Chapter 32
Kyle
I look at AJ’s text as soon as I get into the hotel room.Thankfully, I’m in my own room.I think about replying, but I call him instead, and he picks up on the first ring.
“Someone’s eager,” I say playfully.
“You’re the one who called as soon as he got to his hotel room.”
“Wait, how did you know?”I ask, looking around for a hidden camera.
“I know you, Ky.You didn’t reply after the game, and I know you didn’t want to hang out with your teammates in the beautiful European city.”
“You don’t have to be right all the time you know,” I say, only slightly annoyed.
“And now you’re getting annoyed.”
This guy.Honestly.
He laughs into the phone, and I can’t help but join in.His laugh is infectious.
“So, what did you wanna talk about?”he says once we have our breaths back.
I lie back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.The fan is going around in lazy spirals.“I just wanted to hear your voice.”The confession shoots out of me before I have a chance to think about it.
There’s silence on the other end of the line—too much—and my heart begins to waiver.Then I hear AJ’s voice, “I’m glad you did.I wish you were here with me now.Everything seems a little easier when you’re with me.Even with the press interview last night, I felt like you were with me, when they asked the question about how I am?That was a direct reaction to your actions.You’re changing the game for the better.Hell, you’re giving me hope we can…that we can do this,” he says before trailing off.I cling to the phone like I would cling to him if he was here right now.
“Whatever happens, I will be with you.You’re not losing me this time,” I say, and I mean it.There’s another pocket of silence on the other end of the phone; this time it’s comfortable.I can hear him breathing in and out, and the sound soothes me.
“I, um…I will be with you too.You can count on it,” he says, but I can tell he wants to say something more.I don’t push it because if it’s what I think it is, it’s what I want to say too—and I want to say it in person.I’d be lying if I said I didn’t mind who said it first.After all, we’ve always had a competitive relationship.
After talking with AJ on the phone most of last night, catching the early morning flight is hell.My eyes feel like they want to stick together for all eternity, and my bed, although not my own, felt comfortable and was enticing me to sleep.The flight—now I have my headphones on—isn’t so bad.The rest of the team seem worse off than me, and that’s thanks to their partying.So, there’s no pity for the self-inflicted as my mum always says.
Trish picks me up from the airport and hands me a protein shake.I don’t care about the ingredients—something with açaí or some other berry and a load of other nonsense.It tastes good, and that’s all that matters.The drive home is filled with Trish talking about the plans she has in store for my next training day and how she has been experimenting with a new recipe.
Today is a rest day, and for once, that actually means I’m going to rest.I sit on the sofa and unwind to a movie on Netflix.
Around halfway into the movie, the doorbell rings.Trish and I look at each other.“You expecting company?”I ask, and she shakes her head.“Guess I’ll get the door then,” I say, getting up with a grunt.
“It’s your house, I’m not your door-person,” she calls after me.
I shuffle to the door in my slippers and Oodie.A quick glance in the hallway mirror shows my hair is sticking out in all directions.I hope it’s not the press.They’ll have a field day with this picture.
I open the door, and my heart fills with joy.
“Hey,” AJ says.
“Hi,” I say back.He’s holding out flowers with a huge grin on his face.
“I was just in the neighborhood and thought you might like some company,” he says, with a shy smile.
I gesture for him to come in and shut the door behind him.I embrace him.He feels warm and smells like fresh linen and aftershave.He holds me at arm’s length, looking down at me, and takes in what I’m wearing, a smile playing on his lips.“I hope you’re free-balling under that,” he says.
“If I was alone, I would be,” I say, cocking my head to the living room.
He places the flowers on the side table and pulls me into an earth-shattering kiss.I lean into him, standing on my tiptoes, and rake my hand through his hair.His free hand roams up my chest and then down to the waistband of my boxers before he crashes me into the wall, our mouths and tongues locked together.
“Are you going to greet all your guests like this?”Trish says, and we spring apart, “because Mel is coming over soon to take me to dinner, and I’m not sure she’d appreciate you snogging her face off.”
