Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
Emily
“You fucked him, didn’t you!” Jess shouts, handing me my refilled glass of wine.
“Ummm, not exactly…” I feel my cheeks heat as I hide behind my glass taking a sip, the dry liquid burning perfectly on its way down.
“Liar!” She grins and slaps me on the leg.
“What’s she lying about now?” Dan asks as he re-enters the room, his own wine glass now topped up.
“Fucking the footballer,” Jess throws his way.
“Oh. I don't know if I wanted to know that.” He cringes as he sits in the love seat at the other side of the room next to his wife, Taniyah.
It’s nice to have them all over at mine again now I’m ‘allowed’.
Chris didn’t like people in his space, so I never had my friends over.
Even Dan, his own brother, and his wife Taniyah had only been over to drop the kids off and very rarely saw past the front door.
Now I finally get to do the things I always imagined when I bought my first home, like host wine and cheese nights for my best friends.
“We didn’t have sex!” I exclaim sitting up straighter. Not a lie. We didn't. Were we going to? Absolutely, but they don’t need to know that.
“You did something.” Jess narrows her eyes at me. “Hand stuff?” she asks wiggling her brows.
“God, what are we fourteen?” I laugh, trying not to let on how much Jess hit the nail on the head.
“Can’t get pregnant with hand stuff,” Taniyah chimes in lifting her hand to Dan who returns her high five with a grin. I groan and rub my hand over my face.
“Okay, so now we all know you got fingered by Jack Cartwright, are you going to tell us any details about the actual relationship?” Jess asks. I cringe but can’t help laughing at the horror on Dans face as he processes Jess’ crude words.
“Ew,” Dan says slowly, “And no Jess, Emily doesn’t tell us shit about anyone she’s seeing, ever.”
“Yeah. I thought those two were secretly together when I first met Dan because it felt so sketchy that he knew nothing about his ‘best friend’s’ dating history,” Taniyah adds.
The reminder of this makes me want to shrivel up in a corner somewhere.
I remember at the start of Dan and Taniyah’s relationship, Taniyah had become slightly jealous of the girl Dan always used to be hanging around with, especially considering he couldn’t even tell her if I was straight or gay.
My lack of being forthcoming put a huge strain on their blossoming relationship, until he’d introduced me to Chris on a night out and I had gone back to his.
I’ve always thought that the less people that know things the better.
No one needs to know who I’m seeing, or not seeing, because it would inconvenience them when we break up and they have to keep checking in to make sure I’m okay.
Christ, Dan and Taniyah made their office into a bedroom for me so I wasn’t alone over Christmas. Talk about being an inconvenience.
But I don’t want to be that closed off person anymore.
Dan and Taniyah never complained about having me over for that time, in fact, they have told me multiple times that they enjoyed me being there almost as much as the twins did.
And Jess is Jess, she’s my person. This group of people have showed time and time again that I can lean on them if I need to. And right now, I want to.
“He’s nice,” I blurt.
Every eye in the room turns to me. “Go on…” Dan says, as they all lean in slowly as if I’m a small animal and they’re trying not to spook me.
I roll my eyes, “We’ve only met up a few times because of our schedules, and yes, one of them was on this sofa…”
“AHH, ew!” Jess shouts as she jumps up from where she’s sat.
“But he’s thoughtful, and he bought me flowers, and he took care of me after a hard day, we talk on the phone all the time and I’m really trying not to like him but he’s fucking gorgeous!
” I exaggerate gorgeous, because when describing Jack, ‘gorgeous’ is a word that should be exaggerated.
“You guys have seen him! He is just easy to be around, and I feel like I don’t need to try and be someone I’m not when I’m with him.
So, I agreed to go on another date with him and see how things go.
But we still haven’t managed to find the time and now he’s away for a week because of a sponsorship job and then an away game.
I’ll see him tomorrow for a coffee pre-match and then he goes and that kind of bums me out. ” I shrug and take a sip of my wine.
I look up to see everyone still staring at me. Dan and Taniyah turn to each other and share a knowing glance, small smirks on both of their faces.
“What’s that look for?” I accuse.
“Nothing…” they say in sync. I swear they married themselves in other bodies. “It’s just nice to hear you talk about someone you like is all.” Dan finishes when I glare at the two of them.
“God, why does this feel like we’re in high school, I don’t ‘like’ Jack, I…”
“You…?” Dan prompts.
“Oh, fuck off. I like him,” I grumble, folding my arms as I lean back into my sofa cushions.
“Oh, now look what you did, she’s sulking,” Taniyah scolds Dan. “It’s okay, Em. We can all agree he’s hot and you said he’s a nice guy and he wants to spend more time with you. What’s the issue here?”
“The issue is, he’s all of those things, plus a famous, successful, very rich athlete.
And I’m a mid-sized, kind of smart and pretty in the right light, bottom of the food chain nurse.
I haven’t even specialised yet, and my last two attempts at being promoted to charge nurse utterly failed and I’ve been there for years just stagnating! ”
“Wait!” Jess interjects. “I thought you weren’t interested in management?”
“I’m not. I just. I dunno.” I take a breath, steadying my thoughts.
“I don’t know what I want. Chris always used to push me to do more, but not in a good way.
In more of a ‘your job isn’t good enough’ kind of way.
” I hear Dan let out a sigh through his nose at this.
“But when I was talking to Jack about enjoying my job as I am and not wanting to progress, he was really supportive, like he was happy that I was happy, you know? It freaked me out a bit.”
“What about that freaked you out?” Taniyah asks.
I blow out a long sigh, buying myself time to answer.
I have been honest about him so far and these are my best friends, I can tell them my worries.
Very quietly I say, “What if he’s just saying all these things to get on my good side?
What if everything I have read about him is actually true and I’m just another dumb bitch who falls for it. ”
“From what you have told us about him, even I don’t think that’s true…” Jess adds. “And I actively hate all men.”
“Okay. So say he is a good guy and we date and I end up falling for him. Then what if he cheats on me too? This feels bigger than what I ever had with Chris already. I know it’s new and I don’t know how to explain it.
Chris was convenient, like I was doing what I was supposed to be doing because society said that’s the what we should be doing at this point in our lives.
Move in together, get engaged, plan a wedding.
Then bam. It all went off the rails. What if that happens with Jack too? ” I look around the room as I finish.
“What if it does?” Jess says as she sits back down and shuffles closer to me on the couch.
“What?”
“What if he does cheat? Or fuck up in some other way that is unforgivable?” She takes hold of my hand, gazing into my eyes before adding.
“He will have lost you! A Gorgeous—in every light, no matter what you say—unfathomably smart, quick witted, exceptional floor nurse, with cracking tits and an ass that won’t quit.
And you’ll have lost what? Another white man?
Ooh, as if there isn’t enough of them to go around. ”
“Preach!” Taniyah bellows, throwing Dan a quick shrug.
I look up at my friends. My team. A small smile on my face. Jess is right. I’d still have these guys. Shit, I broke up with Dans brother and he’s still sat in my front room, cuddled up with his wife, drinking my wine listening to me bitch about a boy.
I take a deep breath and nod, “Okay, then there’s the other issue.”
“What’s that?” Jess says.
“We’re both super busy with work, I’m not going to see him apart from this coffee, and as discussed, he’s fucking gorgeous and I wanna jump his bones every time we’re together.”
Dan gags where he is sat.
“Why don’t you just find somewhere to fuck him after your coffee?”
“JESSICA!” Dan screams utterly outraged! We burst out laughing.
***
Jack
“I’d actually much rather you went home, Aimee.” I fold my arms and glare at my sister perching on the bar stool next to me.
“You have literally been begging me to come and watch you ever since I moved in!” she whines back at me.
“One. You absolutely, categorically, do not live with me. You said you would be crashing with me for a few weeks, that was six months ago. Two. You’re very early.
Three. I didn’t ask you today for a reason.
” I hold up a hand in front of her counting off my fingers as I go.
She huffs, my own glare now mirrored on her face, anyone who didn’t know we are brother and sister before, would by just looking at us now.
“Now, now, why is it so tense over here?” I hear Kieran’s voice before he drops an arm over both mine and Aimee’s shoulders situating himself between us. We both simultaneously shrug him off and turn our glare to him.
He backs up a step and lifts his hands in surrender.
“Shit, that’s scary from both of you at once,” he chuckles and runs a hand through his dark cropped hair.
“Anyway, I couldn’t help but overhear that Jack doesn’t want to keep you company today and I came to offer my services,” Kieran turns to Aimee and winks.