gone into town instead. Bowling is so lame.’
‘Bowling isn’t lame. It’s fun.’ I slip my arm through Jonah’s arm and rest my head on his shoulder. ‘And it’s Jo-Jo’s birthday so he gets to choose.’
Freddie rolls his eyes like the massive bitch that he is. ‘It isn’t even his birthday until tomorrow.’
‘No, but he’s spending the day with his family tomorrow so we’re doing this today. Spreading the joy.’ I give Jonah’s arm a squeeze. ‘And Jonah is so good at bowling. He doesn’t even put the gutters up.’
Freddie rolls his eyes again and I enjoy a fantasy where I make a ‘V’ with my fingers and jab them right to the back of his eye sockets. ‘Only little kids put the gutters up.’ He sniggers. ‘But then only little kids go to pizza parties and call it a date.’
Oh, fuck off, you massive prick, I think to myself while imagining my fingers still lodged in Freddie’s eye sockets as I take a swing with his head as a human bowling ball. I catch a snigger with my hand as I almost hear the pins scattering, imagining his stupid head ploughing into them.
‘Are you going with Jonah to see his parents tomorrow?’ Rhys’s question sounds good-natured, but I know it is not as his eyes flick to meet mine.
‘Of course.’ Freddie places a hand on the base of Jonah’s neck, his thumb rubbing up and down his hairline. ‘I am Jonah’s partner, and Farrah loves me.’
Rhys sneaks me a smirk because we both know this is not true.
Farrah Jackson loves her daughter, Thea.
She loves her grandchildren and her husband.
She probably loves Jonah too, somewhere deep down and well-hidden, but she simply tolerates most other people, and I have it on good authority (Thea) that she thinks Freddie is ‘obnoxiously camp’ and ‘quietly vicious’.
If referring to him as ‘Freddo’ was a punishment earlier, then tomorrow’s birthday dinner with Farrah is going to be pure torture for him and I’m not unhappy about it.
The queue moves along and we’ve booked in and are setting up the scoreboard by the time Thea arrives.
‘Happy pre-birthday, baby brother.’ Thea gives Jonah a quick squeeze before kissing him on the cheek. ‘Sorry I’m late.’ She opens her arms towards me and I step into her hug. ‘You look lovely as always, Christina. Cute T-shirt.’
‘Thanks.’ I look down at my T-shirt and beam. It’s quite old and the Stitch motif is worn, but it’s one of my favourites. ‘You remember Rhys from our Christmas nibbles night, don’t you?’
Rhys holds his arms out. ‘Of course she remembers me. How could she forget?’
‘It’s lovely to see you again.’ She looks past Rhys, frowning as she turns to her brother. ‘Did Freddie not come?’
‘He’s popped to the loo.’ Jonah doesn’t add that Freddie ‘popped’ to the loo several minutes ago and is either preening himself in front of the mirror or has found someone to flirt with and has forgotten about the game we’re about to start. ‘Where’s Daniel?’
‘Didn’t I say in the text?’ Thea scrunches up her nose as she places a canvas bag down on the bench. ‘He isn’t coming. The babysitter cancelled, so he had to stay at home with the kids.’
Jonah checks his phone, re-reading the message and then shaking his head. ‘No, nothing about that. But Mum would have watched them.’
‘I know.’ Thea shrugs off her jacket. ‘But she babysat loads while Daniel was in Uganda and I don’t want to take advantage.’
‘How was it? Uganda?’ Jonah takes his sister’s coat and adds it to the pile in the corner.
‘Yeah.’ Thea nods. ‘Great. It’s a worthy cause and Daniel got a lot out of it.’
‘Bet you’re glad he’s back though.’ Jonah sucks in a breath. ‘Three months apart. Tough.’
‘Very, but luckily I had you guys.’ Thea holds her arms out and Jonah and I make a Thea sandwich of a hug.
‘We’re all set.’ Rhys steps away from the scoreboard screen and rubs his hands together. He catches my eye and grins, and I do the same when I look up and see the assigned names on the board above the lane:
Knuckles Deep for Rhys.
Ball Buster for me.
Lord of the Pins for Jonah.
Alley Cat for Thea.
‘Freddie is not going to like that.’ I’m trying not to smirk as my eyes linger on the bottom name. Sweaty Balls.
Rhys adopts a wide-eyed look of pure innocence and shrugs.
‘I couldn’t think of another bowling pun.
’ His look of innocence lasts another second-and-a-half before he sniggers, which sets me off giggling and I have to press my face into his chest to smother it because Freddie’s returning and the game is about to begin.
‘That is… mental.’ Unlike Rhys, who took great delight in my date with Morgan, Thea is horrified when I tell her about it while Freddie takes his turn to bowl.
As predicted, he was not happy about Rhys naming him Sweaty Balls, but Rhys ‘accidentally’ started the game and it was too late to change it.
‘I’ve been to Pizz-Ahoy with Asher when it was his nursery friend’s birthday, and it was Hell.
Noisy. Twee. And the food is awful.’ She shakes her head. ‘Has he been in touch since?’
I nod, tapping on my phone and finding the message I’d received from Morgan while I was hurrying home after leaving Ethan seething in the pub. I hand the phone over and cover my eyes with my hands.
‘Wow. That is… Wow.’
I snatch the phone from Thea and try not to catch another glimpse of the photo as I close the app, but I’m not that lucky, and I spot Morgan kissing the Spider-Man plushie he’d won from the claw machine, the image recreating the upside-down kiss scene between Spider-Man and Mary Jane.
‘So.’ Thea nudges me with her elbow. ‘When are you seeing him again?’
There’s a pause and then we both giggle, only stopping because Freddie slumps onto the bench next to us, his grumpy face souring the mood. Maybe he should have put the gutters up if he wanted the chance to knock down any pins because he’s failed so far.
I jump up off the bench, and not just because Freddie has sat next to me, and throw my hands up in the air, swaying to the beat of ‘Could It Be Magic’ as it blasts from the sound system.
‘I love this. It’s one of my favourite songs.’
‘Take That?’ Freddie sniggers. ‘Since when were you middle-aged? You’re so embarrassing.’
And you’re a massive knobhead, I think but don’t say out loud, and I stop dancing, suddenly self-conscious.
I know the song is a bit naff, but my dad used to play it to cheer Mum up whenever she was feeling down and it always made her smile.
It was the song that was playing when they first met, so it’s a special song to my family.
‘You’re not embarrassing, my lovely.’ Thea springs up from the bench and grabs my hands, joining me in waving them to the beat of the song.
‘You’re amazing and I love this song too.
’ We jump around, belting the lyrics into each other’s faces and ignoring Freddie’s contempt, refusing to let him ruin this moment.
Jonah spots the fun and, not wanting to miss out, bounces into the mix, throwing his head back as he sings along, and we don’t stop until Rhys shouts across that it’s my turn.
I’m still singing as I grab my preferred blue ball but I’m quiet as I approach the lane, concentrating on my aim and technique.
The ball swooshes down the middle of the lane, perfectly on track for a strike, until it swerves to the left at the last minute and flips two measly pins down.
‘I thought you had that then.’ Rhys shrugs, one corner of his mouth turned down.
‘But you’re still ahead of Captain Melt.
’ He nods back towards the benches, where Freddie is sitting with his arms folded and a huffy look on his face as Jonah and Thea giggle about something. ‘What does Jonah see in him?’
The ball return spits out my blue ball and it chugs down the rail. ‘I think it’s a mum thing.’
Rhys’s eyebrows lift. ‘He sees Freddie as maternal?’
‘As if. But Farrah is hardly maternal herself, is she? Not towards Jonah, anyway. She’s spent his whole life putting him down and making him feel like shit, so he doesn’t think he deserves better.
’ I reach for the blue ball, my thumb slotting into the hole, but my fingers are blocked because their holes are already occupied.
A man from the next lane is also mid-grab and my fingers rest on top of his, like a mini high-five. A high-two.
‘Oh. Sorry.’ The man whips his hand away.
‘Go ahead. I’ll use this one.’ He reaches for the neighbouring orange ball, slotting his fingers into the holes and holding it up.
‘I think this one is better for me, anyway.’ He bobs the ball up and down and nods.
‘I promise I won’t try to hold your hand unsolicited again.
’ He aims a sheepish smile at me before striding towards his lane.
That wasn’t…?
It couldn’t have been…
No. I shake my head and grab the blue ball. That wasn’t another meet-cute, even if it did look very much like a classic reaching-for-the-same-item meet-cute.
The wish, as we’ve established, did not come true.