Tonight he’d received a hand-knitted beanie from his mum that he planned to wear on morning runs, a beautifully crafted picture frame from his dad, a plant that was perfect for his place from Ísa and Sailor, and a vintage bomber jacket from Jules and Jake. Jake had found it online, then Jules had embroidered the back with Danny’s playing number.

Gabe and Charlie had given him a journal that Gabe had hand-bound, the art one he’d picked up due to Charlie’s continued efforts to get him to relax. But prior to giving it to him, his big brother and sister-in-law’d had all the children in the family make their usual birthday drawings in the journal while the rest of his family—and his friends—had written messages inside.

Danny cherished every single gift.

Catie, of course, had stuck to their long tradition of pranking each other on their birthdays by getting him a bobblehead doll—of himself. That wasn’t a sponsorship item, so she’d gone out and found a doll that she’d then customized so it looked like him… except that it wore a red bikini. He’d laughed so hard when he’d unwrapped it that he’d almost fallen off his chair.

Now he said thanks to the guys and Noelle and opened the box. Inside was a black enamel pin in the shape of a rugby ball engraved with his team number in the national squad and the number of times he’d been capped as part of that squad. It was thoughtful and beautiful and it punched the air out of his gut.

“Wow,” he managed to get out. “This is amazing. Thank you.”

Everyone smiled, but he could feel Catie’s laser eyes on him. She knew him too well. She didn’t say anything, however, as they made plans for the rest of the night. It ended up being a few drinks, dancing, then a late dessert stop at a downtown cookie bar. By then Noelle and Catie and Leon were best friends while Jarod and Nirav were giving him the thumbs-up every time he looked around.

“Thought you two were doing it for a laugh at first,” Nirav said to him at the restaurant, after the women went off to the bathroom. “But she’s really great. Why the fuck did you wait this long?”

Danny shrugged. “All good things take time,” he intoned like some wise guru.

While his friends laughed, Danny battled a strange heaviness in his gut, formed by the knowledge that this wasn’t forever. Not for Catie. She was sure they were going to crash and burn. He was beginning to think the opposite, but relationships weren’t made by a party of one.