Page 108 of The Keeper and I

“Anything else?”

“I’ve got this job lined up in America that I’m not sure I want anymore.”

“Tough call. Have you spoken to your agent about it?”

“No. I’m sort of afraid to tell her.”

Laci looked at her hands and sighed.

Tessa blinked at her from behind her glasses. “There’s something else isn’t there?”

Laci nodded and pulled her knees into her chest. “I told Jordan I love him, and he didn’t say it back.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Tessa said softly. She offered her hand, and Laci took it. The contact was refreshing on her sweaty palms. “I’m so sorry, love.”

Laci sniffled. “I’m sorry too.”

Chapter 28

Jordanhitthegroundfucking pissed off. They were already down one-nil against Chelsea, which was bad enough, but they were also at home. It was only the first half, so there was still time to come back, but a shot from Ethan was much too close and had Jordan bellowing at his teammates. He set the ball up for a goal kick, and he could still feel the stretch in his side from the earlier save. In his heart, he knew chasing the game wasn’t the only reason he was angry.

The days without Laci had been miserable. She hardly answered his texts, so he hadn’t bothered trying to call. The only solace he had was his paintings and training. But even those were not proving to be complete distractions. He missed her so much he ached. He desperately wanted to tell her how he felt about her. Thinking about it had him so riled up that when he punted the ball, it sailed clear over both teams and right into the Chelsea goalkeeper’s gloves.

He rolled it out to one of the defenders, and Jordan braced himself for their attack. They surged up the pitch in his direction. He barked a few orders at Israel and Luka.

He tracked the ball as it went between the Chelsea forwards, and he bit back a groan. Stanmore was making it much too easy on them. They were cutting through the back line like a hot knife through butter. One good cross and they would double their lead.

Hector managed to dispossess one of the Chelsea wingers at last, and he made a swift turn to head in the other direction. But a Chelsea defender flew in and pushed him from the back. Hector went down with a cry, and the scream of the whistle brought everyone to a halt.

Only the defender didn’t stop.

He started dribbling the ball toward Jordan despite the shouts of protest from Stanmore players and fans alike.

Jordan having had quite enough of the bullshit, stormed off his line and drove his shoulder into the Chelsea man, putting the latter flat on his back.

“Fucking whistle blew, shitebag!” he shouted.

“What the fuck?” the downed defender returned.

Jordan snatched up the ball. “Push Rizo again, and I’ll tear your fucking arms off.”

The man scrambled to his feet and squared his shoulders, coming within inches of Jordan. He didn’t quite have Jordan’s height, so he had to stand on his toes.

“You think you’re a big man, do you?” Jordan mocked, and with one hand, forced the defender back a few steps.

He stumbled, but it was enough to get him bristling. “Fuck you, Frawley!”

Jordan’s teammates flew to his side, but the Chelsea guys were there as well. Pushing and shoving ensued with more profanity-laced barbs back and forth.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Ethan interjected, stepping between his current and former teammates. He put his hands out toward them both, glancing between them. “Everybody settle down.”

“I’ll settle down when he stops being a sneaky wee bitch,” Jordan spat.

Ethan lifted a questioning brow at Jordan but didn’t get to voice his concern before the referee made it through the chaos, showing a yellow card first to the Chelsea defender for the push on Hector and then lifting a second yellow in front of Jordan. He waved it off, not bothering to plead his case. He stepped back into position and got ready for the free kick.

Tempted as he was to waste a bit of time and piss off Chelsea further, he was on a yellow and couldn’t risk it. He took the kick with enough force to get his guys a good way into Chelsea territory. Peter grounded the ball and passed to Devon who no one was marking. Jordan watched. Maybe, if they played it smart, they could get an equalizer before the break.

Devon took a shot, but the goalkeeper batted it away. Hector received the ball, took one touch to shift his weight so he could shoot with his preferred left foot and fired off a rocket from the edge of the box. It swished into the upper right corner of the net to the roar of Stanmore supporters around the stadium.

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