“Neva who you’ve wanted to bang since she joined the club.” He kept his eyes on me while he sipped the smoothie.
I wished I’d added a laxative to his.
“That’s not true.”
“Judith, you’ve always been the worst fucking poker player because you cannot lie. So don’t bother. In fact, I’ll rephrase it – you were banging her and she got cold feet which was why you started the Epic Sulk Era.” He put his glass down. “Not bad that,” he said, looking at the glass.
There wasn’t much point defending myself because I was a shit liar and I’d known Jesse too long for him to not see right through me anyway.
“What makes you say that?” Don’t defend, just deflect. That was probably the best strategy here.
“Jerrica is Amber’s sister-in-law, therefore they like to drink wine and talk. All the talk.” He shook his head. “Amber is best friends with Neva.”
“Neva told Amber?” I slapped my forehead as soon as I said it. “Unpick that later. What do you think happened?”
Jesse grinned smugly, the bastard.
“So something did happen with you and Neva? Get in there, son.” He was still grinning.
“Look, Jerrica likes your face for some reason, if you don’t want it to be rearranged then quit chatting shit.” My patience was not what it normally was, and normally it was pretty bad.
“Sorry.” He looked anything but. “Neva never said anything. It was when Amber was pregnant and they didn’t spend a ton of time together, but Amber and Genny, apparently, figured that Neva was seeing someone, but didn’t say anything about it. It was the same time you stopped shagging every female supporter between the ages of nineteen and thirty, so we knew something was going on – not necessarily with Neva though. Then you got all moody and stopped with the hooking up and started trying relationships. It’s been interesting watching you.” Jesse’s grin this time was marginally less irritating. “My boy grew up.”
“Fuck off.”
That seemed the best way to sum it up.
“Seriously, Judith, I saw how you and Neva avoided each other like you were both contaminated with sewage the second half of the break in France. It was amusing as fuck.” He chuckled, obviously entertained by the whole thing. “I did wonder what’d happened.”
I shook my head. There was no way I was going to go into details with anyone. Jesse wasn’t a gossip; he was a fucking vault when it came to keeping things to himself. He was one of the most private people I knew.
“You’re not going to tell me?”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing to tell. She’s made it clear she thinks I’m too young for her and that’s that.” I shrugged. “If that’s how she feels, that’s how she feels.”
He nodded. “Yep. Agreed. You good working with her on this project thing you’ve got going on?”
“I’m fine with it.” Because while I wouldn’t keep badgering her to change her mind, I’d make damn sure she knew exactly what she was missing.
NEW YEAR’S EVE, LESS THAN TWO YEARS AGO…
We’d managed to eat and dress, although the clothes we’d put back on gave easy access. Neva’s couch was new and firm, which made it a hell of a lot easier to relax on, knowing I was going to put my body through hell in the game tomorrow. I would be up against a defender who carried a huge grudge against me, which meant he was going to make my life as painful as possible. It was also forecast to piss it down, so I’d have a slippery pitch to contend with too.
Neva was curled up between my legs, her head resting on my chest. She was relaxed and soft, her oversized sweater drowning her, baggy sweatpants covering her legs, the waistband lose enough for me to slip my hand down.
I loved her being like this. There was a vulnerability to Neva that she kept hidden behind a fence of fierce, the determined sergeant major who found it almost impossible to crack a smile some days. But here, like this, she was peace and softness personified.
We were watching a music programme, live bands set up to bring in the New Year. Already fireworks were exploding in the distance, heard above the sound of the music and the crackling of Neva’s open fire.
I twirled her hair around my fingers, the warmth of her body seeping into mine. After midnight, I had every intention of peeling off those clothes and being inside her in front of her fireplace, a fantasy I’d had since the first time I’d visited her house for that McDonald’s take out.
I’d set the year off how I hoped it would go.
“Have you made a New Year’s resolution?” She shifted her head and looked up at me, eyes sleepy and hooded.
I had, but it wasn’t one I wanted to share. There was another I could though. “To be less impulsive. I’m getting better at it – I just want to carry that on. What about you?”
She smiled, shifting herself onto her belly on top of me. “To start working towards the things I really want.”
