Page 7 of Once Upon A Player
The prognosis is good, everything’s textbook, but until I’m officially given the all clear, there are no certainties. I suck in a deep breath and ignore the slither of panic coiling in my gut.
Focus on the positives.
Coming from an academically brilliant family like mine, discovering something thatIexcelled at was a lifesaver. This career won’t last forever, and I’m fine with that, but I don’t want it cut prematurely short due to injury.
Because what the hell would I have left?
Chapter Three
Violet
Stop thinking about him.
Such good advice. But I can’t get Lucas’s sexy smile or gorgeous blue eyes out of my head, even after he leaves with Yolanda.
It’s gone two before I leave, and I still have the rest of his penthouse to clean. Looks like Iwillbe going back there tomorrow morning. I just hope he’s right and the rest of the place only needs a quick dust. I could’ve done it today and got it out of the way, except I need to pick up my little brother, Sam, from school.
The school doors open, and I catch sight of my eight-year-old brother yakking his head off with his mates, his cap askew and backpack hanging off one shoulder. When we get to the car, he pulls off his blazer, tosses it onto the back seat, and then proceeds to talk nonstop all the way home. He’s seriously exhausting, and by the time I park on the drive, my head’s killing me.
To be fair, the headache doesn’t have as much to do with Sam as it does with the whole Lucas thing, and at least my brother’s adorable while he’s being annoying.
Lucas is pretty adorable, actually.
I groan and grip the steering wheel, while Sam tears up to the front door without bothering to take his backpack or blazer with him. The problem is, Lucasisadorable, and even though it’s a well-documented fact that if flirting was a sport he’d win gold at the Olympics, I’m still basking from those smoky smiles he directed my way.
“Ugh.” I shudder before opening my door and yelling at my brother. “Sam! Mum’s in bed. Don’t bang on the door.”
I grab his stuff from the back seat and let him into the house. Mum, of course, isn’t in bed, but wrapped in a fluffy blanket on the sofa. While Sam tells her about his day, complete with amateur dramatics and loud enough so the whole street can hear, I put the kettle on and devour a banana, since I haven’t eaten a thing since breakfast. I really need to knuckle down and finish my assignment, but I’m not sure I could concentrate. Which ispathetic.
Lucas won’t even remember my name by the morning.
When Sam runs out of steam and charges upstairs, I take Mum a cup of tea and curl up on the other end of the sofa. I messaged her a few times during the day to see how she was, but she always saidfine, which I didn’t exactly believe.
“Are you feeling any better?” She doesn’t look it. She’s suffered with Crohn’s for years, and although I should be used to her flare-ups, when on the worse days she can hardly move because of the severe abdominal pain, I’m not. I’ll never get used to them. Not when it always gives me flashbacks to the first attack she had, when I was nine and there was just me and her in the house and I thought she was dying.
Don’t think about it.
“It’s eased off a lot.” She takes a sip of tea. “I’ll be back on my feet by Monday, no problem.”
“Hmm.” I need to tell her about the extra work at Lucas’s, so she can bill him for the additional hours, but the stupid thing is I’m not sure where to start.I saw Lucas Carter in nearly all his naked glory today?
“Everything go okay at the penthouse?” She smiles at me over the rim of her mug. “I told you it was money for old rope, didn’t I? Though I expect that’ll change once he moves in.”
“Half his team turned up last night and left a lovely mess in the sitting room. I need to go back in the morning to finish off.”
“What? Oh no, I’m so sorry, sweetie. Were you there all this time? I thought you must’ve gone off and met Katie or something.”
Katie is my one and only friend, as all the other girls Monica and I used to hang around with decided to ditch me and stick with her after the Great Betrayal. Funny thing is, Katie and I used to be best friends, from the first day we met at primary school right up until we went to different high schools. We only reconnected a couple of years ago, and she and Monica never clicked.
Probably had something to do with the fact she can’t stand anything to do with football, whereas it’s always been an integral part of Monica’s life.
I shrug to let Mum know it’s no big deal. “It’s fine.”
“Let me know how many extra hours it all comes to, and I’ll sort it out with Bec.” She sighs. “I suppose this is a sign of things to come when he moves in.”
It probably is, but I have the insane urge to defend him. It wasn’t all down to him, and hedidoffer to help clear up. Several times.
Luckily, I manage to keep my mouth shut. Mum didn’t ask if Lucas was there, and I’m not going to volunteer the information because it’ll only make her stress and she can do without that.
