I saw women in the crowd wearing shirts with Jesse’s name on the back, and a gaggle of girls in their early twenties who were talking about him, just in front of the seats we’d had reserved for us if we wanted to sit away from the rooms. I wanted to say it didn’t bother me, but it did.
“You okay?” Otter came and sat beside me, passing me a bottle of water. “You should get someone else to drive next time, then we can have a few wines.”
“Help pass away time?” I wasn’t sure if Otter liked football or not.
She shook her head. “Helps with my nerves. I can’t tell you how nervous I am. I was driving Ryan mad this morning with my pacing.”
I laughed, entirely captivated by this woman who had played one of my favourite characters on TV. “You get used to it.”
She nodded. “I’m sure I will next season. I can’t see this easing up before May next year. And we have the World Cup too. That’s going to be hard.”
“The hardest thing will be them being away for nearly five weeks — if they get to the final.” That I wasn’t looking forward to. Not them getting to the final, as I knew for both Jesse and Nate it was the last time they’d probably play in a World Cup tournament, certainly for Jesse, but the amount of time they’d be away and the time difference would make it hard to speak to them regularly, especially for Nate to FaceTime the girls and, by that point, his son.
“That’s the part I didn’t factor in. Ryan and I can’t see each other for a couple of weeks sometimes, depending on my schedule and his games, but five weeks is too long. He doesn’t want me going out either, although I’m thinking of trying to get there for two or three nights, if the manager allows it.” Otter looked pensive and almost heartbroken.
“Are you in Manchester at that time?”
She shook her head. “Filming in Norfolk and various places. But I’ll have three or four days here and there depending on the schedule.”
“Then why don’t you come and stay with me and Amber? We can watch the matches together and be football widows.”
Her face lit up. “That would be amazing, thank you. I think I might need the emotional support.”
“I think we all will.”
“Jesse’s looking for you. You should stand up and wave.” She stood up and started waving herself, somehow managing to get Jesse to look in the right spot.
I stood up too, waving, expecting him to give me a quick gesture back and then go back to his warm-up routine with Ryan.
He didn’t. His hands came together, making the shape of a heart, holding it up towards me.
The girls who’d been lusting after him turned around, giving me an appraising look followed by judging eyes. There was also a glance at Otter as well, when they quickly turned around, whispering something.
They didn’t matter. Jesse’s gesture filled my chest so I felt like I was about to explode. I lifted my own hands and made the same heart shape back.
Ryan slapped Jesse on the back, pulling him in for a side hug, and then they started to warm up again, Jesse throwing me another glance and a smile.
I looked at Otter, who was smiling too.
“I think we should have champagne. Can’t you leave the car here?”
I nodded. “Or my dad can drive it back and my mum can drive the girls. Let me check.”
My parents had seen Jesse’s heart gesture, my mum fanning herself and smiling as if I had just told her he’d proposed, so passing them Jesse’s car keys was no problem. I just hoped he wouldn’t mind. I headed back to the seats with prosecco and two glasses, hoping we had a win to celebrate at the end of it.
CHAPTER17
Jesse
A three-one victory,two goals for me and a worldly of a strike for Ryan, meant that we were loud and on a high back in the dressing rooms once the ninety minutes was up. Nate was pissed off at the goal he’d conceded, mainly because it had definitely been offside and the ref hadn’t called for VAR — the computer-aided tech that checked close-to-call decisions.
But it hadn’t mattered, because we had the three points and a win. Everything in the world was good, and I was spending the night with my girl, and I knew exactly how we were going to spend it once I’d recouped some of the calories I’d expended on the pitch, fully planning to expend just as much when I got Jerrica in bed and naked.
Or over my kitchen counter and naked. Or on the sofa. There was a variety of options.
“Fucking two goals, man!” Jude slapped my back, his fully naked self bounding around the dressing room like a possessed version of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.
“I don’t need to see your dick like that.” I tried not to look at the junk that he had on display, but it was difficult to miss with the strange hip-thrusting he was displaying.
