They swarmed the car. Shoving their lenses right up against the glass, still shouting.
I covered my face with my palms and waited for George to get in. His door opened, and I heard him let out a string of curses to a pap trying to scale the bonnet of the car to get a closer shot.
He slammed the door closed and landed a fist on his horn to get them to move before tearing out of the parking space.
‘You need to build a home gym, man.’
Now we were a safer distance from them; I leaned back in my seat. Peering over at him, I saw his hands gripping the wheel with such force they turned white. It was another reminder of why I was doing this.
I didn’t want my life to be the story. I wanted the attention to go back onto the game. I wanted people to be mad at me for missing a kick, or getting a red card,notbecause they were tearing my character to shreds.
20
OLIVER
Isearched the door and its surrounding frame, hunting for something resembling a button. I’d already tried to open it to no avail. The metal handle stared back at me… mocking me.
How the hell were you supposed to get in?
I stepped back, ensuring not to spill the tray of coffee in my hand. Why I had done that, I didn’t know. Something inside me refused to go to this woman’s flat without some kind of olive branch. I didn’t know how, but I’d upset her the last time we spoke. I had run over the entire conversation multiple times but was still coming up short.
It was a female thing. I was sure of it. One minute everything was fine, and then you were slap bang in the middle of a fight you didn’t remember starting. I had lived through that enough with Ashley to know how easy it was to upset a woman. And I had a natural talent for it.
So, the coffee in my hand was a peace offering of sorts. Although with the amount of time it was taking me to get into her damn building, they were probably cold.
Cursing under my breath, I dug my phone out of my pocket.
The line ran a few times before a croaky voice answered.
‘Hello?’
‘Is there some magic spell I need to cast, or is it some kinetic energy shit?’ I heard some shuffling on the other end of the line. ‘Oliver? What are you talking about?’
I forced myself to swallow the heavy sigh. ‘Your building, love. I can’t get in.’
What I assumed was an angry silence preceeded her response. ‘Oh, shit. Tell me you’re not here?’
‘I told you I’d be here bright and early-‘
‘IT’S SIX THIRTY.’ Her high-pitched shriek made me pull the phone away from my ear with a grimace.
‘You want to come down and let me in?’
‘Please tell me you’re joking.’ Her croaky voice pleaded.
Knowing the casual note to my voice would make that vein in her forehead pop, I said, ‘Nope.’
A rattling noise came from above me. I shuffled back from the door and craned my neck to see blonde hair attached to a disgruntled Fallon stick itself out of the second-floor window.
‘You’ve got to be shitting me.’ She called down the phone.
I smiled at the contempt written on her face.
‘You could at least attempt to hide your complete and utter adoration of me, darling.’
I would have heard her growl of frustration even if I hadn’t pressed the phone to my ear.
‘It’s six-thirty.’ She repeated.
