Page 72 of We'll Meet Again

“And miss the look on their face when they see we got them that rocker? I don’t think so.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Fair enough.”

She had him wait while she cracked the door and peered out. The corridor was mercifully empty.

“Coast is clear,” she told him. “I think we can sneak back without anyone noticing.”

The shower was being thrown at the club, so on the way back to the suite, they had a view of the pitch, the afternoon sun beating down on it. Billie came to a stop, a naughty question on her mind, and she pulled Ethan to a halt as well.

“Have you ever shagged like…on the pitch?” she wondered, a teasing grin on her lips.

He chuckled. “That’s a little too bold for me. There’s not many times there aren’t eyes on that thing, and I won’t apologize for wanting my view of you all to myself.”

“You’re not so bad yourself, you know,” she said. “Your chest gets all flushed and hot and -”

“You better ease off, darlin’, or we’re gonna have to go right back in there.”

He nodded toward the supply closet. She took her bottom lip between her teeth and looked at him, eyes twinkling with mischief.

“Billie, we’ve been gone long enough,” he said with an amused shake of his head. “I promise I’ll make it up to you when we get back to my place.”

“Ugh, alright then.”

She let him lead her further down the hall, his arm draped lazily over her shoulders. She wrapped hers around his waist. And even though she could have gone a couple more rounds, she was content with simple touches. Soft intimacy. She never felt like this with anyone else. Even with boyfriends in the past, she wasn’t interested in even holding hands, much less walking together practically attached at the hip. But she found herself wanting that closeness with Ethan almost constantly. Like she couldn’t get enough of him. Or, she sometimes feared, because it meant their time together was limited.

That feeling mostly came to her at night. She’d be asleep beside him, then wake with a start, suddenly terrified that he was gone. She would catch her breath and look at his face, studying every feature as he slept - the shape of his nose and the curve of his lips - committing it all to memory in case she lost him.

Logically, she understood the fear was unfounded. Ethan gave her no reasons to doubt his commitment to her. He wasn’t going anywhere. Sometimes, when she couldn’t sleep, she woke him up, and he reassured her of his presence with strong arms around her. In his embrace, she was able to sleep again.

Just as Ethan went to open the door back to the suite, it swung in, revealing Tony. Billie had kept her interactions with her boss to a minimum since the texting incident, and he seemed just as keen to avoid her. He gave her instructions, addressed her occasionally in meetings, but otherwise pretended she didn’t exist. Which was why what he said could have knocked her over with a feather.

“Ah, Billie. I was just wondering if I could have a word.”

Ethan’s arm stiffened protectively around her shoulders. He was especially wary of Tony, which she understood, given his past seeing his mother get bossed around and mistreated. But Billie always reminded him she had backup. This was a professional environment, and she wasn’t in any real danger. Still, Ethan frowned as he looked at Tony now.

“Sure,” Billie agreed, though she wondered what could possibly be so important he needed to address it at a baby shower.

Tony glanced sideways at Ethan. “Could it be alone?”

Ethan narrowed his eyes, but Billie put a reassuring hand on his chest. “It’s alright.”

“You sure?” he asked, leaning over to murmur it in her ear.

She nodded. “I’ll be just a moment.”

He kissed her temple, and with one last warning look at Tony, returned to the party. Tony cleared his throat. Hardly looking at Billie, he started back down the way they came. Billie followed. Once out of earshot from the door, they stopped. Tony looked out at the pitch, something like hunger coming over his features.

“You and Knight seem awfully happy.”

“We are, actually,” she said. “Is that what you wanted to speak about? Because it’s not against any rules or -”

“Spare me the lecture, you’ve already made me well aware,” he cut across her. It was the first acknowledgement of her complaint since she filed it. “All I want to say is that I have plans for this club. Signing Ethan Knight was in pursuit of those plans.” He looked at her. “We could win the FA Cup. We could compete in the Champions League next season with some of the best clubs in Europe. He’s going to make club history.”

Confused, her brow furrowed. These were all things she already knew. Things she had also pointed out to Ethan herself. But Tony spoke differently. As if Ethan was a secret weapon about to be unleashed instead of a person. And Ethan would never stand for someone attributing all their success to him instead of sharing it with his teammates or the coaching staff.

“I don’t doubt that at all,” she said. “He’s wonderful. But he wouldn’t be that wonderful without the support he has in the back and the midfield.”

“Don’t say that as if you know what you’re talking about,” he scoffed. “Besides, that isn’t my point.”

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