None of them knew about my divorce. And even if they did, why should they care? I wasn’t part of the team; I was a member of staff. There was a difference. Subtle but undeniable.
It wasn’t on them to manage my emotions or hold back on celebrating their friend because I couldn’t get over the fact I’d married the biggest dickhead in Manchester.
I stepped back slightly, making it look like I was giving them space, and cut off the recording. I’d ask West later if he was happy for me to include it or if he’d prefer me to completely scrub it. It wasn’t like I needed it, and even if I’d been short of footage, I’d never have put any of them at risk for content. Their personal lives were just that: personal. And I wasn’t about to be the sort of cunt who ignored their boundaries for clicks.
“You all right?” Danny asked and I realised he was stood next to me, watching the unfolding chaos with amusement, the lollipop he’d taken from me still clutched in his hand.
“Just trying not to get crushed,” I said, sliding the phone into my pocket.
“You don’t usually film these things,” he continued, still not taking his eyes off his teammates, who were now trying to pick West up. It was a little like watching a team of the Chuckle Brothers.
“Leigh has food poisoning.”
“You’re not going to be doing this regularly then?”
“Probably not, why? Did you want me to?”
He shrugged. “You look good behind the camera. I wouldn’t mind seeing you there more often.”
I blinked slowly. Was Danny flirting? Or was he simply being friendly? Fuck it, I was going to take a punt. I didn’t have anything to lose. “I mean, if you want to see me more often, all you have to do is ask.”
“Yeah?” Danny asked, not quite hiding his nerves. “Where would I do that?”
“You know where to find me. And if not, my office is upstairs.”
“Cool. All right.”
The moment hung in the air between us, something unspoken lingering but I couldn’t say exactly what it was. It had the vague shape of a bad idea, but there was a shadow underneath it that called out to me in sweet, hungry whispers.
I glanced down at Danny, whose eyes flicked up to me for a second as a tiny smile curled the corner of his mouth. “What? Have I got something on my face?”
“Just your moustache,” I said, idly wondering if I should be filming the team’s attempts to hoist West on their shoulders. It was probably worth capturing in case West was happy for me to use it in some way.
“Give over, not you too! I don’t care if you think it looks shit. I like it and it’s my face!” Danny said vehemently as I fished my phone out of my pocket and filmed a quick twenty-second clip of the team, careful to keep my thoughts to myself while it recorded. It gave me a moment to compose my response.
When I’d finished I turned to the winger beside me and said, “I don’t think it looks shit at all. In fact, I think it suits you. You look cute, Danny.”
Then I smiled at him and walked towards West and co before Danny had a chance to answer, leaving him staring at my arse and cursing my name.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Danny
“You know, they’re not poisonous,”Bailey said, gesturing at the lollipop I was still holding—and staring at it like I expected it to bite me.
“Yeah, I know,” I said, still not taking my eyes off the lolly. We were all in the changing rooms getting ready for our first training session of the season. I’d kept hold of the sweet all the way through breakfast, Clive’s opening presentation about his plans for the season, Tommy’s training overview, and Gavin’s physical performance breakdown, not really paying attention to any of them.
I was too busy thinking about what Ezra had given me.
“Don’t you like strawberry and cream?”
I glanced at the wrapper. I hadn’t even noticed what flavour it was when I’d picked it. “Oh, yeah, it’s a good one.”
“I mean, if you don’t want it…”
“Fuck off, man. You had one earlier.”
“So? You’ve been staring at it for like three hours. You clearly don’t want it,” Bailey said with a vague wave of his hand, likehe was thinking about reaching out to take my prize but was worried I might bite him. Which I might. This wasmylollipop and no other fucker was having it.
