Page 40 of Playing for Possession
Kieran snorted. “Don’t remind me.”
Ramirez raised an impish eyebrow and shifted his playful gaze to me. “Do you want to hear about it? Kieran loves it when I tell this story.”
Kieran shot Ramirez an indulgent glance. “Not again. I’ve heard it enough times.”
“What does once more hurt?” Ramirez’s eyes twinkled, and he turned to me as if about to share a great secret. “Everyone was talking about this English wunderkind. How incredible he was. How he was going to blow us all away. So we’re all there waitingfor him. Remember, this is the youngest player we’ve ever signed. No one knows what he’s capable of. He has this floppy hair, and he looks kind of scrawny to me, like a stiff breeze could blow him away. He’s sweating and squinting in the sun. Kid doesn’t speak a word of Spanish and he’s glaring at us all. He walks out and the first thing he does is trip over his own laces and go sprawling face down on the pitch. People are laughing.”
Kieran rolled his eyes, but there was a bashfulness in his expression that I’d never seen before. I took a sip of my wine, hoping it might make me relax enough to enjoy this story.
Ramirez chuckled and went on.“I felt sorry for this new kid, so I went over to help get him back on his feet, but he’s furious. He bats my hand away and stands up by himself. I say, ‘Don’t worry, kid. Ignore them.’ What does he do? He looks me dead in the eye and says, ‘You should be worried, old man. None of you will be laughing in a minute.’”
Ramirez threw his head back and laughed. “Old man! The nerve. Anyway, I’m spitting fire now. He gets back on his feet and we play. I think, ‘I’m going to put him back in his place and teach him a lesson,’ so I go in for a slide tackle, and I send him flying again.”
Kieran swirled his wine in his glass. A trace of humor edged his voice. “It was quite a graceful fall, as I recall.”
“You went down like a sack of potatoes. This kid just lies there in the mud muttering to himself. I held out my hand again to pick him up, and I won’t repeat what he said to me this time.” Ramirez sighed and eased back in his chair. “So what does he do next? He gets one touch on the ball and no one can get it off him. He annihilates us all. I’ve never seen a player with this kind of skill. And then he just saunters off the field. Not a word. We’re all standing there wondering what has happened. This cocky English kid has wiped the floor with us. Everyone was cussing him out. Ithought, ‘This is the most obnoxious little shit I’ve ever met in my life, but this kid is going to change everything for this club.’”
Silence swirled around us. Kieran rubbed the back of his neck, and his cheeks looked a little pink. I’d never imagined Kieran could look abashed about anything. It was so cute, I almost forgot my nerves.
Ramirez sat back in his chair and dusted his hands together. “And he did. We went on to win La Liga, the Champions League, Super Cup... everything. At Madrid we expected to win, but this was special.”
“I didn’t make the best first impression. In my defense, I was on a pitch with the best players in the world. I felt like I’d won a competition to spend time with you all,” Kieran said.
Ramirez laughed, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Kieran’s face. It was rare to see him so relaxed and self-effacing.
I cleared my throat and hoped my voice didn’t come out too squeaky. “So after that start, how did the two of you become friends?”
Ramirez clamped a hand on Kieran’s shoulder. “Because he’s the most driven player I’ve ever met. His standards are sky-high, and he might be obnoxious, but that angry, scrawny kid grew up to be the most loyal man. He’s been there for me in some dark times.” Ramirez shot Kieran a gentle smile. “It was tough to retire. Kieran helped me through it. That’s the thing about this kid. He won’t ever let you down.”
Kieran shifted in his chair uneasily. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You were always on the other end of the phone. It made all the difference.”
“And you were always there with the best advice.” Kieran cleared his throat and inclined his head to me. “Maybe you have some advice for Joanie. She’s coming back from an injury.”
Ramirez appraised me with shrewd eyes. “That’s never easy. I’ve always had a problem with my cruciate ligament. Damn thing. What is it that keeps you going?”
I picked at a spot on the wooden table and tried to summon a response despite my skittering pulse. It was whatever it was that had made me so adamant about the bikini. It was hard to put into words under the intense gaze of two of the world’s best.
“I can’t stop until I’ve done enough for the sport. It’s about visibility. Women’s football isn’t just important to us. It’s about proving that women can play this game. That means something to all women. There was a time when it was illegal for women to play football in England. Can you imagine? So many women have fought for what we have now. We’ve come so far, but there is still so much further to go. I want to normalize little boys looking up to the women’s team, not just girls.”
Ramirez studied my face. “It sounds like it’s about legacy.”
“Right. I want to make a legacy.”
Ramirez leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful expression. “Legacy. I like that.” He beamed, lifted his glass, and chinked it against mine. “¡Salud!I’ll cheers to that.”
I looked up to find Kieran watching me. He quickly transferred his gaze to Ramirez. “What about you? How’s life treating you?”
Ramirez propped his neon-orange shoes on a chair. “Look at these. My own brand of sneakers. The business is going from strength to strength.”
Kieran nodded. “They look good.”
“It’s going to be even better if I get you endorsing them.” Ramirez twisted his feet, admiring the shoes. “If you’re happy to do this drink commercial, then you can do one for me, eh?”
Kieran’s brows drew together in alarm. “I didn’t even want to do Fizzz. Don’t give me something else.”
“Oh, come on. Think of it as a favor. Me and you in a partnership. I’m trying to get this tennis player. She’s French. You know the one. Screams every time she whacks the ball. I don’t know if she’ll do it. You’ll look good together.”
