Page 64 of Dominate
Gareth shrugs. “If you think she won’t look in there.”
“She probably will. She’s always in my freaking closet. Freaking hell. I was going to talk to her today about you not being just my friend, but my boyfriend.”
Gareth’s face contorts slightly at the last word. “Isn’t there something better you can call me? I’ve always hated that word. It sounds childish,” he grumbles, running a hand through his hair.
My eyes fly wide. “This is so not the time to discuss your feelings about a silly word, Gareth. We have to figure out what to do with you before she gets back!”
“Right,” he retorts, then looks behind him. “Window?”
“You know what?” I rush past him and pull back the curtains. “This little trellis here is no different than a ladder really.”
“Obviously the exact same thing,” he deadpans.
“We’re desperate!” I open the window and nearly die when the alarm begins blaring loudly. “Shit! Freaking shit, freak, shit!”
I run over to the panel by my door, quietly cursing Gareth out for having the ridiculous alarm installed in my house in the first place.
Finally, I type in the code. When all goes silent, I hear Sophia shouting from her bedroom in a bored tone. “Mummy, did you set off the alarm again?”
“Yes, Sopapilla! Silly me. It’s off now!” I call back casually, then hurry over to Gareth as he throws his leg over the window frame.
“God, this is something Tanner would do,” he mumbles under his breath as he positions his feet on the trellis. “I’m supposed to be the responsible brother.”
“Yeah, yeah. Get going. I think I hear her coming,” I say as he begins to lower himself.
“It’s a good thing I love you,” he whispers as he takes his first step down.
“Wait!” I stick my head out the window. “Go around to the front of the house and ring the doorbell like you just arrived to pick up your balls or something.”
His brows lift as an amused smile spreads across his face. “Balls. Got it. Anything else, boss?”
I bite my lip and lean my head further out the window. “Kiss.”
With a naughty smirk, he climbs back up one step and plants a chaste kiss on my lips.
“I love you,” I rush out. “Now don’t fall because I’m pretty sure you’re worth a lot of money to that football team of yours.”
I close the window on his chuckles. Then I manage to pull the curtains shut just as Sophia bursts through the door with her eyes wide. “I got it, I got it! I’m going to go wake Freya up to tell her I can do it by myself now!”
“Sophia, wait!” I cry out as she turns to run down the hallway. If she goes outside, she may run into Gareth. “I, um, need a little cuddle first.”
Sophia sighs and shakes her head. “Oh, Mum, you’re so needy sometimes.”
ENGLAND TEAM CAMP IS GRUELLING. Gary Austin is not a manager to keep it light in order to avoid injuries. He requires high-intensity participation throughout the entire camp. Since this isn’t the first time I’ve trained with him, I’m not at all surprised. My brothers, on the other hand, are a different story.
“Christ, this is a sweet, sweet form of hell on earth,” Tanner baulks after his mile-long cooldown run. He yanks down the sweatband around his forehead and groans, “It’s your fault we’re here, Gareth.”
“My fault?” I ask with a laugh and tip my head back to squirt some water into my mouth. “I didn’t pull any favours to get you guys here.”
“Austin makes Dad look like an angel,” Camden huffs as he joins us on the sideline. He bends over to grab his water bottle and takes a swig. “This reminds me of my first camp at Arsenal. It was killer.”
Booker jogs over next, having just finished his goalkeeper session on the far side of the pitch. “Hiya, guys,” he says happily, his voice smooth and completely at ease.
“Why aren’t you puking?” Tanner asks, staring at Booker like he has two heads.
“Why would I be puking?” Booker asks, pulling off his keeper gloves and dabbing the sweat on his temple with his forearm.
“God,” Tanner scoffs. “Keepers have it so easy. What did you guys do over there? Sit down in a circle and visualise stopping the ball?”
