In Your Corner | ✓

Thirty-Five

Either Jonny can't help himself, or he actually enjoys being subjected to my fierce glare, because the triumphant grin stretched across his face right now kind of makes me want to smack him.

The redness in my cheeks also kind of makes me want to slap myself, too.

So, what if Josh is my boyfriend now? It's not something to be embarrassed about. In fact, I want to scream it from the rooftops and tell the whole world that we're together now.

It's just that Jonny looks so smug and self-righteous, as if he's about to tell me he knew all along, that he told me so.

"Stop looking at me like that," I warn my oldest friend, flames of irritation flickering in me.

He just continues to beam at me across the console, clearing not taking my threat seriously.

Not that I blame him, really. I'm five-foot-three, while he towers over me at six-foot-something. I may pack a punch but I highly doubt I've got anything on him.

It's later on that evening and I offered Jonny a lift to dinner at Dad's, because I feel like he's been with me through a lot of this. It only makes sense that I tell him first, before the others.

I'm not sure what my Dad will have to say about that, though.

Huffing, I put the car in drive and pull away from Jonny's place, hoping that it'll go smoothly.

Except, of course, it just doesn't work out that way.

Jonny takes one look at Andrei when we get there and blurts out, "Natty's got a boyfriend!"

Letting out a loud whine, I slap a hand to my face. "Jonny!"

Andrei's eyes are wide, Anita and Pat have matching dumb-struck expressions, but that's not what I'm focused on.

Dad stands in the doorway through to the kitchen, his eyebrows raised and his arms folded across his chest, eyes boring into me.

As the quiet settles, Jonny clearly realises his mistake and audibly gulps. "Uh, well, you know, Papa Choi, I was just..."

Andrei, thankfully, reaches out and pulls the blabbering man towards him, clamping a hand down over his mouth and putting him in a friendly but effective headlock.

I look back at my Dad, my stomach churning. "Well, you know, that wasn't really quite how I was planning on telling you, Dad."

The thing is, Dad's actually such a big softie, so he just breaks out into a big smile, crossing the room and pulling me into his arms. "It's who I think it is, isn't it?"

I huff out a breath against his shoulder. "Literally everyone saw it coming, huh?"

He chuckles, kissing my temple. "Yes, sweet pea, even your old man."

When the clamour eventually settles down, we're able to actually sit at the table and have the meal that we'd planned.

"So, are you going to bring this Josh boy around to one of these dinners?" Pat asks, pointing a fork in my direction. "So that we can all meet him."

I stick my tongue out at him, just because I feel like it. "I mean, do you bring your wife around, Pat?"

Dramatic as ever – clearly, he spends a little too much time with Jonny – he rolls his eyes to high heaven. "Erin and I have been married for fifteen years, Natalie. You already know her."

"Josh and I have been together for a day," I shoot back, my eye roll rivalling his. "So, you know, give us a second to figure it all out."

It still feels a little funny to say that Josh and I are together. The last few months have been full of Josh: when I've not seen him, I've been thinking about him, wondering where he is and how he's been coping. He's been a huge part of my life recently, but for some reason, it stills feels funny to say that we've finally taken the next step.