Page 88 of Off the Pitch

“True, but where’s the fun in that?” He kissed me again, this one deep and slow, melting me from the inside out. I was his, utterly and completely.

My hands reached around him, grabbing his ass and pulling him closer, groaning against his lips at the feel of his muscles under my fingers.

Somehow, I didn’t think we’d make it to the bath. Not that it mattered. We had the whole night, and our whole lives, ahead of us.

The End

Chapter One

KitDid you know a bolt of lightning can toast 100,000 slices of bread? I’m not sure I could eat that much toast

DavidI love you. But it’s 3 AM—go the fuck to sleep

Kit

“Okay, so the Tesco order is coming tonight between seven and eight. I’ll text you a reminder, and I put a note on your computer. I ordered you lots of different things, so for the love of God, please remember to eat them before they go off, especially the vegetables.”

I smiled, nodding along as my best friend and about-to-be-former housemate David listed everything he’d organised for me now that he was moving out. This was at least the third time he’d been through everything, but it was rather sweet. He reminded me of an overbearing mother hen.

Ever since David had decided to move in with his boyfriend Christian a couple of weeks ago, his normal sergeant-major levels of bossiness had increased exponentially. I hadn’t minded because I knew it meant that David cared, but even so, it was starting to wear a tiny bit thin. I was twenty-five, not five, and perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

Then I remembered last week when I’d attempted to work for nearly two days straight until David had come back from Christian’s, peeled me from my office chair, and forced me to eat something because I’d forgotten to feed myself.

Maybe he did have a right to be worried.

“Kit? Kit are you listening to me?”

“Yes,” I answered, because I had been. Sort of. I could do two things at once. I repeated the information about the Tesco order while David stared at me. It felt like being back at school and being forced to repeat lines of poetry or historical facts. My teachers were always convinced I wasn’t listening. Though half the time that was true.

David nodded when I finished, obviously satisfied, before launching into more instructions—this time about when I needed to put the bins out and something to do with the electricity bill. Not that I needed to worry though because knowing David he’d written it all down anyway.

“—and if you forget anything, I’ve put it all in a Google doc and sent you the link.” Bingo. Ten points to me. I tried not to smile while he continued, even though I wished he’d just stop for a minute so we could spend our last few moments together without him lecturing me.

“Babe, are you still talking?” Christian’s voice was a welcome interruption from the floor above us. I looked up to see his blond hair peeking over the bannister, although I couldn’t see his face.

“He is,” I said. “I think he’s worried I’ll forget something.”

“Well knowing you, you will,” David said with a smile that told me he wasn’t being mean.

“It’s not like you’re going far,” Christian said. “Kit can always text you if there’s a problem.”

I knew there was a reason I liked Christian—he seemed like the sensible one. The one who’d balance out David’s overdramatic streak.

I hadn’t been able to figure him out at first because he always seemed nervous whenever he was around me, and I couldn’t understand why. David had always said I was about as terrifying as a kitten. It wasn’t until David had explained that Christian was worried that people would find out he was gay, and that as a professional footballer he was apprehensive about their reaction, that it had started to make sense.

There was a clattering sound, and Christian appeared at the top of the stairs with another box to take down to the van they’d hired. Since David was moving into Christian’s very lovely house, he didn’t need to take any furniture with him, so it was just a case of moving all his stuff. Although there seemed to be a lot more than any of us had imagined. It was probably because we’d been living here since our second year of university, and he had undoubtedly acquired a lot of stuff over the course of the past six or so years.

“How many more boxes are there?” David asked as Christian handed him the box, wincing slightly. I assumed it was full of some of David’s many, many books. This was why I’d never wanted to study something like history—far too many heavy books involved. I enjoyed reading… just not textbooks.

“A few more, but I think we’re nearly there!”

“Thank fuck,” David said, shuffling towards the front door. “I’m gonna need the biggest Chinese takeout later.”

“You’ve hardly done anything,” I said as I followed him outside. He shot me a hard look, but it was the truth. David had spent most of the past few hours talking at me while Christian packed the last of his things. Christian’s twin sister Lily and her partner Harper had been around to help too, but then they’d taken off to go and see another flat.

Lily had been living with Christian for the last nine months, but apparently, she’d decided now that David was moving in permanently, she wanted to live elsewhere. Since Harper’s lease had come up for renewal, they’d decided to take the plunge into cohabitation as well.

Also, Lily had joked that she didn’t want to stay in the same house as David and Christian because they were ‘disgustingly in love and sickening to be around’.

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