As I gaze over to her in the car, I’m tempted to explain my sudden shutdown, but I don’t know what to say.
I’m sorry I can’t kiss you and do what we both want, if your reactions are anything to go by. I’m just terrified of what it would mean for my friendship with your brother.
She deserves better than this.
I need to keep my distance from now on, even if it feels like agony.
Once again, I’m struck by Lily’s ability to keep the vibes between us as usual.
Whilst I’m pondering away in my own head, she’s her normal talkative self, not a hint of awkwardness.
When we get to my apartment, she starts prepping the burgers straight away, giving me strict orders to stay out of the kitchen.
“Can’t have the football star nipping a finger on a knife or crying from cutting onions,” she snickers.
Cooking seems to be something she enjoys, given the amount of time she’s already spent preparing delicious meals for us after we arrived almost two weeks ago.
“I feel bad that you’re doing everything. Put me to work, Lily,” I tell her, feeling like a freaking guest in my own apartment, not being of any use.
“No, you sit your ass down and relax. You’ve fixed everything for me over here: volunteering to be my athlete, the apartment, the flights, and everything else. Please let me do this, Sebastian.”
I sigh but do as she tells me.
If she thinks she’s some burden to me, she couldn’t be more wrong.
I love having her around—she feels like a piece of home just got transported to London.
We talk about the game on Saturday, which is away. Unfortunately, she can’t travel with my team as she’s not officially a part of the club.
It’s only about forty minutes by car, so I tell her she can either drive my car, and we’ll travel back together, or I’ll pay for a driver.
“You’ll let me drive your car? The Bugatti?”
She seems tempted by the idea.
After dwelling on it for quite some time, I decided to just buy the car. It may be a lot of money, but I can afford it.
Luke had been giving me too much shit about not having my own sportscar.
I was hesitant as I don’t know how long I’ll be in London for. My contract is for multiple years, but in football, anything can happen.
“Yes, but I will be driving back,” I tell her.
“Hell, I can’t, Sebastian. They drive on the other side of the road here. I’ll probably get myself killed.”
Shit, that’s true.
I’ve gotten used to driving on the other side of the road, and switching whenever I go back home.
That’s not the case for Lily.
“Driver it is.”
We sit down to eat, and the first bite into the burger makes me groan out loud, which causes Lily to laugh.
The meat is the perfect amount of juicy, without being undercooked, and the vegetables bring just the right amount of flavour.
“If the whole sports psychology thing doesn’t work out, I’ll just hire you to make food, then you can gossip with Harriet the whole day and feed me.”
