Page 47 of Matched Up

And I remembered how much love I had for him then.For my family.

I watched videos all night.Holidays in France, Costa Rica and that one in Mexico where the video switched off twodays in because we all got sick.I stayed up late deliberately.I wanted to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.I couldn’t bear any more of my own thoughts.

It worked.I woke up to my alarm screaming at me and the sound of the waves crashing outside.When I got to the club, Shane wasn’t there yet, so I went down on to the pitch to warm up, doing laps with the freezing air burning my chest.

Ten minutes later, it was like I sensed him.I looked across the pitch to see him jogging towards me.Grey hoodie this time.

‘I’m sorry about yesterday, and I’m sorry I’m late,’ he said, and he looked right at me when he said it.It sounded so genuine.

‘Is everything OK?’I asked.‘At home?’

‘Oh yeah, everything’s fine; my mum and dad just like knowing where I am.’He smiled and then rolled his eyes, but something about the way he said it made me think he wasn’t telling the truth.‘Will we start?’He flicked a football on to his foot.

‘Yeah,’ I said, knowing I wasn’t going to get any more of an explanation.

‘Hey,’ he said, and I looked up at him.

He came close to me, took my face in his hands, and kissed me gently.‘It’s just my weird family, OK?’

I smiled, the doubt in my chest fading.For now.‘OK.’

He took my chin and kissed me briefly on the lips, then turned and walked towards the net where there were two footballs.Even from behind he looked amazing.Squareshoulders taking me back to the other night when I had my hands on them, holding on tightly as he kissed my neck.

I yawned.‘Maybe at the weekend we don’t need to be here at five a.m.’I laughed.‘What d’ya reckon?’Recently I was finding it harder to get up in the mornings with all this extra training.

He hesitated for a second before he picked up the football.‘I kind of like it this early.Before the world wakes up, you know?’He turned and looked at my confused face.‘And sometimes I help out my dad really early … with work, so it’s kind of perfect.But we’re running out of time.’He threw the ball in the air and caught it.

At the end of our practice, we were both sweating and dehydrated.

‘I forgot to bring a drink – you think the clubhouse is open?’He wiped sweat from under his hair.

‘Shit, me too.’I’d been in such a rush to get out the door to see him I’d completely forgotten.‘But I know where there’s a key,’ I said.‘Come on.’

I grabbed his hand, and we jogged over.I lifted the plant pot and there it was, where I’d seen Sadie sliding it once, a little silver key.I opened the door, and we were hit with a musty smell as creaks echoed through the building.I followed him down the corridor to the water fountain and watched him drink, remembering the lips that were on mine, and feeling heat in my face as I imagined other things.

‘You want some?’he asked, wiping a hand across his mouth.

‘Yeah.’I flicked my hair out of the way and tried to look attractive as I bent over and sucked water from the fountain.

When I finished, I looked at him.‘How much time have we got?’

He looked at his phone.‘Twenty minutes before the bus.’

I wasn’t wasting any time.I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the girls’ changing room, leading him to a bench where I sat on top of him, legs either side, and we got lost in each other, tongues pressed together, my hands on his cold face pulling him harder into me, his hands everywhere.

We were completely and utterly consumed by each other, so preoccupied, that we didn’t hear the clubhouse door creak open.But we did hear the footsteps that squeaked across the lino in the corridor.

And when the door into the changing room was pushed open, I was there, on the floor, after losing my balance trying to detangle myself from Shane, while he was round the corner in the shower block.

17

‘Lexie?’Sadie’s voice.Shocked, from the doorway.

‘Jelly legs,’ I said, standing up and trying not to make eye contact.

‘What are you doing here?’she asked.She looked at her watch.‘It’s six thirty.’

‘Just wanted to get some extra training in.I was down on the pitches running laps.I need a change of scenery from the back garden sometimes.’I laughed for no reason, hoping it would distract her and she wouldn’t see the extra clothes that were lying around.

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