Page 45 of Playing for Possession
Elena narrowed her eyes, then nodded. “Fine. We’ve got enough here to work with.”
She stepped back, and a wave of relief went through me. Thank goodness it was over. Was that it? All that worry and buildup, and I’d earned my release from Fizzz prison.
Kieran whispered in my ear. “Well? Are you in? Are we staying?”
“What about our flights?”
He wrinkled his nose as if it wasn’t a consideration. “Easy to rearrange. No big deal. We’d just be a couple of friends, enjoying a few extra days on holiday. What do you say?”
He thrust his hands into his pockets. His expression was casual, but the slight twitch of his lips betrayed something inscrutable. What was that? Hopefulness? Uncertainty? It was crazy and reckless and completely unlike me, but I was supposed to be banging a different rhythm on my drum. What better way to start? If I stayed, I could have some fun. Maybe I could work through some thingson my list, and I could have dinner with my football hero. It was also more time with Kieran. Not something I should be craving, but I couldn’t help myself.
“OK.” My cheeks warmed at my eagerness. “A couple of friends on holiday.”
Chapter 20
Kieran
Daniel kicked the ball out of play, and I ran to retrieve it.
Joanie caught my eye on the sideline. “We’d better think about dinner soon.”
I bent over with my hands on my thighs, fighting to catch my breath. These kids could play for hours and their enthusiasm never dampened. “Dinner? Right. I’ll cook something.”
She fiddled with the fine gold chain around her neck. “We could go out for a change. I liked the look of that seafood restaurant we passed in Cala Galdana.”
My mouth felt dry. I still couldn’t believe she’d agreed to stay. My heart had been hammering when I’d asked her. I’d been so nervous because it mattered. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. The truth was, I liked her. I really liked her. But if I made a move, the deal with Mortimer would be over, and that didn’t bother me as much as Mortimer telling Joanie we’d made the deal in the first place.
Pink flushed her cheeks. “I mean, we don’t have to. Not if you don’t want to...”
“No. I want to. That seafood restaurant looked great.”
We stopped outside the front door of the villa while she fished in her pocket for the key.
“Thank you.” Her soft gaze came to rest on my face.
“What for?”
“For asking me to stay. I’m so looking forward to getting to know Carlos better. Everyone on the team will go wild when they hear I’m having dinner with him.”
“Carlos. Right.” A swift shadow of disappointment went through me. She liked Carlos. That was the only reason she wanted to stay. Of course she did. Who wouldn’t like Carlos? He was good-looking and personable. He laughed louder than anyone I’d ever heard. He also had a Ballon d’Or as a doorstop.
It shouldn’t have made me feel so jealous and sick inside, but it did. Joanie was the good girl sitting next to me in class who I fancied but found myself pushing away instead of attracting her. I’d been a nightmare at school. The teachers hadn’t known what to do with me until they put me on a football pitch. I’d never taken orders. Never been able to follow rules. Pity I couldn’t go back and repeat science, because with Joanie I finally understood chemistry. Maybe it was for the best that she liked my friend. The rules here were clear. Be a good boy and get everything you want. I’d already slipped when I could have sworn I heard her moaning my name. It shouldn’t have been this difficult.
“Carlos is a great guy. I’m not surprised you like him.”
She bit her lip. “I like him as a player. I don’t like him... in any other way.”
“Because you’d never be interested in a football player?”
Her eyes locked with mine, and her voice came out a breathless whisper. “I suppose you should never say never.”
I found myself reaching for her hand without knowing why. Her palm was smooth and small in mine. I should have let her go, but I’d just wanted to touch her. We’d shared these momentson this trip, and it had been fun, and now I didn’t know how to communicate that it meant something to me. Thatshewas starting to mean something to me. I tugged her lightly toward me. She could have held her ground, but she took the step forward, closing the gap between us.
The setting sun made the rich tones of her hazel eyes sparkle behind her glasses. They were lit from within with mesmerizing gold. Not something I would have noticed before without looking this closely. All that beauty and strength she had inside couldn’t be contained. It glinted in her eyes because it had to find a way to the surface. Every interaction with Joanie was like uncovering treasure.
She peered at me, and all that mattered was the space between our lips in this moment and how I’d die if I didn’t dissolve it. I smoothed my thumb over the back of her hand. She hadn’t let go of me. She could have, but she hadn’t.
“We’re friends, aren’t we?” I asked.
