I knew the smirk I was currently wearing was only going to piss her off even more.
“I might not want to go out to dinner with you.” I kept my tone as pleasant as possible.
“And I might not want to go out with you!” Her cheeks had become red. It was almost cute.
I shrugged. “And yet I gave you a pass to get out of it and you turned it down. I think you secretly want to go out with me. Maybe have the media think we’re dating – it would be good for your profile.”
“What? To be associated with someone like you? After how you treated your girlfriend?” She looked genuinely horrified.
I laughed. “My girlfriend who told the media when we were going out so she could be seen more and end up with more paid partnerships? The one who gave me a list of what clothes and handbags she needed so she could beproperly dressedas my girlfriend and asked me for an expenses account? The one who insisted we go to restaurants after home games when all I wanted to do was soak in a bath because she wanted to be seen? The one who asked me for a settlement when I told her we were over so she could continue the lifestyle that I’d apparently insisted she needed if she was with me? That girlfriend?” It was the first time I’d felt anger towards Jade, the first time I’d said it out loud too.
“Oh.” It was the only sound Dee made.
“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got? No apology for making your mind up what I’m like when you’ve only heard one side of the story?” I was cross now; how fucking dare Little Miss Sunshine and Sparkles judge.
She turned around and walked back to the first bedroom she’d been in.
I guess I was having my pick of the other three after all.
I was the last to get to the restaurant from our lodge. It was about a five-minute walk along a path still lit by the sun to get there, and I could hear the noise pretty much as soon as I left the lodge. We were far enough away from the season starting for those who drank to indulge, the women’s season a month behind ours. There would be sore heads in the morning, and more than one person with regrets.
Ryan was sat next to Dee in the bar on one of the sofas, his arms resting along the back. She was smiling at him and nodding at something he was saying, and I hoped that it was something prophet-like given the look on her face.
I headed to the bar, knowing that a gin and tonic wasn’t going to put me on Neva’s shit-list, not when I could already see a line of shots on another table. Rhys had texted me with a reminder to keep a low profile and my arse clean, along with a link to an article about me coaching the kids the last few days.
I heard Dee laugh, the sound making my head spin round like something from a horror film. Ryan was laughing with her, which wasn’t good. He was a quiet guy, and he needed to be making the most of the trip here getting to know his teammates, not flirting with Dee.
There was a chair opposite where they were sat, so I headed over there, not reacting when Dee’s eyes fell on me.
“This seat taken?”
“All yours, mate.” Ryan grinned, picking up his glass of what looked like whisky. “Have you checked out the hydro pool yet?”
I shook my head and sat down. “Planning to use it in the morning.”
He nodded. “Me and Dee went over there before. It’s pretty fucking good.”
I flipped my gaze to Dee. “What did you think?”
“The same.” She tried to smile at me, but it was obvious it was a struggle.
I was quite enjoying this, seeing her try to keep up her sunshiny personality around Ryan.
“I knocked on your door to come with us,” Ryan said. “But I think you were on the phone.”
He was right, I had been on the phone. Every Friday at the same time I would FaceTime my sister, Scarlett. Even if we had an away match, or there was another event on that I had to attend, I’d find a way to slip out and make that call. Scarlett's additional needs meant she didn't understand what I actually did for a living. She had learning difficulties with meant that she had little understanding of past and present, but she reacted to the people that she knew. I didn't quite know if my weekly calls to her were for me or her, but they got made all the same.
She was also my reason for trying to keep my family out of the media limelight. I knew I could win sympathy from the public if I used my sister’s condition, and spoke about the things I did for her and my mother, but that was never going to happen. No one on the team knew about her aside from Genevieve, who had to know. In fact, the only person who did was Rhys, and he rarely even spoke to me about her. That side of my life was completely separate from what went on in my role as a professional footballer. My job meant I would always be media fodder; there would always be people commenting on whether it was a good game or a bad game or whether I was worth my salary, and the tabloids would always want to know who I was sleeping with, but that had nothing to do with who my family was.
“Do you often do this? Joint stuff with the women's team?” Ryan leaned forward, looking between Dee and me. “It's a really good idea.”
I felt Dee's eyes digging into me, feeling her annoyance even though I wasn't entirely sure what I'd done in the last five minutes to earn it, other than sitting down with them.
“I'm just hoping that none of your bad habits rub off on my girls.”
Dee was definitely aiming this at me.
“Maybe some of your girls will get lucky and score themselves a Premier League boyfriend.” I knew it was cruel, and a mean jab, but it would be a wise move for some of the players on the women's team who were unlikely to make the England squad, or their country's team.
