Astrid takes charge, smiling at the older woman. “He’ll take a slice of maple cake too. Thanks, Esther.”
Seemingly satisfied, she walks off to place our order.
“Don’t worry.” Astrid lowers her voice, leaning across the table. “I’ll eat your slice when she’s not looking.”
A laugh tumbles from my mouth. “I think you have a devious streak.”
“When it comes to maple cake? Always.” She waggles her brows and grins.
“Thanks. I didn’t want to offend her.”
“It’s cool. I heard what your mom said on Sunday, and I know you’re careful about what you eat. You only eat plain meat, rice, and vegetables or salad and fruit at school.”
I arch a brow, and my lips twitch.
Her cheeks stain red. “Fuck. That sounds really stalkerish. I promise it’s not. It’s just most of the guys on the soccer team don’t care about what they eat, so it stands out when someone is focused on nutrition. Anyway…” She bites on the corner of her lip. “Shutting up now.”
“I’m only teasing. You did warn me you were observant.”
“The other guys on the team could learn a lot from you, and after yesterday, I’m betting they are all ears.”
The smile on my face is instantaneous. I’m still floating on the high of our victory. It felt good. Real good. “You heard about our win?”
“I was at the game. You were amazing, Callan. I know it probably doesn’t mean much when I know so little about soccer, but I don’t think it matters where in the world you play. There is no way you won’t get noticed. You are too talented not to be discovered.”
If only it was that simple. “Thanks. You should’ve told me you’d be there.”
“Why? What difference would it have made?”
Valid question, and now it’s my turn to sport reddening cheeks. I shrug, trying to play it cool. “I didn’t think anyone was there for me. Not that I mean to imply you were there for me or anything.” Oh my fucking god. Why did I just blurt that stupid shit? Ground: open and swallow me, please.
“I was there to support you and Thor,” she replies. “By the way, that attendance yesterday was not normal. At least half those people were there to watch you, so, trust me, you had plenty of support.”
“My parents used to come to all my games back home.” It seems there is no end to my verbal diarrhea. I don’t do this, but there is just something about Astrid that makes me want to tell her things.
“They didn’t want to come yesterday?” Her brow puckers before smoothing out when Esther returns with our coffees and cake. We stop talking, waiting until after she’s left to resume our conversation.
“I didn’t tell them,” I sheepishly admit before lifting the mug to my nose and inhaling the nutty, smoky aroma.
“How come?” She takes a sip of her cappuccino.
“I’m still not speaking to my da, and I know if I told mum she’d tell him, so I decided not to tell either of them. They wereboth really mad at me this morning, Erin too, when they realized they’d missed my first match.”
“Oh, I see.” Compassion splays in her gorgeous green eyes.
“To be honest, I feel kinda shitty about it, and it backfired because when I came out on the field, I missed them, which is crazy when I got such a warm welcome from the crowd.”
“It’s not the same though, right?”
I slowly nod. “Yeah, it’s not. Which is why it would’ve been nice to know I at least had one friend sitting on the bleachers. You’ll need to tell me next time.”
“How about this?” She stabs her cake with her fork before lifting her eyes to meet mine. “I will be at every game,match, from now on, unless you hear otherwise from me.”
Warmth floods my chest. “Cool.” My gaze lingers on her lips as I watch her lift the fork to her mouth, slide a piece of the luscious cake inside, and chew. Her eyes close briefly, and her face softens dreamily before a little whimper escapes her lips.
My dick stirs in my boxers, and holy fucking shit, am I getting turned on watching a girl eat a slice of cake? I’m seriously beginning to worry about myself. The last thing I should be doing is voluntarily spending time with Astrid Nevan because the girl is eliciting reactions from me I’ve never felt for any girl before, and I barely even know her.
But wild horses couldn’t drag me away from this coffee shop right now. I’m exactly where I want to be, even if it’s breaking all my self-imposed rules.
