Page 51 of Dominate
THE NEXT MORNING,SLOAN ANDI leave Cape Verde bright and early so I can workout at home a couple times before training starts back up with the team. Winter break is over and I need to do everything I can to prep for our match against West Ham United next Saturday.
The flight is longer on the way home. Time ticks by slowly as Sloan lies stretched out across my lap, sound asleep and perfectly beautiful. An ominous feeling grows inside my gut the closer and closer we get to Manchester.
Being in love on holiday is easy. Being in love in the real world will take some effort. What will we look like back in the real world? Will Sloan go back to not seeing me when she has Sophia? Am I going to meet Sophia properly sometime soon? Does Sloan have a timeline in mind for when I get to become a part of both of their lives?
I’m trying hard to think with my heart like my mother wished for me, but my head is grappling for a goal right now and it’s two-footed.
When it’s finally time to land, Sloan sits up to slide her seatbelt back on and I can tell she feels it, too. The fear that things will be different.
“You have a couple of days before Sophia comes home. Do you want to stay at my house?” I ask, my voice low as we climb into the vehicle that’s waiting for us on the tarmac.
Sloan shifts nervously. “Is your home…safe?”
My brow furrows as I open the door for her and watch her step into the vehicle. “Yes, it’s safe. But if you’re not comfortable there, we can stay at yours.”
Her face is pensive when she asks, “What about the press?”
I shrug my shoulders dismissively, then slide in next to her, tossing my hand on the back of the bench so I can turn toward her. “My agent emailed while we were away and said things have died down. We should be okay as long as we’re not walking around in public together.”
“I still don’t think I’m ready to go back to your house, so mine would be best,” she replies, pulling her lip into her mouth and staring out the window, her legs angling away from me instead of toward me.
I’m a defensive player, so I’m good at reading body language. Whatever’s happening right now isn’t good. The driver starts the car and I direct him to Sloan’s address.
Once we’ve ridden in silence for a few minutes, I ask, “What is it, Sloan? Is it the house or us?”
She inhales deeply and looks over at me. “I need to talk to Callum.”
I stiffen at the mention of his name. “About what?”
“About us.”
“Why is it any of his business?”
“Because I need to be proactive and control the message.”
“What bloody message, Sloan? I love you and you love me. Why would he give a toss? He’s the idiot who let you go.”
“I know, but he and his mother are very controlling, Gareth. You don’t know them like I do. Horrible as she might be, Margaret loves Sophia dearly. I have to be careful that they don’t find out about us before I tell them. They’ll turn this into something unseemly.”
My brow furrows. “You mean because I’m a professional footballer?”
Sloan shrugs. “They will dig up everything they can on you, I’m sure.”
“So let them!” I exclaim with a bark. “Sloan, I don’t have a nasty past. Compared to my brothers, I’m the fucking pope.”
“Didn’t you assault your sister’s ex-boyfriend?” she asks, her eyes not leaving mine.
My teeth could crack I’m clenching them so hard. “He deserved it.”
“I’m not judging, Gareth, but they will,” she replies, wringing her hands in her lap and turning to face the window again. “And they will see the press about the break-in and attack. It will all come out.”
I huff out an annoyed laugh. “So what? This is over before it’s begun?”
Sloan’s head snaps to me. “No! Why would you say that?”
“Because you’re acting as if I’m a burden to you.”
“I am not! I’m just telling you I need to be in control of this situation. That’s all. Just fucking be there for me and stop being so intense about everything!”
