He shrugged, heading towards the training ground. We’d decided to pack in a weights session. Rowan and Ryan were meeting us there, Nate was joining us later after a check-up for Amber with her doctor-person and Matty Culver was meant to be there too, although he hadn’t dropped in the group chat since last night, so there was always the chance he was waking up in some random house with an aspiring WAG.
“What’s the reason to get her something?” I knew nothing about this from experience, but I had witnessed my teammates making all sorts of cock-ups with various women through the years.
Jesse swallowed. “No one ever gets her anything. She does it all for herself, and I just wanted to surprise her.”
That was nice of him. He was also like an over-enthusiastic puppy, which was great if Kitty liked puppies — a degree of irony was in that — and as long as that puppy didn’t start to drool.
“Flowers. Have you bought her flowers yet? And by flowers, not the whole shop, just a bunch.”
Jesse made a turn without indicating, incurring the wrath of whoever was behind us.
“Did you pay someone to do your test for you?”
“Fuck off, Jesse, unless you want to walk.”
It might be safer.
“Do you not think flowers are a bit obvious?”
“Does she like flowers?”
Nicky shrugged, breaking far too late for lights. “I think so.”
“Start with flowers. Leave the big gestures for when you’ve been seeing each other a bit longer. If you go all out now, she’ll think you’re desperate.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “I kind of am. I think she’s amazing, and I want to show her that.”
I sat back a little deeper into the passenger seat, my jaw clenched hard enough for me to worry about crunching a tooth or two. Jerrica was amazing, and I hadn’t even bought her flowers. So I’d done what I’d told Nicky not to and bought her a car — under the guise of wanting to be chauffeured around in something I liked, and I was debating buying her a house with some stupid excuse to make it sound like I was getting the better deal.
Which I was.
I’d been giving her gifts, only I was pretending I wasn’t. That made me more of a fool than Nicky.
“Flowers. Nice ones. Like the ones Genevieve has in her office from her secret admirer. I still think that’s Guy.”
“Our manager?” I frowned. Genny and Guy hated each other. She had a dartboard in her office and there was always a picture of him on it. It usually had a dart stuck out of the middle of his forehead.
Genny was also the only person who dared argue with our manager. His temper was legendary, and he was known for the many ways he could hide a body. It was in your best interests to stay on his good side.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they’re having a thing.”
“Why?”
Nicky changed lanes and caused the car he’d just moved in front of suddenly to have to brake.
“You’re going to get us killed with the way you drive.”
Nicky grinned. “Again, you can walk. So Genny and Guy — she’s seeing someone, we know that.”
“Do we?”
“We do. Amber is convinced and Genny’s pretty much admitted that she has a friends-with-benefits arrangement with someone.”
I looked at Nicky through narrowed eyes. “Do you know what one of those arrangements is?”
“I know I’m not Mr Experienced like you, but I’m not totally naïve.”
“Just checking. You sounded like you were a man of the world, now you have a fully working — girlfriend.” I couldn’t stop my grin. I was one of the two people who knew that Nicky had been a virgin until Kitty had her wicked way with him. He’d let it slip to me and Nate one night when he’d had five too many shots.
