“I thought so. You have the same hair and eyes.”
It surprised me that Rowan had even noticed what colour my hair and eyes were, mainly because I wasn't blonde, which seemed to be the type he went for.
“I suppose we do.” I didn't know what else to say. I wasn't keen on chit chat, and as far as I knew, the only thing Rowan and I had in common was that we both played football professionally for the same team.
“How come he's here with you today?” Rowan said, one of his hands tapping on the bench.
I wasn't sure I'd ever actually seen him be still.
“Childcare issues.” Which pretty much summed it up.
Rowan stood up suddenly, making the bench feel a bit like a seesaw with the absence of his weight.
“Looks like Dino wants us.” He started to take off towards Dino, giving me a perfect view of his tight backside, dressed in a pair of shorts that looked like they were a junior size given the length of them.
I followed after him, trying not to notice his thighs or any part of his anatomy. Rowan was a talking point in the women’s dressing room, mainly because he was attractive as well as being a bit of a bad boy, although he’d had a steady girlfriend for most of last season. He wasn't the only talking point of course, there were several, but not all footballers. One of the girls on the team was going out with a cricketer, another was dating a rugby player. Natalie, the captain last season, had been dating a tennis player, although they had split up at some point over the summer. There wasn't the same spotlight on female footballers like there was on male, which was a good thing apart from that it meant a profile wasn't as high so as well as being paid less wages than our male counterparts, we'd also get less in the same sponsorship deals, but it was getting better.
The kids were being watched by a couple of the junior coaches while the rest of us circled around Dino who had a look on his face that resembled that of a Disney villain who had just come up with a cunning plan.
“I thought I'd add a twist to this week of camp,” Dino began, still smirking. “add a little bit of competition between the coaches.” His smile became even wider.
“Holy shit.” Gav, one of the new coaches for this year, muttered the word not quite quietly enough.
“What was that, Gav?” Dino's gaze landed on Wes, his smile now containing teeth. “Was that something about how wonderful my ideas are?”
There was a general groan. Those of us who had been doing this for a couple of years knew the extent of Dino's ideas, and what he’d have dreamed up as a forfeit for whoever lost whatever challenge he set.
“This is straight forward: we're going to start a tournament tomorrow, a bit of a round robin. It will be three points for a win, one point for draw and a bonus point for the players who show good sportsmanship or get man of the match. It will be eleven-a-side, but we're going to keep it to twenty-minute matches, with five substitutes. The coach with the least points takes out the winner for a meal at the restaurant of the winner’s choice. Kids will get spoiled regardless of whether they win or not.”
There were a few groans, and several comments about who was and wasn't going to win and what they'd be demanding. I didn't say anything, but I happened to look up and caught sight of Rowan watching me, a small smile sketched across his face, like he wanted to eat me alive or make sure that it was me buying him dinner.
Firstly, there was no chance of me losing. I had a really good group of kids, one or two of them particularly talented and I'd already made a comment about them to Dino. But if I needed any more motivation to win, then the idea of having to spend time with Rowan Reeves was enough to make sure I was finishing nowhere near the bottom of our table.
I shook my head and went to find my mini squad. We had work to do.
Genevieve turned up like she said she would, there for the last half an hour of the day, taking photos of the children as they finished up their training and several of Rowan and me. Wes ran over to try and flirt with her, inevitably getting shot down. The expression on his face when he walked away from her after being told it was highly unlikely that she'd ever agree to go to any form of function with him as long as she was breathing, but it hadn't deterred him from trying again. I almost felt sorry for him.
Toby was still kicking the ball around with Billy when I finished tidying up my equipment and headed over to Genevieve. I had no idea whether or not Joanne had sent a message or tried to call, I hadn't had time to check my phone that afternoon and I had absolutely no motivation to find out what her excuse would be, because inevitably there would be one.
“You've got Toby here.” Genevieve’s eyes narrowed, her eyebrows rising. “How come?”
I exhaled harshly, emptying my lungs. “Jo went out last night and she wasn't back this morning.”
“One way or another, this has got to stop, Dee. She can't carry on doing this. It's not fair on you, and it's definitely not fair on him. Having a parent who isn't consistent isn't good for any child. Trust me, I had my father in and out of my life like a yoyo for ten years until I finally told him where to stick it.” She stood up and stepped towards me. “Either tell her they’ve got to move out or tell her she's got to move out but Toby can stay with you. Then at least he'll have somebody who's responsible for him and he'll know whether he's coming or going.”
Genevieve sounded like she'd been thinking on this for a long time. I bit my bottom lip and took another deep breath. “You're right. This can't carry on happening. What if I had been leaving early today and hadn't checked if she was in or not? Toby could have been left on his own. But it isn't as straight forward as saying to her that she's got to leave; she doesn't have anywhere lined up to move into.” My sister didn't work, she didn't have an income other than the benefit she claimed and whatever she could scrounge from me. I could lend her the deposit for a house, or rather give her the deposit for a house, but then there was the matter of how she would pay the rent.
“Why don't I have a word and see if there's any player accommodation available for her to move into? I know Guy won't want you to be distracted by this, the last thing the team needs is you not being able to get to training or even a match if your sister’s done one and you're stuck with emergency childcare issues.” Her eyes were focused on Toby, who was still running around with Billy.
I let her words settle in for a moment, thinking about what she had said. I knew the club would be supportive in trying to resolve the issue, I knew they’d step in, a little bit like Big Brother and offer Joanne advice, potentially a financial agreement, to help take any pressure off me. The problem was I hated accepting any help, and other than Genevieve, no one was aware of how much of a drain my sister was.
“Let me think about it.” Then I left her near the bench as I went over to collect Toby, still not knowing whether my sister would have turned back up at home or not.
CHAPTER5
Rowan
Ryan O'Connell was a strange housemate.I hadn't properly lived with somebody else since I was twenty-one and I'd been transferred away from my hometown club, when I first moved into my own place. When I'd been playing at Newcastle, I lived with two others from my team and the house had stayed pretty much a non-stop party – which was what you got when you put together three overgrown kids, with a little bit too much money and not quite enough sense. We had everything thrown at us, including women, and though we took our training seriously, we were also enjoying the perks.
