Page 80 of Couple Goals

‘When I got your text saying you didn’t want to see me anymore, I was in the middle of having a big conversation with my dad.’

Adriana’s head jolts up, watching him. Jacob’s face is serious but calm.

‘I had asked him to meet with me a while ago, and he had finally, begrudgingly I might add, found the time to fly over from – I can’t even keep track of where in the world he was–’ he shakes his head, makes a gesture of trying to get himself back on topic. ‘It doesn’t matter. What matters is, I had wanted to talk to him to formally step back from my position as club director.’

Adriana’s stomach flips,and she blinks her big eyes at him.

‘You’re resigning? But… But why?’

‘Getting to know you has made me believe for the first time that I really am not like my father.’

Adriana’s heart swells. She can’t stop herself from reaching out and squeezing his hand in support.

‘It made me realise that in order for me to be proud of myself,’ he continues, ‘and to have any chance at happiness at work, or indeed outside of it, I needed to stop working for him. I told him I wasn’t the right fit for the job.’

‘But I thought you were… I thought you found it satisfying? Being so good at it?’

He shrugs, lines crinkling at the side of his eyes. ‘My heart wasn’t in it.’ He hesitates for a moment, then meets her eyes. ‘My heart was elsewhere.’

‘Oh,’ she’s nervous to hear what this means. ‘Go on.’

‘I don’t want you to think that I resigned just because of you, because of us. I want to be clear that I also have been feeling this way about working with my father for a very long time, you just helped me realise it was untenable.’

He sighs, unclenching his jaw.

‘But it would be a lie to say that it wasn’t a big factor for me. You. Us. And I don’t mean this in any kind of pressurised way, I honestly don’t believe I’ve given up a job for you so it has to work. I just want to be honest that I haven’t felt this excited about someone before. I haven’t felt that it’s soright.In the end it was the easiest decision I could make.If the job was getting in the way of us developing our relationship even further and causing us to have to keep it a secret when I want to tell everyone how mad I am about you. I want to give this a proper shot.’

Adriana launches herself onto his lap, and snuggles up to him. She tucks her head onto his broad chest, and his long arms clasp round her giving her that feeling of safety and home. He strokes her hair, kissing the top of her head, and for a moment, she feels completely blissfully happy.

But then she remembers about her side of things. About her doubt of whether Jacob had a role in getting her the captaincy.

‘I emailed Coach,’ Adriana whispers, scared to break their happy bubble. ‘Turning down the opportunity to be captain.’

She feels Jacob nod slowly above her.

‘Ms Hoffman did inform me of your email,’ he says. ‘I think her exact words were “what the hell has gotten into you quitters this week?”’

They both chuckle a little.

‘She was very concerned about you,’ Jacob says, Adriana hearing his low rumble from his chest. ‘She really did feel terribly responsible, and I know how much she wants to learn from this and improve the experience for players now. Before I resigned, I’ve signed off on new mental health guidelines and free therapy for any player who wishes it with budget ring-fenced for it.’

Jacob strokes Adriana’s hair. She is breathing easily, finds it almost hard now in this state of peace to remember, the crushing tension in her chest that had been coming and going with terrifying unpredictability these last weeks.

She breathes in Jacob’s smell, the light clean fragrance of his shaving foam and fresh laundry, and the light cedarwood cologne he wears on his neck deliciously close to her nose, the earthy saltiness of his skin underneath.

‘So we find ourselves in a position where both of us have resigned from the job that hindered us from being together,’ Jacob notes.

Adriana nods into his chest.

‘There is one thing I wanted to clear up and that is that I did not have anything to do with Ms Hoffman choosing you as captain. Well–’ he clarifies. ‘Apart from agreeing with everything she said about her reasoning. If anything, I fear I might have nearly stopped her.’

Adriana sits up to look at him, frowning.

‘Because when she came to me with her recommendation,’ he says, ‘my first question for her was have you asked Adriana what she wants?’

Jacob smiles sheepishly, removing his glasses and cleaning them on his grey sweater. ‘Apparently she had not considered that. I said that if you wanted to accept the position, it would have my every blessing, but I think it’s important for you to know it was on your own merit.’

Adriana feels her cheeks flushing. She had got so worried that Jacob had pulled strings for her but the only part he had played was making sure it was what she wanted.

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