“I want to ask how you’d manage to spend that much on some balloons, but now I’m envisioning some monstrous balloon arch.” He pulled a face and I snorted.
“Not a fan of balloons?”
“I don’t mind them, but a whole arch feels like a bit much. God, I sound like such a miserable old man. Worse, I sound like my dad.” A flash of sadness crossed his face and he rubbed his eyes, like he was trying to erase the expression.
“You’re fine, I promise,” I said, putting my hand out and gently resting it on his arm, hoping I could ground him.
“Thanks.” He still looked upset but I didn’t think it was to do with the balloons. This whole situation was designed to needle his fears and anxieties as a parent, and there wasn’t much I could do except support him. If he wanted Jack to have a birthday party, he was going to have to work through, or at least come to terms with, his issues, even if it was painful.
But I’d do everything I could to help him.
Fuck professional boundaries. Matty needed me. And I wasn’t going to turn him down.
I couldn’t.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Matty
Mason and Westwere plotting something. They kept whispering to each other and looking over at me, thinking I hadn’t noticed. But neither of them was subtle.
“Whatever you’re planning, stop it,” I said as I folded my arms across my chest and leant back in my seat, trying to get comfortable as the coach wound its way towards Skegness. I was tempted to have a nap, but that felt dangerous. It would give them uninterrupted scheming time and I didn’t trust anyone else to put a stop to it.
“We’re not planning anything,” West said mildly, shooting me a pleasant smile that didn’t allay my fears.
“Sure you’re not.”
“Nope. Not about you anyway,” Mason said.
“Why don’t I trust you?”
West shrugged. “That seems more of ayouthing.”
“Agreed. You’re being paranoid,” Devon said, piping up from the seats across from Mason and West. He was wrapped up in a huge Knights hoodie because even though the weather wassurprisingly mild for early April, Devon had spent eight years living in the south of France and had a very different idea of what cold was.
“You’re not helping,” I said.
“Was I supposed to?” Devon smirked. He had one leg thrown across Jonny’s, the pair of them completely comfortable being open about their relationship. It had surprised me when I’d first found out about it because, although Devon’s pining had been obvious, I’d never thought Jonny would get his head out of his arse and see what was right in front of him.
I’d also been shocked by how open they were, assuming it would go against some sort of club guideline. But, as Jonny had pointed out, the people who wrote those hadn’t imagined their players being open about shagging each other, so they’d never thought to write anything against it.
I sighed and shook my head. Their scheming wasn’t worth worrying about. I’d simply have to keep my wits about me and hope I didn’t end up in the North Sea.
“Matty.” This time the voice belonged to Danny, and I leaned sideways slightly so I could look back at him. He and Charlie were sat a few rows behind me, the pair of them watching me with far too much interest.
“Yeah?” I asked, wondering if I really wanted to know what was about to come out of his mouth.
“Who was the guy you were chatting to on Sunday? The blond guy with Hannah.”
The whole coach seemed to go silent. A sea of expectant faces stared at me. At least, that was what it felt like.
I could have lied. It wouldn’t have been totally unbelievable to say Harper was Hannah’s brother or cousin, and I wasn’t going to examine how I apparently had a thing for highly competent blonds with long hair. But since I was considering inviting a bunch of them to Jack’s birthday, they were going tofind out sooner rather than later. And I could just picture one of them asking Hannah about her brother and unravelling my lie before we’d even done the cake.
No, it was time to come clean.
“His name’s Harper,” I said casually. “He’s Jack’s nanny.”
There was another moment of silence as everyone processed what I’d said and I braced myself for the wave of questions.
