“He’ll be fine. He has to be.”
NINETEEN
NOAH
They were in the locker room at Everton’s Goodison Park ground. Tito paced the room, which didn’t help with Noah’s nerves.
He understood Tito’s worry. Being an ex-Liverpool player, he’d been at the mercy of Everton’s fans before. As the two major clubs of the iconic city, the rivalry was very real.
“They might go easy on you now,” Colin said.
Tito shrugged and slumped down on the bench. “I’ve scored too many times here for that.”
Adam squeezed his shoulder. “You’ll have to do it again then, won’t you?”
If they won this match, they were in the quarter finals for the FA Cup. The tension in the room was palpable.
Noah had to be focused entirely on the ninety minutes ahead of them. However, his mind kept straying to Carmine. He still hadn’t heard from him. What he’d thought might be a lover’s tiff was now looking very much like the end of the road.
Edi sat next to him.
“Are you okay?”
Noah nodded.
“Carmine still?”
“I’ve still not heard anything,” Noah replied. “Everything is fucked.”
“Not necessarily. Have you tried calling him?”
Noah shook his head.
“Then perhaps now is the time?”
Edi had a point. Noah should prove to Carmine that he was the bigger man. Then perhaps he would stop banging on about how childish he was.
“Before the match?”
“If it makes you concentrate, then definitely.”
“I do need to tell him something.”
Edi raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“I’ve decided I’m definitely going to dip into Malcolm’s trust to pay for the league,” Noah announced.
“I thought you were against that.”
This was the moment. Noah had wrestled with what to do all night. In the early hours, the solution had presented itself to him. No matter how distasteful.
“As soon as the house is built, I’ll sell it,” Noah announced. “Then I don’t need to disturb Malcolm’s nest egg for too long.”
“What did you say?” Tito asked.
Typical of him to be earwigging.
“You clearly heard.”
