Page 6 of Star Rucked Lovers

They chatted for hours, discovering any number of things they had in common. They’d lived in the same suburb of Sydney as kids, though attended different schools. Myst was five years younger than George, but they still found a few shared acquaintances, favourite cafes and places they liked to visit.

It wasn’t until the first grey light of dawn began to filter past the blinds over the hotel room’s curtains that George looked at the time and realised to his horror that they’d been texting all night.

OMG. I should go. I’ve got to be on a bus to the airport in 2 hours.

Holy wow look at the time! I’m sorry. So hopped up on adrenaline I couldn’t sleep, and I’ve kept you up all night.

He smiled, reading that.I never noticed the time, enjoying chatting to you too much.

Me too. Hope you get some time today to nap. I’m not flying until tonight.

I’ll be fine. Safe travels, I’ll talk to you later.

A knock on his door made George start and drop the phone on the bed beside him. “Yes?” he called.

“Breakfast in thirty,” a voice called. “Look lively!”

“I’m moving.” He pushed himself off the bed with a sigh, heading for the shower. He should be exhausted after being awake all night, but he didn’t feel too bad. It’d probably hit him later, which at least would be a good excuse to go to bed early and would make team management happy that he was setting a good example.

Emerging from the shower, he found there was one more message on his app.

Looking forward to talking again soon.

He couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.

Chapter Three

George got very littletime to himself on tour, between training, team meetings, organised outings, press interviews and game preparation, but over the next few days he managed to exchange quite a number of text messages with Myst, talking about anything and everything, getting to know each other the best way they could without being able to talk in person. They managed a couple of late night Whatsapp calls, too, and it was during one of these when Myst mentioned she’d been asked to present an award at a show in London.

“Sounds like fun,” George said.

“Well… I was wondering if you’d like to come with me. It’s the same day you arrive in London.” She cast her long lashes down, peeked back at the camera. “I mean, you’re legitimately someone who teenagers look up to, so me bringing you would make total sense.”

It was the kind of media opportunity he was always encouraged to seek out, too, so he didn’t think there would be any issue. Promising to find out and let her know as soon as possible, he was rewarded with a devastating smile, one which made his heart turn over in his chest.

George strongly suspected he was going to spend an evening in her company just staring at her dumbstruck and looking like a fool, but he couldn’t make himself care.

After thinking about what Jessie had advised, he eventually decided that he needed to admit the truth to the team manager and ask if he could co-opt Zoe’s services occasionally. He didn’t want to ask Zoe to divide her loyalties, and he really didn’t want secrecy to come back and bite him in the ass.

The manager, Joel, eyed him over his glasses as George stumbled through an explanation that he was, maybe, sort-of dating Myst.

“And?” Joel prompted finally.

“I want to meet up with her in London. She’s invited me to escort her to the Teen Idol Awards, which is three days before the game.”

Joel swung back and forth thoughtfully on his chair, obviously thinking through the implications. “You still have to obey team regs,” he said finally. “No alcohol at the event, and I get that you’ll probably not make curfew because these things run late, but don’t be out until dawn. You’re to be on the field training with everyone else the next day, and you’ll be on my schedule from then until kick-off.”

“Yessir,” George agreed. “And, er, the night of the game…”

“Playing a concert, is she?”

“At the O2,” George agreed.

“Once the press conferences are completed.” Joel nodded, returning his attention to the stack of papers in front of him. “And after that, the tour is concluded; there’s a recovery session Sunday morning and we’ll have a video wash-up Sunday afternoon, but after that your time is your own until you fly home. Whenever that is.”

George had planned to fly home a couple of days after that, but he didn’t actually have to. He wasn’t required to return to pre-season training with his club for another four weeks. Looking up Myst’s tour schedule he discovered she was headed on to Paris after London, then Amsterdam, Stockholm, Oslo, Munich, Berlin and more, a full European tour for the next two months. It felt presumptuous to book himself on a flight to Paris, but he figured it would be pretty easy to do it if he needed to, though he should probably check with Zoe if he needed any visas.

With a quiet thank you to Joel, he slipped out and headed back to his room. He’d send a message to Myst first, letting her know he had permission to go to the awards show with her.

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