Page 16 of Offside Rule

He bit his lip, and a determined look came over his face. He nodded, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.

“Let’s try again.”

We trained for more than two hours, and Isaac was getting better and better at scoring. It wasn’t enough to win, but it was enough to notice an improvement in his performance. In time, he could be a good player, but he needed someone to focus on him—not on what they wanted him to be.

Isaac and I dropped onto a bench, each chugging a whole bottle of water.

“Good practice,” I said.

He smiled. “Yeah, I haven’t had one of those in a long time.”

I took my phone out when it buzzed, thinking it was my mother who’d texted me to ask what I wanted for dinner. I almost choked when I saw the sender.

Arianna: I’m sorry I disappeared. I got the flu from Giulia, and I’m not feeling very well. Hope you’re good xx

Sweat formed on my brow that wasn’t from the hard training, but rather from hearing back from her and learning that she was sick. My mind flashed to our walk through Central Park—she had mentioned her mother’s flower shop, Fiorellini.

I jumped to my feet, and Isaac frowned at me, but I couldn’t stay to explain. “I have to go,” I said, and started running. “I’ll call you for your next training,” I shouted before increasing my pace.

There was something I had to do.

TWELVE

ARIANNA

My nose burned as I wiped it for the 200th time in the last hour, trying to make as little noise as possible while Giulia was asleep in my arms. Thankfully she was feeling better, and her temperature had come down, but as soon as she’d started running around again, I got sick. It was like my body had fought the flu until she’d recovered to allow me to take care of her, and then it had come at me full force.

I placed the tissue on the nightstand next to dozens of others, hoping to rest during the day since nights were so rough. My mother was at her flower shop, so it was quiet in the house.

A yawn overtook me, and I covered my mouth before making myself more comfortable next to Giulia. I looked down at her small lashes resting on her cheeks, and my chest constricted.

What was I going to do? I loved my job, and I loved to travel, but I was also missing important moments in her life.

Resenting her doesn’t make you a bad mother. Realizing that what you were doing was wrong while you were still suffering makes you a great mother.

Xavier’s words rang in my mind. There was wisdom to his words, but the call I’d gotten last week had made me rethink my entire career …

I sighed, holding her tighter in my arms.

Just as I was about to fall asleep, my phone vibrated next to me. It was a good thing Giulia slept so deeply, or it would have woken her up.

A frown furrowed my brow. It was my mamma, and she rarely called from work since she only went there three days a week for a few hours.

I slowly got out of bed, placing the blanket over Giulia’s tiny body before I walked out of the room and picked up the call.

“Is everything okay?” I asked with a cough.

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied. “A young man just walked into the flower shop, he says he wants to see you.”

My eyes nearly bulged out of my head as my mind flew directly to Xavier. No, he couldn’t be here. I told him whatever we’d had was over, so he had no reason to come all the way here.

I massaged my forehead.

“What? Who?” I asked, as my heart thumped in my chest. My knees weakened before I heard her answer, and it wasn’t because I was sick.

“What’s your name, son?” I heard my mother ask. “Xavier. Do you know him? He’s got a big basket in his hands.” My mother whispered the last sentence like it was fun gossip.

I closed my eyes, an involuntary smile forming on my lips. What the hell was he thinking coming here? Was it because I’d mentioned I was sick in my last message? But he’d never replied. While I had been bothered by that, I was somehow grateful he hadn’t texted back, because that meant he’d understood.

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