“Only via the medium of TV. I have no plans this afternoon. I’m going out for dinner with Genny and Neva tonight though.” I focused on that rather that Nate’s back, or the way he smelled, both of which were making my brain feel like it was being short-circuited.”
He laughed, settling back down again. “A foolish man would say that your dinner would be like the three witches in Macbeth meeting over a cauldron.”
“Would that foolish man be you or Jude?”
“It wouldn’t be Jude; he wouldn’t have a clue what Macbeth was.”
We both laughed, although it was probably unfairly. Jude was young and said whatever came into his head without thinking, but he was never nasty or cruel, and I knew he’d actually done well at school. He’d told me once that if he hadn’t signed a professional contract, he would’ve gone to university, and he was still thinking of doing his degree at some point.
“What happened to Jude? Did he survive hot yoga?” I hadn’t seen him since leaving the changing rooms, or more to the point, I hadn’t heard him.
“I think he managed to wrangle an off-plan breakfast from Neva. Is she strict with her own diet? Does she really drink her own smoothies?” There was a tone to his voice that suggested he felt slightly nauseous at the thought.
I wouldn’t touch Neva’s smoothies even if she promised me the body of a supermodel after just one. They were revolting.
“She does drink them, but I think it’s more to prove a point.” My hands moved to the tops of his shoulders, applying pressure that was more like a relaxing massage rather than physical therapy.
I heard him elicit a tiny moan that sent a shock of electricity to between my legs. This was wrong. I shouldn’t be responding to a client like this. I knew it happened; attraction at some point was inevitable. The club didn’t have no-fraternisation policies in place, although I expected there was guidance somewhere, so there was nothing wrong in feeling like this.
Although I doubted it was reciprocated.
Levi Statham had done more than make me lose my job. He’d shattered my self-confidence, and that had been more damaging than anything.
CHAPTER3
Amber
Sunday endedup busier than planned, mainly because The Count’s usual patients had decided to come to me, and yesterday’s match had been more brutal than some of the players had let on.
After Nicky, who was just the nicest footballer I’d ever met, I had another three players arrive, including Rowan Reeves who was cursing himself for ignoring the slight niggle he’d had in his groin yesterday which had ended up causing him to limp today. It also caused him to be in a horrendous mood because he’d had to come in for physio rather than watching his girlfriend’s game, or at least, only being able to catch the last half. Rowan was a sweetheart disguised as a grump, and secretly one of my favourite players, so I hadn’t minded that he’d made me late leaving and running on the last minute to meet Neva and Genny.
We’d booked a restaurant in Alderley, one which had a menu Neva approved of, and a clientele which meant we could people watch for entertainment. Usually, the three of us met once a week to eat out, or go for drinks, or, during the off-season, go for a long, leisurely bottomless brunch which usually involved champagne.
Genevieve was the glue of the club. She held everything together although no one knew quite what her actual job title was. She supported players when crises happened, which was frequent because footballers were usually full of drama. She dealt with the media, and signposted players and agents to what they needed to be doing. Genny also dealt with the club’s owner and board whenever she felt it was called for, although she never gave away the contents of those conversations, no matter how subtly Neva and I dug for gossip.
That included anything she said to Guy, the manager. Nothing we could do could make Genny talk about him, apart from the occasional rant about how ‘fucking pig-headed’ he was.
I sat down at our table, a glass of champagne waiting for me, and Genny on her phone, dealing with something that had come up, which it always did. Neva was late – this was her normal though, so we always planned around it – which gave me a few minutes to sip at my drink and reconcile myself with the day.
And Nate.
The big goalkeeper was generally a quiet member of the squad. He trained hard, and before Chan had died his time was split between the team, and his family. His interviews were only ever about football, and his endorsements were purely sports gear. I hadn’t noticed him when Chan was alive, nothing like I had in the last few weeks.
“So sorry about that.” Genny gracefully slid down into the seat, her phone back in her handbag. “Guy is being his usual difficult self.”
I took another sip of champagne. “Nothing new there then.” I knew better than to ask for any more details. “Any update on Neva’s ETA?”
Genny smiled. “We said six, so any time after six-thirty. I think she got stuck with Jude and Jesse this afternoon. Jude confessed everything he’d eaten in the last week, and she gave him a lecture that resulted in a new meal plan. I don’t know why she bothers, because the kid’s got more talent in his left toe than the rest of the league put together.”
“He’s a good player. I just feel sorry for him sometimes because of the pressure.” Jude’s family were football royalty. His dad had been England’s top scorer at one point, and his grandfather had also been an England captain. The expectation for Jude was high, and he was constantly under the scrutiny of the press. Luckily, he’d been well-coached in managing the media since about fourteen, so he knew exactly what he could and couldn’t get away with. Apart from eating anything that stayed still for long enough, he was a good trainer and rarely picked up injuries.
Genny shrugged. “It’s normal for him. How was Nate today? Megs said she had his girls for the day.”
“He was okay.” I nodded and smiled, filling my mouth with more champagne.
Genny raised an eyebrow and sipped at her own champagne. This was her usual technique of not saying anything and waiting for the silence to be filled.
I was wise to it, so I put my attention on the menu instead.
