Page 227 of Off the Pitch

Christian beamed, his face radiating barely controlled excitement. “He said yes.”

“Yes!” I hissed, trying so hard not to leap up and start yelling, settling instead for a mini fist-pump. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Me too,” Liam said, reaching through the gap in the chairs to squeeze Christian’s hand. “So fucking proud of you.”

“Thanks.” Christian flushed and his grin seemed to spread even farther. “And thanks for all your help as well. Everything was perfect.”

“It’s alright,” I said. “We’re good at this now.”

“Yeah, we can help with the wedding planning if you want,” Liam said. “Just don’t let Jordan near the flowers.”

“Oh my fucking God. Are you still mad Ali liked my choice over yours?”

“It was my wedding.”

“Yeah, but you have no fucking taste, mate.”

“I think you’ll have to fight Lily and David on that one. They were already muttering something about venues when I left. Although I don’t know if they’ll do much with David coming to Italy next week and Lily heading to Vegas for a gig.”

“That’s something,” Liam mused. “At least you won’t get back and they’ll have planned everything.”

“Yeah, don’t count on it,” Christian said. “I wouldn’t put it past them.”

“Newly engaged and you made England captain. You’re having a good month, mate,” Liam added.

“It doesn’t feel real to be honest. Still not quite sure I deserve it.”

“Yeah, you fucking do,” I said, poking him through the seats. “Next time you say that, I’m gonna throw water at you. Or I’m gonna tell David.”

“Alright, alright.” Christian held his hands up in mock surrender. “You win. I deserve it.”

“Fucking right you do. We all deserve it,” I said, leaning back in my chair and gazing at the Italian countryside as it sped past. “And we’re gonna win.”

The training centre was perfect. It had nice bedrooms with decent-sized beds, for once, a spacious lounge we could all chill in together, and amazing facilities for us to train in—from a huge, state-of-the-art gym, to a large, well-maintained training pitch, to an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Liam and I were rooming together, while Christian, as captain, managed to get his own room. I didn’t mind though because Liam and I had shared for years, and we had the whole thing down to a fine art.

I sat on my bed, the one farthest from the door because Liam was always up before me, and pulled out my phone. Félix was currently in Los Angeles, which meant we were currently nine hours apart, and the time difference was driving me nuts. Eight hours had been bad enough when I was at home, but given how strict my schedule was here, I doubted we’d get to speak at all. The only time we might manage it was if I got up early and Félix was still awake. Seven in the morning here would only be ten at night for him. But that would mean getting up early, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that given the rigor of our training schedule. I fired off a couple of messages, not sure whether Félix would be around to reply, but I’d promised I’d let him know when we arrived.

JordanGot to the training centre. It’s proper lush

JordanHope your meetings aren’t too boring today

FélixPlease kill me now and save me from having to go to my meetings!

FélixWho’d have known that meetings were actually just two-hour discussions with pompous idiots that could’ve been easily resolved in an email?

FélixI need alcohol. Is 8 a.m. too early to start drinking?

JordanLOL Good morning to you too!

JordanAnd yeah, a little too early. You gotta wait till at least noon

FélixFuck!

FélixI wish you were here to help me relieve stress… This bed feels very lonely without you and your perfect, sexy ass

JordanDon’t fucking start that! Liam is literally sitting on the bed next to me, and I cannot get a boner right now

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