Why can’t you be proud of the work we do and help us contribute in a way that means something?
It’s vain. Frivolous.
Playing games doesn’t keep the world turning.
Every single time we lost, every single time someone hinted that I wasn’t valuable anymore, I felt like my parents were watching, nodding their heads because they were right all along.
I sighed. Most games, I never even thought about looking up in the stands, even on the odd game that Lewis came to, because it was simply another reminder of how my family didn’t understand me, didn’t see exactly what I had accomplished in my life. Those empty seats in my mind lit every fire underneath me. And today, they hadn’t all been empty.
Not once, in all my years of playing, had I walked out of a loss with someone waiting for me. There was no telling how she’d react or try to handle me, so I braced myself for whatever it might be. I braced myself to see how she’d react, this girl I was supposed to be getting to know.
When I left the room, I stopped short in the doorway, because across the hallway was Lia, waiting for me with a smile and beautifully flushed face.
“Hi.” I sounded like an idiot.
Her smile spread even further. “That was so freaking fun.”
My head tilted. “We lost.”
“I know, but … oh man, you know how long it’s been since I’ve been at a game? Any game?” She laid a hand on her chest. “There is nothing like the energy in the stands. And holy shit, you were not kidding about the fans. I heard curse words I didn’t even know existed.”
What a balm she was to all the frayed, edgy parts of me leftover from the game. Not because she was trying to soothe me, but because she saw the beauty in it, even with the loss.
We fell in step as I walked us toward the exit to the car park. Her shoulder brushed mine.
I stopped. “You’re soaked.”
“It was raining out there,” she whispered, like she was telling me a secret.
My face felt hot. “Obviously. But that can’t be good for you.”
She waved that off. “Dude, I’m from Seattle. Rain don’t scare me.”
As Lia started walking, I couldn’t help but marvel. Her hair was a frizzy mess, barely contained on top of her head, she’d sat through that disastrous 1-0 defeat in the cold, bone-soaking rain, and she was acting like I’d handed her a winning lottery ticket.
“Who are you?” I asked.
Her smile was sweet. “Isn’t that what you’re trying to figure out? Who I am while I’m trying to figure out who you are.” She shrugged, as if it was so simple.
And maybe it was.
Maybe I was the one complicating it.
Everything in my life was complicated, though, except her. And that was the strangest part of all. I didn’t exactly know where I stood with her, but suddenly, it felt desperately important for her to be the one thing I should do right.
My team lost, probably because I was being a selfish arsehole.
But this was something I could do.
“Are you hungry?” I asked her.
“Yes.” Lia clasped her hands in front of her. “I’m not saying I’d murder someone for some fries right now, but I’d seriously hurt them.”
“Chips.”
“Hmm?”
I set my hand on her back, steering her back toward the exit. “They’re called chips, love. And if you’re okay with coming back to my place for a do-over, I will make you the best bloody sandwich of your entire life.”
Lia stopped walking and pointed a finger at me. “Do we need ground rules for being alone in a house together?”
“I don’t know. Do we?”
Clearly, she’d expected me to give her an actual answer. Lia blinked a few times.
I laughed. “Tell you what, if we make a promise to each other that tonight, clothes stay on … would that make you feel like we’re being responsible?”
She started walking, a tiny smile on her lips. “Just for tonight, we promise that?”
“For a start.”
Lia nodded. “I like it. Let’s make our own rules, McAllister. After you make me an epic sandwich.”
Close to an hour later, she was curled up on the corner of my couch, chin resting on her tucked-up knees, watching me with expectant eyes.
Before I set the plate down, I pointed at her. “No judgment until you try it.”
“I promise,” she answered solemnly.
Lia had changed into one of my Shepperton hoodies while her shirt was in the dryer, and it positively dwarfed her slim frame. She made a show of shoving the sleeves up while I set the plate in her lap.
Her hands froze. “What the hell is that?”
“You said you wouldn’t judge.”
“There’s bread covering my fries.” She blinked. “Why is there bread covering my fries?”
“Chips.” I handed her a napkin. “This is a chip butty. Buttered bread and chips.”
“Oh my gosh, why?
“
“You promised.” I plopped next to her on the couch. “And I’d hate to think you’d lie to me, now that we’re making our own rules.”
She grumbled something unintelligible under her breath that had me smiling. It felt good to smile over something so simple. When was the last time I’d done that? I smiled all the time about scoring goals and winning games, but that was it.
Doing something so simple for someone and having it bring me joy was such a novel sensation.
Lia gave me a side-eye as she lifted the sandwich.
She took a bite and chewed.
Her eyes fell closed.
Her entire body sagged.
And then she moaned.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.