Page 68 of A Match Made In Evan
“I…don’t actually follow the soccer,” I admit. “Ev’s lucky that I love him enough to come watch him play.”
Leo laughs and nods. “That’s fair enough. I watch it, but I don’t play it. But,” he grins widely, “Ava’sstepdad—yeah, I know, Iwas shocked, too, what with the whole soccer thing and all— her stepdad is the team captain.”
I blink. “Is that even allowed?”
“Apparently. I mean, nepotism happens in sport all the time. This is pretty much the same thing.”
Another cheer goes up and this time it looks like our team is close to getting a goal. We pause our conversation to watch the guys passing the ball and dodging the opposing players.
I have to admit, watching Ev run around all sweaty and in those shorts is actually kind of a turn on.
Then Ev gets the ball and passes it to Jack, then he makes a break towards goal and Jack crosses the ball back to him and Ev kicks it andholy shit, he actually gets it into the net, right over the goalie’s outstretched hand.
I push to my feet and cheer, only barely stopping myself from yelling out a proud ‘That’s my man!’ as the rest of us celebrate the point. When I check my watch and realise that there’s only another five minutes left, plus whatever stoppage time, I even get a little excited that my boyfriend might even have scored the winning goal.
“That was a fantastic bit of footwork,” Toby says, gesturing towards the pitch. “I can see why they switched up to the competitive games.
“I think their friend Brett basically begged them,” I nod, now more invested in watching the last few minutes play out. “His team was short a couple of members.”
“From memory, he’s the really competitive one, isn’t he?” Leo asks.
I nod. “Yeah. He’s obsessed with soccer. I think Ev said something about him originally wanting to play professionally, but he didn’t make it?”
“Hang on,” Toby interrupts with a frown, then he squints at the pitch, “I think I know that Brett guy. I think his kid goesto the school I teach at.” The way he says it does not sound complimentary. He looks back up at us. “The kid is great, but the dad’s a dick.”
“He didn’t seem awful the couple of times I’ve met him,” I shrug. “But it’s not like we had long chats, either.”
Toby shrugs. “Well, as long as he’s nice to your guys. And to Connor. Hey, Con,” he leans forward to talk to Connor, who is also on Jack and Ev’s social team, “what are your thoughts on the guy with the ponytail?”
“Which one?” he asks, leaning forward. “That Neville guy? Or Brett?”
I scan the pitch and realise there is another guy with his long-ish hair secured on top of his head in what might be classed as a ponytail if you squint. I’d call it more of a man bun, personally. However, he can’t be more than twenty-five if he was a day, and it’s fairly obvious Toby isn’t talking about him. All that aside, I do feel a bit guilty for not making more of an effort to get to know all the guys on the team. Leo obviously has.
Oblivious to my musings, Toby juts his chin in reply to Connor’s question. “The older one. With theactualponytail.”
“Brett, then. Why?”
I tune them out as Toby launches into his ‘small world, even smaller city’ connection. I check my watch again and note that there are only a couple of minutes left on the official clock, and the other team haven’t scored yet. I jiggle my leg anxiously. I’ve never been this invested in the outcome of a soccer game before.
When the whistle finally blows, I launch to my feet, cheering and clapping for the winning team —Ev’s team— as they shake hands with the other team and then trail off the pitch.
We get out of our seats and head down to meet up with the players, who are guzzling from water bottles and wiping off sweat with gym towels. Not caring that my boyfriend is sweaty and gross, I launch at him, congratulating him for his goal.
“You’re proud of me, huh?” he asks playfully, and I nod, grinning.
I’m aware of some of the others looking our way and, even though soccer has a reputation for being homophobic, I don’t care what these men think. I’m riding on the high of watchingmyboyfriend win the game for them.
“It was hot. My boyfriend, the goal-kicker.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the young guy with the man-bun’s lips quirk up into a little smile as he wanders past us. Something in the expression fleetingly reminds me of Joey, but then Ev’s snort distracts me.
“Oh, I see how it is. Success turns you on, yeah?”
“Your success does, yeah.”
To be fair, everything about him turns me on. We’ve been together for over eighteen months now, and I still feel like we’re in the honeymoon period of our relationship. Honestly, though, I hope that feeling never fades.
“Well, I was gonna shower here, but maybe I’ll shower at home instead.” The words are accompanied by an eyebrow waggle. “Want to join me?”
