When Theo is forced to look away from me again, I let out the breath I didn’t realise I was holding.
“We should go,” I mutter.
“And miss him killing every motherfucker on that pitch, wishing it were me? Nah, let’s stay for the entertainment.”
“There’s something fucking wrong with you.”
“Takes one to know one.”
My lips part to argue, but I soon discover I don’t have any kind of comeback because, yeah, I’m as fucked up as the best of them.
“You came,” Stella screams once the game is over and we’re all piling out into the car park.
“It would seem that way,” I mutter as I get jostled from behind and my heart jumps into my throat, thinking that it could be Theo.
“Why aren’t you more excited? You just watched your husband slaughter All Hallows in front of your very eyes,” Calli damn near squeals.
She’s not wrong. According to the crowd around us, something changed after we arrived because suddenly All Hallows couldn’t keep up, and in the final fifteen minutes of the game, the score went from a boring nil – nil to three – nil to the visitors faster than anyone could believe, thanks to Theo’s right foot.
The thought of it being because of me, of being the one that really lit a fire under Theo’s arse and spurred him on makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Not that I’m going to admit that.
“Did you see the way he was looking at you, girl? You’re in for a good night.” Stella winks.
“I think we’re going to head home. This was a bad idea.”
Xander nudges me with his shoulder in disapproval, but I can’t help the gut-twisting feeling that I’ve made a massive mistake.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Stella warns me. “We’re going to the hotel to get ready then everyone is meeting in a bar called The Cellar, or something.” She waves it off. “And, I brought you the perfect outfit.”
“Tell me it’s not pink,” I demand, not realising that I’m totally conceding to her plans.
“Yes, girl. This is going to be the best night ever. And no, it’s not pink.”
“Fuck it. Let’s go,” I sigh.
“Follow us, yeah?” she says to Xander. “I got you a room just in case.”
“Stella,” I warn.
“What? I was hopeful.” She winks, sharing a conspiratorial look with Xander.
“Seriously. You two were in on this?” I sulk, stalking off toward Xander’s bike.
“You’re cute when you’re pissed, Shorty,” Xander points out with a smirk.
“I’m never fucking cute. And if you want to return to London with your balls still attached, you won’t call me it again.”
“You need to get laid. Sooner rather than later.”
“So do you with the number of times you’ve brought sex up tonight.”
“I’m a guy. I always need to get laid, Shorty.”
“Fucking men. Fucking pain in the arse, horny douchebags,” I mutter, much to his amusement, as I pull my helmet on. “Get on then,” I hiss at him when he just stands there watching me.
His eyes lift to something behind me and a wicked smirk appears on his lips.
“Sure thing, Princess.”
I wait for him to throw his leg over before doing the same and snuggling into his warm body once more.
It’s not until he’s backed out of his space that I realise what, or who, caught his attention. Standing like a fucking statue in front of the players’ entrance where there’s a crowd of supporters, including Stella and Calli, is Theo. And he’s staring right at us.
His eyes lock on mine through my visor and a tremor races through me for all the promises of things to come that linger in his dark green depths.
A chuckle rumbles in Xander’s chest as we pass and I slap him once more.
Sometime soon, he’s going to really regret poking the bear.
17
THEO
“Drink this, you miserable motherfucker,” Alex barks, slamming both a glass and a bottle of vodka down on the table in front of me.
Dad ensured that the entire top floor of this hotel was booked for us this weekend. We’ve got one suite, Toby and Nico another, and the girls have the other.
The girls and… him?
My blood boils as I think about him touching her, comforting her, having her coiled around his body like a fucking snake as they rode off together.
Ignoring the glass, I reach for the bottle.
“Bro, you won us the fucking game. You’re meant to be on top of the fucking world right now,” Seb points out.
I am. Well, a part of me is.
Seeing her standing there in the crowd ignited something inside me I’ve never really experienced before. The strength of my need to make her proud of me, to impress her, to prove to her that I’m not just some privileged fuck-up who likes to watch her get off like a creep, was quite frankly, disturbing. But it pushed me forward. And thank fuck it did, because we were heading toward having to walk off that pitch at ninety minutes with a fucking nil – nil draw. Not fucking good enough.
I’d rather lose fairly than have a fucking goalless draw.
Seeing the look on Ben’s face when he failed to stop me from putting the ball in the back of their net for the third time in less than ten minutes was fucking beautiful. Almost as beautiful as my girl standing in the crowd with a wide smile on her face.
I have no idea if she knew she had even reacted to my success, but her smile meant fucking everything to me. Her presence, despite her bodyguard, meant everything to me.
“I’m ecstatic about that,” I tell them both.
“Well,” Alex mutters, “did you want to tell your face?”
I flip him off and take another shot from the bottle.
“Whose fucking idea was it that we couldn’t see the girls until we leave for The Cellar?” Seb sulks. “I could really fucking do with a victory blow job right about now.”
“Mine. Asshole. It was my fucking idea to stop you both abandoning me for pussy,” Alex pipes up happily.
“Like you do every fucking time we go out?” I ask. “All it takes is a girl to glance in your general direction and you’re in front of her panting like a bitch in heat.”
“I am not. And anyway, you’re just jealous because I get more girls than you.”
“Jealous. Yeah. That must be fucking it. Did you manage to get rid of the crabs the last skank gave you?” I ask, my voice deadly serious.
“Once,” Alex spits. “It happened once. Can you fucking leave it in the past now?”
“Un-fucking-likely,” Seb offers, swigging from his own bottle while Alex mutters in irritation.
“Just think, if you didn’t ban the girls, you could be having silent one-on-one time with your right hand at this very moment.”
“You know,” Alex says, standing up sharply as if something just bit his arse, “you two are such killjoys now you’re pussy-whipped. I’m gonna go find Nico and Tobes. At least they still know how to have fun.”
“Ouch,” Seb says, covering his heart as if Alex’s words actually hurt him. “One day you’ll meet a girl who turns you to the dark side, man. And I’m fucking here for it.”