Page 259 of Off the Pitch

“Hugo is the world’s worst goalkeeper,” Jordan said as he finished.

“That’s only because neither you nor Liam could actually score. I thought you were supposed to be professionals?” I said as I sat down on Kit’s other side. Kit grinned, and his hand found my thigh under the table, squeezing it gently. My husband looked even more beautiful in the sunshine with the light dancing off his bright hair. Christian and David brought out the last of the food, and Pig found herself deposited on the floor, much to her chagrin.

“Nope, still going with you suck.” Jordan grinned and began helping himself to new potatoes.

I threw my head back and laughed. I loved these days, and I cherished them. It was still amazing to me that, even after all this time, we were all still close. I’d once been worried that when I retired and transitioned into management, we’d all drift apart, but that hadn’t happened. We’d all seemed to grow closer as the years went on.

One of the reasons I’d been hesitant to take the Hounslow job was because I was worried about everything changing again, but I also knew that was a silly reason to turn it down. Besides, I got the feeling now that England had won the World Cup, things were going to be changing anyway. We were all getting older, and I couldn’t see Christian playing for much longer. Liam already played for another London team, and I had no idea what Jordan planned to do next.

Things had changed, and they were going to keep changing, but that didn’t have to be a bad thing.

“Hey Jordan,” I said. “Can you pass those potatoes, please?”

* * *

Jordan

I slid the bowl of new potatoes down the table to Hugo and continued to help myself to food. Running around with the kids was exhausting. I’d rather play a full ninety minutes plus half an hour of extra time.

“How was the meeting?” I asked Félix as everyone around us became wrapped up in their own conversations. Félix had been called into the office for a quick meeting with one of the Trossero Environmental Group’s other branches. Both of us agreed it was ridiculous to do it on a Saturday, but apparently it was an emergency.

“Not great,” he said. “There’s been an oil leak from a tanker off the coast of Costa Rica, and they’re worried it’s going to affect the wildlife, which is a valid concern. We’re going to shift some funds around to get them some extra help—more equipment, staff, volunteers—things like that. Lara’s going to go out tomorrow to oversee it alongside Dr. Rigg, who’s based there. She’ll help coordinate.”

“Lara will be good at that. She knows that place better than anyone in the London office.”

“Yes, everything’s in good hands.” Félix nodded and smiled softly. Lara, his eldest niece, had ended up working for the environmental group not long after she’d finished school. It had started as part time admin work because both Félix and Lara had agreed she needed to start somewhere. They’d also agreed that she’d go to university, but it was her choice what to study. She’d picked environmental science and now worked on one of the planning and coordination teams at the trust, mostly focusing on her beloved turtle fund.

Félix looked around and leant down to whisper in my ear, “Did you tell everyone yet?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m not doing it today. Maybe next week, or y’know, after we’ve moved.”

“You have to tell them at some point.”

“Maybe this was a mistake,” I said, spearing a piece of steak and pushing it around my plate. “Liam already knows. I don’t have to tell everyone else.” I felt Félix’s stare boring into the side of my head as I continued to push the piece of meat around my plate. It probably came with a raised eyebrow, like most of Félix’s disapproving looks.

“It’s not going to get easier the longer you avoid it.”

“Since when did you get so fucking wise?”

“I’ve always been like this.”

“You’ve definitely not. It’s ’cos you’re middle aged now. Like fifty.”

“I’m forty-fucking-six,” Félix grumbled, then he lowered his voice. “And I can still teach you exactly how to behave.”

A little shiver ran across my skin, and I smirked at him. “And I look forward to it.”

“You have to tell everyone first, or you get nothing.”

“Asshole.” I shook my head and shoved the steak into my mouth. When I’d started thinking about what was left in my career before the World Cup, I hadn’t been expecting an offer from the Major League Soccer club, Santa Monica FC. I knew several guys who’d gone over to the States to play since the pace was a little easier and the money extraordinarily good if you’d had a good Premier League career. It was the perfect place to step down if you didn’t fancy retiring or heading down to one of the lower Premier League teams or into the Championship division.

It wasn’t like I didn’t love playing for Greenwich, but I’d been there for my whole career, and I was thirty-one now. Sure, that wasn’t exactly old, but it did mean I had maybe five or six years left to play, barring any major injuries. I’d been lucky to have the amazing career I’d had so far, but the prospect of doing more time warming the bench or winding down my contract with minimal play time wasn’t doing it for me. And I didn’t fancy joining another English club where I’d have to come up against the guys from Greenwich and probably lose. That wasn’t my style either, self-centred as it was.

But Santa Monica had offered me playing time, a stupidly large amount of money, and the prospect of some sunshine. Félix and I had talked long and hard about it, and in the end, I’d decided to take a three-year contract with them. I knew I’d miss Greenwich, and I’d miss London, but the move wasn’t going to be forever, and I was planning to travel back regularly. Besides, Liam had already moved on and so had Hugo, and I was ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure Christian was going to retire soon. We’d had a long heart-to-heart one night at the World Cup, right before the final, and he’d said if we won, he’d have nothing left to achieve.

I got the feeling he’d soon be up on the BBC and making the school run instead of spending his days running up and down the pitch. I was happy for him, but I wasn’t ready for retirement just yet.

The only fucking problem was that now that everything was starting to go through, I was really fucking nervous, not about the move but about telling everyone. Félix had already bought us a house, and he would be setting up a new branch of the environmental agency in LA, so that was all in hand. I was excited for our new adventure together.

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