Page 38 of Going Overboard

Kira jabs him in the ribs with her elbow, hard. He doesn’t look like he even feels it.

Brody smiles like he’s enjoying this far too much.

‘Well, we just hit it off,’ he says casually. ‘At your wedding, actually. We’ve been inseparable ever since, haven’t we, princess?’

Ugh, I wish he wouldn’t call me princess. I know, it sounds sweet, and it’s probably good for the act, but I know it’s him teasing me over the stupid valet parking thing. What can I call him that he’ll hate just as much?

‘Yep, inseparable,’ I reply.

‘In all ways,’ he announces.

‘Okay, boo, they don’t need to hear about that,’ I say, placing a hand on his arm, squeezing it just hard enough to tell him to cool it on that front for now.

‘I find that hard to believe,’ Nikki chimes in.

‘Do you though?’ Brody replies, his dimples deepening as he tries to stifle his smile.

‘That you’re so serious, so quickly,’ she adds.

I tilt my head and smile.

‘Well, it’s only a week less than you and Todd have been together,’ I point out, saying it like I really do believe that true love can take hold in a week or two.

Except I don’t. Not at all. There is just no way that Todd and Nikki got together after they broke up with me and Brody. That would be wild, to figure it out in a couple of weeks, fresh out of their perfectly synchronised break-ups. Come on!

‘Go on then, what could you two possibly have in common?’ Todd asks, folding his arms as he leans back in his chair. ‘You hate sport.’

‘So what?’ I reply, shrugging it off.

‘So I didn’t think you’d ever date a professional sportsman,’ Todd says.

I can’t help but turn to look at Brody because I obviously didn’t know that about him. He gives me a wink.

‘I mean, who wouldn’t want to date a professional sportsman?’ I say, turning back to Todd, keeping my game face on.

‘I’m sure Brody won’t mind me saying this,’ Nikki pipes up, ‘given how we’ve all moved on… but he’s the self-proclaimed bad boy of cricket.’

‘No, the press call me that,’ Brody corrects her.

Can that even be a thing? I thought cricketers were sensible and posh. I definitely didn’t think it had bad boys.

‘The point is…’ Nikki continues, looking me in the eye now. ‘…he’ll never settle down. That’s why we broke up.’

‘Okay, come on,’ Kelsey says quickly, nipping it in the bud. ‘It doesn’t matter, does it? We’re all adults here. We can do what we want.’

I need to say something, to speak up for myself, to defend my man, to take control of the situation. And I know just the thing.

‘Maybe he was just waiting for the right girl,’ I suggest as I straighten up my cutlery.

I daren’t even look at Nikki. I’ll bet she’s furious. Serves her right though – both of them – because supposedly they’ve moved on, so why is it me and Brody who are the main topic of conversation?

‘And the right girl is right here,’ Brody adds, reaching out to take my hand. ‘And we have loads in common. Like, the fact that you come to the gym with me every morning without fail. The couple that trains together stays together, don’t they?’

He smiles at me. I can see the mischief behind his eyes. We’re in the thick of it, thinking on our feet, barely keeping it together and he’s using it as an opportunity to mess with me. Well, two can play at that game.

‘I love working up a sweat with you,’ I reply to him. ‘And I love how in touch with your feminine side you are with me. We love a spa treatment, don’t we? We’re pretty much going to live in the ship spa, aren’t we? Getting all kinds of treatments together.’

‘Brody… in a spa…’ Nikki says in disbelief.

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