Page 73 of King of Hearts

As requested, I waited outside the area reserved for family and friends when suddenly the door opened and I was yanked through. Andy hadn’t been kidding. There were paparazzi lined up outside the ground, television reporters filming the nightly bulletin and as I shuffled past, grateful for my winter jacket which I used as a shield to avoid being recognised, I heard phrases like, “accountability”,“credibility”and “transparency.”

Less than seventy-two hours ago the Hearts won what was an incredible match. Now, they were managing a multifaceted scandal which could have terrible consequences for many. Andy included.

Once I heard the click of the closing door behind me, I pulled the hood from my head and was met with a very stressed face mirroring my own feelings.

“Kieran, hi.” His tie was dishevelled and his shirt was untucked, something I had never seen from the normally put together agent. Things were clearly worse than I anticipated.

“Arna, I’m glad you’re here. Andy hasn’t spoken a word to anyone for the last two hours after a tense meeting with the coaching staff and it’s an absolute shit storm. The press are pushing for a statement and I’m doing my best to cover their fucking arses but they don’t make it bloody easy. I’m getting too old for –”

“Where is he?” I interjected softly, placing a calming hand on his forearm. The fallout was far and wide and Kieran was on the frontline.

“Sitting in the stands.” He sighed before adding much quieter, “He needs you.”

The air was crisp in the stadium as the sun sat low in the sky. Kieran held the door open for me but didn’t move to exit and I took that as a cue that I was on my own.

“Thanks, Kieran.”

“If anyone can bring him back, it’s you. Good luck.” His belief in the impact I had with Andy was comforting as he smiled resignedly, closing the door, most likely off to manage another player. He was going to need a vacation after this mess was cleared.

Andy sat high in the stands, his elbows rested on his knees, shoulders hunched and his head held in his hands. He was nothing like the man I spent long nights entwined with and that alone caused tears to well in my eyes again.

I sat down in the railed seat next to him, careful to pull the bottom down entirely before I put my weight onto it. When he didn’t move, I rubbed big circles on his back and grabbed his bicep with my other hand. Leaning my cheek against his shoulder blade, I took a deep breath of my favourite man and made certain my own emotions were at bay before I spoke.

“Hey, baby.”

Initially, he didn’t reply, didn’t even acknowledge that he noticed my arrival until he sighed long and deep and turned to me. His face was lined with a fathomless exhaustion which was starkly different to the man I knew. Lifting an arm and draping it around me he pulled me into his side and rested his cheek on top of my head.

“What are you doing here?”

Oh. I hadn’t told him I was coming. I was so caught up with what Darren wanted me to do that I forgot that I told him I loved him or that I was on my way. I turned up at his workplace without warning. I didn’t even check if he replied. Christ. There were names for people like me and stage five clingerwas one of them.

“Ummm, yeah – sorry. I should have called, or emailed seeing you love that so much.” I huffed a breath at my own joke but he didn’t even flinch. “Wrong time. I called Kieran as I thought you might be busy.” I mumbled.

“Come here.” He nudged me to sit on his lap and because I was not one to say no to him, and enjoyed being as close as possible, I straddled him doing my best not to press a little deeper, the warmth of his body so familiar.

Running my nails down the coarse hair lining his jaw, I lifted his face to mine and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“Rough day, huh?”

“The worst.” He exhaled again. “Someone saw one of, some of, or who the fuck knows how many of the boys snorting cocaine yesterday. It’s going to hit the news tonight and Hearts are releasing a press statement at the same time, but it’s a fucking mess.”

I kissed both his cheeks before placing another on each of his closed eyes.

“Okay, so not ideal. It’s not performance enhancing though so why is it this bad?”

“Hearts have a strict policy against drugs, Arns. All drugs. All teams do. Someone is losing their position on the team over this and I haven’t even been able to speak to Jack or Jay.”

“Oh my god, Andy. I’m so sorry.” I ran my hands through his hair realising the severity of the situation. “Is that what you and Jay were talking about last night?”

He looked up at me impassively before he nodded. “Yeah. Jay told me Jack and Dyl were in the bathrooms and someone gave it to them. He wanted me to go talk to them but I didn’t think Jack would actually do it, you know. And Dyl…” He trailed off, his words dripping with unspoken self-admonishment.

“You can’t blame yourself.” I said, shaking my head. “You’re their captain on the field, but he is an adult too.”

“He’s so young, Arns. He has his whole career ahead of him. Why would he be so stupid?”

I squeezed his biceps, ignoring what they did to me and did my best to reassure him.

“Are they sure he did it? Are you sure? What if they are mistaken?”

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