“High. She knows she has me caught because I’ll do whatever is needed for Toby.” I sighed into my tea. “And I have a temporary special guardianship order. She can challenge it.”
“After being away so long, she won’t get parental responsibility back.” Genny shook her head and found her car keys, looking triumphant. She was forever losing them.
She was also right, more than likely. “I don’t think she’ll push it. She’s used to people doing things for her, and I can’t see her knowing where to start with getting legal advice. I hope she sorts herself out to be part of Toby’s life so she can be consistent, but I don’t see that being any time soon.”
Genny stood up and picked up her jacket off the back of the chair. “Don’t worry about it. You have all the legal support you need. What’s Rowan said?”
“I haven’t told him. He needed to focus on the match and this isn’t really his problem, is it?”
Genny shrugged, but the look she gave me said she thought otherwise. “Just let him know. They’ll be getting on the team bus soon. No overnight stay for them tonight.”
After she’d left, I toyed with the idea of texting Rowan about it. We weren’t serious; we hadn’t even had a conversation about whether we were exclusive, and since we’d been sleeping together, I’d avoided looking at anything to do with him on social media, in case I saw a picture of him with another woman. But, the biggest part of me knew and accepted he didn’t really have time to be seeing anyone else. He wasn’t a party-boy footballer like a couple of the younger players in the squad, he’d gone past that, and although he liked to socialise with his teammates, and Rhys, his agent, he preferred eating and playing snooker or pool. Since that first night together, we’d spent at least two nights, usually three, together. And we’d kept it low key.
The message I sent him was brief.
Good game. Piss-poor reffing with the yellow card. Heard from Joanne – she was asking for money, surprise surprise. Maybe see you tomorrow xx
The men’s team bus on the way back would be split with some players zoning out on social media or sleeping, and a smaller group who would play cards or generally pass the time annoying each other. Rowan was one of the latter. Ryan was in neither group and apparently just read. Genny had been on spying overload to find out more about him recently and was getting nowhere fast. She was considering employing a private detective.
I didn’t expect Rowan to check his phone at all on the way back from London. I figured he might pick up my message in the morning, so when I woke to the sound of it vibrating from next to my bed with his name flashing up I was more than surprised.
“Hey.” I sounded unintentionally husky.
“I’m at your front door. Come down and let me in.”
I didn’t bother to find my dressing gown or pull anything over my sleep shorts and tank, so when I answered the door, Rowan’s eyes landed predictably on my boobs, nipples standing out to greet him.
I didn’t wrap my hands over my chest, quite enjoying him staring. “I thought you would’ve been falling into bed at home.” The game he’d played had been a physical one. He’d ended up with a yellow card, but the bloke marking him had been sent off for a tackle on Rowan that could’ve seen him properly injured.
“I prefer your brand of tea.” He leaned against the doorway. “And I read your message and wanted to check you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.” I let him through, and he headed straight for the kitchen, picking up the kettle to fill it. He wasn’t joking about the tea.
He switched the kettle on and got two mugs from the cupboard, adding in teabags. “My mother taught me that when a lass says she’s fine, she’s the opposite. And you heard from Joanne, who asked you for money, which means you’ll be feeling like shit now because you said no.”
“Thank you for coming round.” Because he was right. Because I did feel rubbish. Because I needed someone on my side who had my back and would look after me.
He left the mugs and took the three steps over to where I was standing, pulling me into his chest with those thick, muscular arms. “Would you rather it be me than Jesse Sullivan.”
I pulled my head back and frowned at him. “Random.”
Rowan shook his head. “He was going on about wanting to ask you out on a date.” His voice was gruff. “I put him straight.”
I started to laugh, especially when Rowan’s grip got a little tighter. “I’m not interested in Jesse.”
“Good to know. You heard anything else from Joanne?”
“Nothing. But I will.”
He nodded. “You did the right thing. Now let’s get that tea mashed and go to bed. You can cry over my injuries.”
He let me go and I finished off the tea, adding milk to both and half a teaspoon of sugar to his. “I don’t even cry over my own.”
“We might have a different definition of crying.”
“Oh, might we now?”
His grin was the dirtiest I’d ever seen.
