Page 89 of The One That Got Away

‘Wow. Watching a TV series together. Isn’t that straying into coupledom territory?’ he smirked.

‘Friends with benefits can watch TV series together too you know.’ I rolled my eyes.

‘I’m just teasing. I’m up for it. I’d ask you what the series is, but I’ve probably never heard of it anyway, so you can surprise me.’

‘Great! Dinner will be ready in half an hour.’

Once we’d eaten, I got everything set up in the living room whilst Max loaded the dishwasher. When I thought about it, this whole situation was really weird. It only felt like yesterday that I hated Max. Now here we were living under the same roof, cooking meals for each other, him organising the dishes, and we were about to snuggle up on the sofa to watch TV together. Jasmine wasn’t wrong when she said this whole villa thing was designed to fast-track relationships.

Not that this was arelationship. It was just a… friendship thing. Once we went back to London, who knew if we’d even see each other again?

Anyway, I wasn’t going to overthink. I tipped the popcorn I’d also bought earlier into a bowl and put it out on the coffee table.

‘All done.’ Max strolled into the living room.

‘Ready?’

‘Yep.’ He sat next to me on the sofa and wrapped his arm around my back. ‘So, hit me with it. What are we watching? A romcom series?’

Under different circumstances, that would’ve been my first choice. But tonight I’d selected something because I hoped it’d help Max.

‘It’s a show calledTed Lasso. It’s got that Jason Sudeikis guy in it.’

‘Oh, cool! What’s it about?’

‘Now don’t freak out, but it’s a comedy…’

‘Why would that freak me out?’

‘About… football…’ I waited for his reaction.

‘Stella,’ Max sighed. ‘I know you’re trying to help and I appreciate it, but I don’t think…’

‘Hear me out. It’s about an American football coach who’s hired to manage a British football team. But the thing is, he knows nothing about football. It’s won loads of awards and is supposed to be hilarious. I thought it might be a fun way to ease you back into the football world.’

‘I’m not sure.’ Max shuffled uncomfortably in the sofa.

‘It’s only half an hour. Why don’t we try one episode and if it’s too difficult, we can stop.’ I squeezed his hand.

‘Okay,’ he murmured.

Yes!

I picked up the remote control then pressed play. Max’s body tensed and I started to question my suggestion, wondering if it was a bad idea and whether I was pushing him too much too soon. But within minutes of starting the show, from the corner of my eye I saw his shoulders relax and it wasn’t long before he started chuckling.

After that, the laughs kept coming. Especially when it got to the part where Ted Lasso was thrown straight into a press conference and bombarded with questions about ‘soccer’, all of which he got wrong.

When the credits for the first episode rolled, I pressed pause.

‘So? What do you think?’

‘It’s really funny,’ Max smiled and relief flooded my veins.

‘Want to watch another one?’

‘Go on then.’

I hit the button for the next episode and Max pulled me closer into him. I rested my head on his shoulder and every time Max laughed, the joyful vibrations erupting from his chest filled my heart like a helium balloon.

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