I know he lives in the area too, close to the stadium like me, but I’ve never seen him in here. What a coincidence to run into him today.
He spots me and beams, that crooked grin I’ve seen a million times over the six years I’ve known him, and I relax. It’s nice to see him. We’ve played together since we were both fifteen, have shared countless rooms on the road, even thrown up together when we got too adventurous with alcohol we couldn’t handle. And we got promoted to the first team together, which has made this new, stressful, amazing experience all the better.
Freddie gets a pint at the bar, then saunters over to me. “Hey.” He plonks down in the wooden chair opposite me and pulls off his beanie, revealing an always messy dark mop of hair.
“Hey yourself.” I smile and raise my coke in greeting. “I’m waiting for someone, but feel free to sit here until then.” I’d much rather chat with him than my mystery woman, but I can’t stand her up because he makes me more comfortable. So I should probably let him know.
“Oh, shit, I’m not that late, am I?” His brows furrow and he pulls his phone out of his jeans pocket, then relief flits across his face. “Barely fifteen minutes—hope that’s still okay?”
I shrug, confused. Why would I care when he gets here? “I’m sure it is,” I say anyway. “You’re also meeting someone here?”
Freddie looks at me like I’m stupid. “Yeah? Obviously?”
“Okay?” We’re miscommunicating and it’s kind of funny. I grin at him. “Meeting anyone fun?”
He cocks his head and gives me a look. “I hope so.”
Okay, it’s getting confusing. “What, is Hadidja working overtime again?” Freddie’s girlfriend is working on a degree in … something. Microbiology? Chemistry? She works in a lab and often stays longer than planned. She’s smarter than both of us combined and fun, too.
Freddie leans forward and gives me a weird look. His hoodie is skewed, one lace hanging out, the other tucked inside his neck. “Mate,” he says. “Are you for real? Did Clara not tell you?”
“My sister?” What on earth is he talking about?
“Yes?” Freddie laughs and rakes a hand through his hair, making it stand on end even more. “I can’t believe her, what’s she like? I’m here for our date, dummy. She set it up.”
Date.
He says it so casually I almost miss it, but my brain snags on the word. I stare at him, trying to figure out if I misheard him. Because he can’t mean what I thought I heard. Not a date. Not my date. My final one. The last one that Clara set up.
Clara.
Bollocks.
Freddie laughs again and the sound is so familiar, it instantly calms me. “Your face!” He pulls a grimace, pretending to be dumbfounded, and looks so goofy that I can’t help but join in. “Okay, so she clearly didn’t tell you. Damn, man, that’s rough. She’s expecting you to raw dog this thing?”
Clara and Freddie have met, of course. So have our families. It’s inevitable when you always turn up at the same youth tournaments and rainy home games that no-one else attends.But I didn’t know they were talking. About…me. That’s not a nice thought, and I swallow. Still, I’m sure I’m getting some things mixed up here. “So she wants you to, what? Be my wingman? I’ll have you know I’m notthatpathetic.” Although maybe I am. But Freddie doesn’t need to know that.
One corner of his mouth hitches up and his dark eyes sparkle with amusement. Something twitches in my stomach. “Dude.I’mthe date.”
I laugh again, but it dies down quickly when he doesn’t join me.
I knew he was, I realise. I knew it the second he waltzed through that door like he owned the place. But I’m only now allowing the thought and for some reason I’m not panicking. It …doesn’t make sense. “But,” I say and try to put my confused thoughts into some semblance of order. “But look at you, you’re?—”
“Attractive?” Freddie suggests, smiling coyly at me. “Athletic? Charming? Successful?”
I give him a stern look. “Aguy.” The twinge in my stomach is back at that undeniable truth. “And one who’s pretty full of himself, at that.”
“Guilty as charged,” Freddie says cheerfully, apparently not bothered by my insult. He’s always been the more confident one. “Glad we’ve got the basics covered.” He reaches across the table to snag a chip from my bowl.
I slap his hand on instinct and am stunned when that millisecond of touch leaves my fingers tingling. I am losing it. Maybe I’ve already lost it. Am I having a stroke? A heart attack? Something is certainly off in my body. Am I breathing normally?
“Mar.” Freddie reaches out again, this time to take my hand in his. I think he tries to calm me, but all the gesture does is send my pulse racing even more. “Look at me,” he says. “Calm down.”
Ah, yes, the magic words.Calm down.The solution to all of life’s crises. “I can’t calm down,” I say, surprised by how normal my voice sounds, “when you’re sitting here and telling me we’re supposed to be on a date.”
“We are on a date.” The look in Freddie’s eyes has softened, a warm glow now rather than the amused sparkle from before. “Look, there’s food and drinks, and I’m even holding your hand.”
Right. That.
