They were chanting his name. Then Udo was lost in a sea of arms patting him on the back and shaking his hand.
Javier grabbed Steven and hugged him.
“Well done, Steven,” he said.
They broke and Steven wiped his eyes. He nodded to Javier and they walked out onto the touchline to applaud their players. There would be media reports about how Steven was visibly moved or some such nonsense.
“Do you think they’ll lay off now the season’s ending?” he asked Javier.
“Course,” he replied. “It dies when there’re no games. Fuck knows what we’ll be faced with next season.”
Steven chuckled. “It’s going to be interesting. That’s for sure.”
The ref’s whistle blew to resume play. They only had to hang on for ten more minutes and the game would be theirs. Steven and Javier returned to the dugout to wait.
Shaun couldn’t meet his gaze as he sat down. If he was serious about a transfer, Steven wouldn’t be sad. He might be an excellent striker but the attitude he’d shown this season had been unacceptable. It would be the best for everyone.
They settled in to nervously watch play. Javier dug in his bag and handed Steven an envelope.
“What’s this?” Steven exclaimed.
“Relax, will you?” Javier said. “It’s a night’s stay in a hotel nearby. I figured you should reunite in style. A car will pick you up when Udo’s changed.”
Steven grinned. “Thanks, boss.”
Udo ran past their touchline. Their eyes met. Steven gave him a wink. Deep down, he knew this was the beginning, not the end.
“We’re going to do well next season,” Javier said.
Steven nodded. “I think you might be right.”
It always seemed strange to celebrate a win when playing away. Being too raucous was disrespectful to their hosts. Of course, for their mortal enemies, Canonbury, they would do that on purpose. They had no beef with Bournemouth, so they kept the noise down.
Even so, Steven was on cloud nine. He went to every player and thanked them, making sure he mentioned a positive of their play that day. He wanted them all to go on holiday feeling good about being a Brockton FC player.
When he got to Udo, he froze.
“What do I say?” he said.
“Tell him he scored a fucking brilliant goal,” Adam shouted. “You can save the sex talk for later.”
All the lads burst out laughing.
“Ooh, Udo. You’ve scored in my heart,” Ewen said, clutching his chest.
“Why thank you, Mr…Cox,” Goran replied, breathlessly.
This made everyone laugh all the more.
Udo blushed.
“All right, you lot,” Steven said.
Alain came forward. “When I was seeing Freya in finance, you ripped the shit out of me. Sorry, Mr…Cox, you’re fair game next season.”
Steven beamed. “I can’t think of anything I’d like more. Thank, lads.”
He turned to Udo. “We’re not going on the coach. Hurry up and get changed. There’s a surprise.”
