“So there is something going on between you too?” Bouchra asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” Rona replied.
I listened in, careful not to breathe.
“Do you want there to be?”
A pause. “Yeah. I do.”
“Do you like her?”
“I really like her. I can’t stop thinking about her or looking at her when she’s around. Is it obvious?”
There was another pause. “No,” came the slightly unconvincing reply from Bouchra.
My mouth fell open. My heart leapt. I didn’t know for sure if Rona was talking about me, but I felt there was a big chance it might be. I couldn’t believe it, but after the role-playing on the dancefloor the other night, maybe I could. There was something too real about it. And so fucking hot.
Bouchra continued. “We couldn’t come to Lesvos and not have any lesbian drama, could we?”
They must have moved on given the silence that followed. I snuck up to the window to confirm and they were gone.
I stood in my room smiling, feeling like I had scored a goal. Finding out there was a high chance Rona was into me gave me the best feeling and this huge sense of purpose. This trip already felt special, like there was something important about why I’d felt compelled to come out here, and maybe this was it.
Accordingly, I abandoned my laptop and phone, happier to spend my time in this amazing villa with a potential romantic interest and awesome friends rather than sit in this room and think about what I was going to do with the rest of my life now I was no longer a footballer.
When I got downstairs, everyone was hanging out by the pool. Rona was there. My breathing became shallower and I found myself tensing my abs. In that army green bikini laying on her sun lounger with one leg bent at the knee, she glanced at me as I came over, then looked away. I forced my eyes away from her, trying not to stare. Understandably, I saw Rona in a new light. I felt a tenderness grow between us, all unspoken. It had been building all week since Rona walked in on me lying naked on the bed.
“We were just wondering where you were,” Vicky said as I approached everyone. “If you’d gone on a run again.”
“Yep, I went running.” I sat on the edge of one of the sun loungers, facing everyone, stealing glances at Rona’s legs.
“How far did you go today?” Rona asked, turning towards me.
“Not far. About ten kilometres.” I shrugged, smiling at her warmly, trying to show off to her. Ridiculous as running used to be part of my actual job.
“Oh, wow,” Rona proclaimed.
“Pfft,” Nell said. “These smug runners.” She laughed. “Only joking, I wish I had an ounce of your motivation, Lily.”
It wasn’t motivation that made me go running. I enjoyed it. I had this huge amount of energy I needed to use. Always had. If I didn’t move, I would go crazy. That’s why I struggled so much while being injured and now being retired, probably. Not having matches every week was going to be a huge adjustment. Moving helped clear my mind and gave me purpose. It was more like a way of life for me rather than motivation. But I didn’t want to get deep into it in front of everyone.
“Once an athlete always an athlete, right?” Vicky said.
“Yeah, something like that.” I laughed, hoping we might change the subject.
Mathilde angled her head up at me. “You’ll probably want some lunch then?”
I nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely. I was thinking about making a chicken salad?”
“Perfect, I’ll help,” Mathilde said.
“No, you won’t, I’ll do it,” Vicky said to Mathilde.
“Okay, darling. Thank you.”
The group dispersed to start getting ready for lunch while Vicky and I headed to the kitchen.
“I swear to God I would do anything for that woman,” Vicky stated as we walked.
