Page 107 of Play On

“Just like it did with me and Nicholas,” Amelia says breezily. “I mean, he even bought peacocks for me!”

Our waitress reappears and sets down baskets of halloumi fries with chilli jam and salt-and-pepper squid, along with some plates and cutlery for each of us.

“And I’m reminded of that fact every morning at five o’clock by Carl and Roy,” Nicholas says, snagging a halloumi fry and dipping it into the spicy jam.

I grin. Carl and Roy have already become quite notorious for their five a.m. wake-up call to the entire estate.

“I think it would be incredible to have peacocks,” Noah says.

“Incrediblynoisy,” Nicholas retorts.

“The beehives would have been much quieter,” I remind him.

“Beehive?” Noah asks.

“There’s going to be no beehive,” Nicholas declares.

“Tyrant,” Amelia says, her green eyes sparkling at him.

“What about the beehive?” Noah repeats.

“I had the idea to have beehives so we could sell our own honey in the gift shop,” I explain. “Nicholas said no.”

“In my defence, I didn’t know if Violet would fully commit to the idea of caring for them forever, so I said no because I have no desire to become a beekeeper.”

I swallow. Nicholas said that in the nicest way he could, but the uncomfortable truth is told. He didn’t trust his butterfly twin to finish the project.

I feel an embarrassed flush heat my face. I know Noah knows this about me, but now he’s hearing it confirmed by my brother.

“Violet, I have a massive garden in Surrey,” he says, pausing and taking a sip of his Diet Coke. He puts his glass down and stares at me. “And if you want a beehive, I’m more than happy to give you the space to have one. I trust you.”

My heart practically stops beating. In no uncertain terms, Noah is telling me he has complete faith in me to commit to a project and he’s willing to back me on it if I wanted to do it.

I’m so full of emotion, I can’t find the words to speak. But just as I’m about to say something, Noah speaks first. “I have to have some of that squid,” he says, helping himself to some and acting like what he just said was no big deal at all.

Because to Noah, it wasn’t.

But to me?

It’s another reason to fall in love with him.

We fall into an easy conversation at the table, and eventually Noah and Nicholas break off and chat with one another, whilst Amelia and I catch up on other things. But I keep one ear on Noah and Nicholas, and I notice it flows easily between them, bouncing from football to estate management to travelling abroad.

“So you’re going to Australia in a few weeks?” Nicholas asks.

This catches Amelia’s attention, and she turns towards them. “You’re going to Australia? I’ve always wanted to go there.”

Noah wipes his lips with a paper napkin and nods. “Yes, every season we play in different spots of the world to promote the game. This year, Stonebridge United has Australia.”

“That’s brilliant,” Nicholas says. “Will you get to do stuff outside of football?”

I listen with interest, as I don’t know how a tour works.

“We have a lot of stuff scheduled with the community, but yes, we’ll have some time. I’ll get the itinerary when I report back for training and then I’ll know for sure. But usually, a night after a game, we can go out. Not that I will, but if I wanted to explore the Melbourne night life, that would be a night to do it.”

The conversation shifts away from Australia, but I’ve filed the information away, excited to have it—and knowing I’ll be able to use it, too.

Because I made a decision the night Noah poured his heart out to me. If things went well, I was going to surprise him and show up in Melbourne to watch him in the first fixture of the season.

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