“I’m glad you chose something she can’t use as a weapon when she’s digging into my back.”
“That was a missed fucking opportunity.”
“When are you going to pop the question?”
“For fuck’s sake, don’t fuck it up like Rowan did.”
“I didn’t fuck it up – well, maybe the first two times I did - ”
I had no idea why Jesse, Jude, Rowan and Ryan were with me. I didn’t remember asking them to come along when I picked up the ring for Amber, I didn’t even remember telling them about it. My guess was that Jez had let it slip to Jesse while she was ferrying him about, and he’d shared that nugget with the squad.
As long as they didn’t turn up when I did ask the question, that was fine. Kind of. I’d rather they hadn’t turned up now, either.
The jewellers was in the ‘village’ near to where most of us lived, and by village, we meant it was a cluster of mega expensive shops and bars that you needed a police check to get in, pretty much. The paparazzi were pretty much banned here, which made it safe for us to walk around without worrying about being snapped doing something stupid, and the rest of the people who lived in the area had more money than god, so no one cared about us crass footballers.
“Do you have it insured, sir?” Kenneth, the jeweller who had made the ring, had the good sense to ask the question. I had, but when this was Jude’s turn, there’d be no fucking chance he’d think of that, then he’d lose the fucker before he could propose.
I pitied the girl on the receiving end of that question.
“I do.”
“That’s what he’s hoping she says!” Jude cracked up at his own joke.
“I apologise for him being here.” I picked the box up, the ring safely inside, and slipped it into the zipped pocket in my combats. I’d already checked that the pocket didn’t have any holes, and added an small bag I’d nicked off my sister to line it. “You might want to ban him in future.”
“Oi!” Jude elbowed me in the ribs. “Be nice or I’ll tell Amber what you’re planning!”
“Do that, and you won’t ever play football again. Or know what it’s like to have a woman.” I prodded him in his stomach. Hard.
“He doesn’t know what that’s like anyway.” Rowan kneed Jude in the back of the leg, making him collapse slightly. At some point, we were going to get into trouble for bullying the kid, but I didn’t think Jude would have it any other way.
“That’s bullshit! You don’t know what I was doing last night - ” And then he shut up. Suddenly.
I looked at him, then Rowan.
“Who were you with?” We had our suspicions that Jude was seeing someone he possibly shouldn’t, or someone who was out of his league.
He shook his head. “You got that ring safe?”
I laughed but didn’t carry on niggling him. Rowan would do that.
We headed to one of the restaurants for lunch, morning training having been completed and we were free for the rest of the day, unless we needed remedial physio or the summer had sapped us of our fitness levels so we were on extra training. Most of us had kept up a regime during the break, even those who’d gone abroad for a holiday, finding resorts with gyms and fitness studios, or linking up with a local football team to use the facilities. Jude had actually spent a couple of weeks in America, but he’d been at the training ground of one of the local ASL teams most days for at least a couple of hours, so on the whole, the coaches and training staff were happy. This was the season when we wanted to clinch the title, having come so close last time, and it was also a World Cup year, with the competition taking place in November and December, so international call-ups were the other big goal for most of us.
But it was pre-season, which meant there was time that in a couple of weeks we wouldn’t have, and we certainly wouldn’t be heading for a big lunch in the middle of the day that wasn’t Neva-approved.
“Do you think Amber will say yes?” Rowan looked hopefully over the table at me. Hopefully, because Dee had turned him down twice before she’d given in.
I shrugged. “I’ve done the groundwork.” We’d talked about what would’ve happened if I hadn’t gotten her pregnant, and neither of us were sure. We figured we would’ve hooked up more, but it would’ve depended on whether she wanted to be part of the girls’ lives.
“It’s difficult to say,” Amber said. “I didn’t think I ever wanted to have children around, and I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have wanted to be part of the girls’ lives after meeting them, but I don’t know how I’d have worked it out in my head – being one of the adults in their lives.”
I nodded. “I get that. The situation’s kind of forced them on you - ”
“Not forced,” she interrupted. “I think once I’d gotten to know them more, and been more confident with them, it would never have been a forced decision – and I didn’t have to move in with you, Nate. I could’ve moved in with Genny, or moved back home to my parents, or even London with my brother and Ava.”
I hadn’t known that. “Did you think about that?”
“For about five seconds. It wouldn’t have been fair to you. I didn’t want to hurt you, ever. It wasn’t just about me – it wasn’t just about you either.” She proceeded to stuff her face with a slice of chocolate cake at that point, managing to get chocolate on her nose.
