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“About?” Liam asks, sitting on the bench pitch side and fastens the laces of his rugby boots.
I pick up the kit bags ready for our team and start walking out towards the grass, praying that talking to him isn’t a bad idea. “A woman.”
Liam grabs my arm, stopping me. “You need help with a woman?You?” His tone is teasing.
“Funny,” I deadpan. He slaps my arm in jest, finding humour in my desperation, but I don’t find it all that funny. “I’m serious. I need help.”
“Let’s start from the top, then,” Liam suggests as we walk further onto the field.
“I, uh, I want to prove to her that I’m not a screw up and that I can do the whole commitment thing, but how the fuck do you woo someone?”
He laughs so loudly that it makes me want to low key punch him. “Firstly, never say you’re wooing someone again. You’re not eighty. Second,” Liam pauses, assessing me by raising an eyebrow. “Do I know this woman?”
Fuck. This was a bad idea. “Uhhh, no, but that’s not the point. The point is I’m trying to not fuck this up any more than I already have. She’s important to me.”
Jesus, I’m sweating.
“If she’s important to you, are you bringing her to the wedding?” Honestly, Liam knows I know he knows. Or maybe he doesn’t. The one and only message I’ve got from Nora was last night, telling me Jess knows everything. I tried to find out if Liam knew, but he said Jess was sleeping when he left this morning and he was already asleep last night when she got home.
He’s my best friend and I want to be honest with him, but I don’t know that I can just blurt out that I’m falling for his sister-in-law yet. Or that I may have broken her heart before telling her I’m falling for her.
“No, we hadn’t talked about that exactly.”
“Why not?” he asks.
“We’re going off topic man I need help. Can you help me or not?”
I hadn’t realised that our team had gathered around us at this point, all their wide, innocent eyes are on us, waiting to see what happens next in my sad little love life story. “Sorry boys, having girl problems.”
They all groan as though they know exactly what that feels like. I hear Liam snigger under his breath.
“Like love problems?” Buddy asks, as he pushes his long dark hair out of his eyes. I nod honestly.
Our resident Mr fix-it, Giles, pipes up from the side of the group. “In my opinion, you’ve just got to love her man. Love finds you wherever you go. I’ve been hiding from girls who love me since I was five. They keep finding me, so just do it.”
Solid advice from an eight-year-old.
“How do you even fall in love?” asks Buddy.
Shit, this conversation isn’t exactly part of the rugby syllabus. I scratch my head hoping Liam will field some of these for me.
“I’m pretty sure someone has to get shot by a baby with an arrow or something, but I don’t think the rest of it is so painful,” answers Isaac, our wicked little runner. The smallest out of the bunch, but fast as a rocket on the field.
Jude, the best kicker of all these kids, narrows his bright green eyes, a dead serious look on his face as he says, “Just tell her you own all the sweet shops in London. She’ll never leave you alone.”
How these kids have any idea of love, or I guess, more of an idea about love than I do, a grown man, is terrifying. But what’s more terrifying is that I might have to listen to them because my co-coach is too busy sniggering behind me.
“Alright, thanks fellas, you’re all doing me a solid with the advice. Shall we start by doing two laps? Go, go, go,” I shout and they all sprint like their lives depend on it. I turn to Liam. “It’s a sad state of affairs when those eight-year-olds have better advice than you.” I point my finger at him before storming away.
“Hey, all you need to do is buy that sweet shop, man.” Liam catches up to me and slaps my back.
Guilt slams into me and I realise that I need to tell my best friend.
“It’s Nora,” I blurt. His eyes darken with several emotions, surprise being the one that seems to stick to him the most.
“Nora?” he confirms, his fists curling at his sides and I nod, mentally preparing myself for the punch that could very well follow. “As in Jess’ Nora? My soon-to-be sister-in-law, Nora?”
I nod gingerly. “I’m… in love with her,” I say out loud for the first time and its freeing, releasing the pressure that’s been sitting on my chest for weeks if not longer. I’m in love with her. Fuck, that’s scary but it’s a different kind of terrified from the other night, only because I want her to love me too.
