Page 45 of The Keeper and I

“Give me a fucking break,” Peter said, half under his breath.

Jordan scowled, especially when he saw the stung look on Laci’s face. She recovered quickly, and struck up another conversation with Keeley, but Jordan shot Peter a warning look. Peter didn’t meet his gaze.

Keeley wasn’t the only one interested in Laci.

“We didn’t get to speak much at the gala,” Larysa, Artem’s wife, said. “How did you two meet again?”

“Through my sister,” Jordan said, repeating Laci’s half-truth from her TV spot to keep things consistent.

Artem blinked. “You have a sister?”

“Yes,” Jordan said with a disbelieving scoff. He had to have talked to his teammates about Ava. She was his only friend outside of them. “Ava. I’ve told you about her.”

They exchanged blank looks and a few of them shook their heads.

“You’ve never mentioned her,” Luka said.

Jordan frowned, growing defensive. “I must have.”

Callum started to speak up, but Coach Warren walked in, his face bright and red with excitement. “Alright, lads, nearly time. I’ve got a show that’ll blow last year’s out of the water.”

Jordan heard Laci suck in a sharp breath but didn’t have time to question her, as Callum spoke up. “Have you ever heard Jordan mention his sister, gaffer?”

Coach Warren blinked a few times and spotted Jordan. “You’ve got a sister?”

“Yes!” Jordan said indignantly. “She’s in a band. I’ve got their wee photo in my locker!”

“We had no idea that was your sister, bro,” Hector said. “I thought you liked their music.”

A murmur of agreement went through the room. Jordan caught Laci’s eye and scowled when he saw she was covering her mouth to stifle a giggle.

“Do I honestly strike you as the sort of person who listens to a band called Nifty Bitches?” Jordan retorted.

“I don’t know, dude, your taste is your taste!” Hector put his hands up innocently.

“Fuck off, Rizo.”

“Any other siblings we should know about?” Coach Warren teased.

“Nope, just the one,” Jordan snapped.

“Okay, okay, enough,” Astrid, Fernando’s fiancée and fellow model, interrupted. She and Laci had done a few swimsuit campaigns together, so their meeting at the gala was more of a reunion. “I want to know more about you two.”

Laci recovered with a breath. “What would you like to know?”

“How…” Astrid bit her lip. “How does it work between you? You’re so different.”

Jordan knew he should have been offended, but he wasn’t. He and Laci were different. Even standing there, they looked like opposites, him in a dark T-shirt, black leather jacket, and dark wash jeans, and her in a bright pink dress with matching heels. He fought the urge to let go of her hand by giving it a squeeze instead.

“Well,” Laci began. “I dunno. I suppose we balance each other out.”

“Yeah, but it’s almost too different,” Astrid said. “Jordan’s been at Stanmore nearly a decade and no one even knew he had a sister. Meanwhile, you had your tits out at the last photoshoot we did together.”

Jordan choked on his sip of beer and laughter went through the room.

“Oh, come off it. It’s not like you haven’t seen them,” Astrid said, rolling her eyes.

Jordan wheezed, hoping his teammates would credit his red face to choking and not the burning humiliation he felt the longer Astrid talked about Laci’s tits. Had he thought about them? Absolutely, he was only a man, but he hadn’t seen them in person. He couldn’t. How was he supposed to pretend that he had?

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