Dom appears at my side, and I cast what I am sure is a maniacal smile up at him. “Hi there, game’s going well.”
“Yes, yes it is.” He rubs the back of his neck and sucks in a breath. “I was wondering if you’d consider being my Plus One to the gala.”
“Do you know, we were just talking about that!” Char slaps Dom playfully on the arm. “Timing! I told Mia that Jordan is taking me as his date, and now you can take Mia as yours!” She shakes her head with a sigh. “I love it when things fall into place like this.”
I am going to kill you. If we have a hive mind, read this. You are dead.
“Great!” Dom turns to me with a bright smile. “I can pick you up, if you like, or-”
“Oh, no that’s fine, I’ll meet you there.”
“If you’re sure.”
I wave a hand with a laugh. “Absolutely sure. It’ll be fine.”
Dom nods. “Alright then. I’ll be in touch.”
“Sure!” I watch him leave, and Char once again breaks out into giggles.
“Oh my lord, you two!”
I frown at her. “What?”
“What?What? The sexual tension there you could-” She chops her hand through the air in a zigzag motion. “Cut it with a bloody knife.”
“There is no sexual tension.” I down my drink, and yank on Char’s arm. “Come on, second half’s about to start.”
“Wait, my drink!” Char gulps down her champagne, barely managing to set her glass down before we get back outside. “Golly you’re rough.”
“Just you wait,” I mutter.
“Ooh, I love it when you get feisty.” She plops back down in her seat, and claps her hands together. “Let’s go Arlington!” Her shout sets off the crowd in the stands beneath us, and everyone starts cheering. “I think I should come to these more often.”
The second half passes more or less smoothly, until the stadium bursts into a chorus of Boos as a fight breaks out on the field.
“What is going on?” I crane my neck to try and make out what’s happening. “Is that…? Is that two of ours?”
Char gasps. “Bloody hell, it is.”
The fight pops up on the screen, and I gawp at the sight of Ezra and Ricky laying into each other while the rest of the team try to pull them apart. The crowd is going wild, yelling and pointing at the screen or the field, shouting obscenities as Ezra and Ricky snarl and punch.
“What the hell are they doing?”
Char folds her arms over her chest. “Speaking of sexual tension…”
I give her an exasperated side glance. “They’re beating the shit out of each other, you call that sexual tension?”
“We listen and we don’t judge.” She grins at the screen. “Bloody hell, they’re really going at it.”
The others finally manage to prise Ricky and Ezra apart, and after a stern talking to from Barry, they shake hands, and the game continues. I know Char’s talking shit, and maybe it’s just my own guilt making me see scandal everywhere.
But I start to wonder just how many of us are hiding some little secrets.
And how long it’s going to take for them to come out.
13
DOMINIC
