“Yes. You can’t deny there is a sizeable gap.”
Carmine nodded. “There is. Mind you, Noah is far more mature than I am.”
“I can believe that. I hope you don’t think I was prying. After what happened with Udo and me, the club are understandably paranoid.”
It made sense. The media furore had been relentless. Of course they would want notice if they were to experience that again.
“You should speak to Noah about things like this.”
“Fair enough. My apologies.”
“I can say, if we decide to do anything of that nature,” Carmine replied. “You will be the first to know.”
“Great. That’s all we ask.”
He followed Steven into the lounge area. The others were on the sofas, chatting. For a second, Carmine wanted to run. What had he got himself into?
Noah patted the sofa next to him. Carmine gratefully took the place and exhaled when Noah placed his hand on Carmine’s thigh.
“You okay?” he whispered.
Carmine nodded.
“It’s nice to have a triple date,” Jonas said.
“Triple?” Carmine asked.
They all shared glances.
“Am I missing something?” Carmine added.
Adam sat up. “The thing is, Jonas and I are seeing each other.”
Carmine’s jaw nearly hit the floor. Now it was out in the open it made sense. They had a chemistry that Carmine hadn’t fully noticed but now seemed totally obvious.
“Wow,” he replied. “You’re doing a great job of keeping it out of the media.”
He glanced at Stephen, who had the grace to look uncomfortable.
“It’s not easy,” Jonas said. “Until we retire in a couple of years, that’s the way we’ve decided to play it.”
“I won’t say anything. Thank you for trusting me.”
Noah squeezed his leg. It obviously meant a lot that his friends had invited Carmine into the inner circle. Yet Steven’s words about the age difference were still replaying in his mind. If and when they went public, the criticism would be real and vicious.
Carmine wasn’t sure he was ready for that. If he wasn’t, they had no future.
He took Noah’s hand. They needed to talk.
They managed to get through the meal without any other bombshells. Carmine enjoyed himself immensely. He was guilty of expecting professional footballers to talk exclusively about the game. That certainly wasn’t the case.
He’d loved hearing Adam’s stories about his journey in fatherhood and Steven relaying his latest family drama. They really were normal people underneath all the football furores.
Once everyone had left, Carmine helped Noah tidy up. It all felt deliciously domestic.
“You and Steven got on well,” Noah said.
“The two old-timers found common ground.”
