Page 150 of Off the Pitch

“Yeah. Hugo’s new boyfriend is a vampire,” Micah said with a smirk.

“For fuck’s sake,” I said. “I’m never living this down, am I?”

“Nah, mate. Never.” Jordan laughed, clapping me on the shoulder, and I sighed. “Come on, let’s see how slow you are now.”

The training was very gentle—short jogs and sprints that I didn’t find as hard as I’d been expecting. Alex produced a couple of balls and split us into groups to pass them back and forth between us, and although my aim was a little off and my passes not as clean as I would have liked, it wasn’t a bad first attempt.

Afterwards, I stood and watched as the team started doing more intensive drills. I itched to join them, but given the way my body was already aching and sore, I knew I wasn’t ready.

“Good job,” Andy said, patting me on the shoulder. “We’ll start upping your fitness from tomorrow.”

“And we’ll be upping your physio too,” Ellie added, a wicked glint in her eyes.

“You’re both just planning on torturing me.”

“Little bit.” Andy laughed. “You might need to cut down the extra-curriculars,” he said with a smirk.

“Oh my God! You too?” I groaned. I loved Kit, but we were definitely going to be having words. No more hickeys. No matter how much he liked them, or said he liked being able to show the world I was his, or how good it felt when he licked and sucked on that spot on my neck. No more.

Except I didn’t get a chance to bring it up because when I got home, Kit was sitting on the sofa wrapped in one of his giant jumpers, bits of shredded paper littering his surroundings, and I knew something was wrong.

“Kit?” I said as I crouched down next to him and laid my hand on his leg, trying not to make him jump. He had a habit of getting lost in his own world, especially when something was bothering him.

“Oh, hello.” He peered at me from behind the stray strands of hair that had fallen across his face. “I didn’t hear you come in. How was training? Did you get to join everyone else for a bit?”

“It was good,” I said. “My passing doesn’t suck as much as I thought it would!”

“That’s good,” he replied, twirling the pencil he held in his fingers. “I had a phone call today.”

“Who from?” The tone in his voice suggested it hadn’t been something good.

“The insurers. My house is ready.”

Shit. I’d completely forgotten about his house.

That sounded stupid, but in the past few months, Kit had completely slotted into my life and my home. It didn’t even feel like just my house anymore, it felt like ours. I was used to waking up with him curled up next to me or coming home to find him bouncing around the kitchen or hunched over his computer, his tongue poking out as he concentrated. I couldn’t imagine him not being here. And I didn’t want to.

Surely it wouldn’t be stupid to ask him to move in with me?

It would be even stupider for him to leave.

I wanted to ask him to stay, to tell him that he didn’t have to go and that he belonged here with me. “What are you going to do?” was what I asked instead.

“I… I…” Kit hesitated, and hope blossomed in my chest. If he was hesitating that had to mean he wanted to stay.

My mouth opened, the words ready to trip off my tongue, when there was a sharp knock on the door. Both of us looked up, glancing at each other. I hadn’t ordered anything, and by the look on Kit’s face, he wasn’t expecting anything either.

And deliveries were usually left downstairs with the doorman.

“Are you expecting someone?”

“No,” Kit said, shaking his head. “You?”

“No.” The knock sounded again, so I followed the sound, hoping it was someone who was just lost.

But when I pulled open the door, my mouth dropped open in surprise. It was Hélène. With a tray of cupcakes.

“Hello?” I said. Shock must have been evident on my face because she smiled.

---