Page 37 of Off the Pitch

I could feel my dick trying to get hard again and had to try and will my body to calm down. I was not facing the two nosey bastards downstairs with an obvious semi.

“Don’t worry. I’ll wash that one for you,” I said, trying to change the subject as Christian looked around for something to do with his shirt. He smiled as he handed it over, then stepped closer to me, wrapping me in a hug and burying his face in my chest.

He was so fucking perfect, and I couldn’t believe he was mine again.

Chapter Sixteen

GREENWICH 2 BURNLEY 0

Player Ratings to the theme of Christmas Food

Merry Christmas! But avoid the sprouts…

greenwich fansite

Christian

A couple of days after Christmas, Lily and I were curled up on the sofa under a giant fluffy blanket, flicking through Netflix and BBC iPlayer, trying to find something to watch amongst all the Christmas reruns. The remnants of a large tub of chocolates was wedged between us, although now it was mostly our least favorites, like the coconut ones.

It was pretty much my perfect night. Except we were missing David, who was currently trying to use the Christmas holidays to catch up on writing his thesis and was undoubtedly buried under a mountain of paperwork at this very minute.

I’d offered him an office space here instead of his old dining room table because it wasn’t as if I didn’t have enough room, but he’d made the excellent counterpoint that if he was here, he wouldn’t get any work done. That was a point I couldn’t argue with, even if it did mean that I missed him a lot.

We’d already managed to spend most of Christmas together, which had been utterly amazing. I’d talked Mum and Lily into hosting a big Christmas at my house for the three of us, plus Kit, David, and his mum Julia—not that they’d taken much convincing. I’d come home from my morning training session to find everyone packed into the kitchen, laughing and cooking and dancing along to Lily’s Christmas playlist. Not that I’d been allowed to help do anything in the kitchen. David had just sat me in the corner with a kiss, saying my job was to sit there and look pretty, since nobody trusted me to even peel potatoes. The food had been delicious, even if I couldn’t eat as much as I really wanted, but I’d been completely astounded when Kit had produced this huge ice cream bomb dessert. He’d just shrugged and said it wasn’t a big deal while the rest of us stared slack-jawed. Well, all except David who’d muttered darkly about show-off artists and how they didn’t cook on a regular basis. I’d just laughed and offered to eat his slice too if he was going to complain about it. The look I’d gotten had made my insides squirm deliciously.

But the best part of the day had been the presents.

Ever since I’d gotten my first professional contract and the signing bonus that went with it, I’d loved spoiling people. There was just something about watching people’s faces light up in delight that made me go all gooey. The only problem was that I tended to go a bit over the top.

My first idea for David had been a new watch, since he was always complaining about needing one. But Lily had vetoed my idea of a Rolex, saying that would make David uncomfortable. I’d agreed, eventually, but that hadn’t stopped me from buying him a new laptop. His old one was on the verge of dying, and since David moaned about it at least once a week, I figured it would be a good idea. I’d even remembered not to get him a MacBook since he hated them.

Watching him open the box and stare at it, without even swearing, had been the highlight of my day. Especially because I didn’t think I’d ever seen him speechless before.

Instead he’d leant over and pulled me into a deep kiss, and even though it had been in front of everyone… I hadn’t cared. All I’d felt was pure happiness.

It had been perfect.

I just wished the weekend would hurry up and arrive so I could see him again.

Sighing, I gave up on Netflix and passed the remote to Lily. Technically, it was my turn to pick, but I was always rubbish at choosing. Besides, half these shows were things I wanted to watch with David instead.

“David’s going to come round this weekend. Is that okay?” I said, rooting around in the tub of chocolates in the hope of finding a spare toffee one.

“What about the game? Isn’t Mum coming to this one?” Lily asked, speedily typing the name of a film into the search bar.

“Mum said she’s not really fussed because it’s been so cold lately, so I just got two tickets. I thought you and David could go together.”

“Okay. Are they just in the stands or the team box?”

“Just in the stands. I thought you’d probably see better that way. Besides, David won’t know anybody in the box, and that won’t be fun.”

“Okay.” Lily didn’t sound convinced, but I wasn’t going to push it. I’d had to beg for two tickets in the stands because technically the game was sold out, even though there were usually a couple left over for official visitors. “Is this your way of asking me to go stay with a friend, then?”

“Why would you do that?”

Lily chuckled. “’Cause I really don’t need to listen to the two of you.”

“Listen to what?”

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