Page 53 of Reawakened

And I never sleep in.

Ever.

I did then though. Too content. Too sated. Too at ease. All things I’m not accustomed to feeling, but I want more of already.

‘Oh, God... Oh, God.’ Adele grabs my arm and I don’t think she’s even aware she’s doing it. ‘It’s not...it is...oh, God. I can’t look.’

She turns into me, but she doesn’t need to look, the crowd are filling in. The cheers loud as the opposition approaches the goal. It’s close, real close, but then the whistle pierces the air, and the crowd roar.

‘They’ve won,’ I say. ‘They’ve won!’

Her head shoots up, her eyes going back to the pitch and her grin is so wide, her eyes are tearing up. And then I understand it; this isn’t about the football. It wasn’t the match that kept distracting her when I tried to continue our discussion about their charity initiatives abroad. It seems she suffers the same condition as me when her man is within viewing distance. Not that Valentine is my man, not at all, but as my eyes drift to his, now dancing, his grin so broad on his handsome face as he applauds the players on the pitch, I can’t deny how the sight of him makes me feel.

Adele gives a soft laugh. ‘You’d think after all these years of watching him play I’d be used to it, but I swear it only gets worse.’

‘I can imagine.’

‘It’s a little like love, I guess,’ she carries on, her eyes wistful. ‘You think you’ll get accustomed to it, loving your man, but in actual fact you only ever love them more.’

I frown as I consider her words. Nathan and I were comfortable... I would definitely say I grew accustomed to my feelings for him. There was never the intense spark, the intense attraction that I feel around Valentine, so intense it makes me feel ratheruncomfortable.

‘Everything good here, ladies?’

Valentine is suddenly beside us, my thoughts preventing me from noticing his approach and now I’m unprepared, my body sizzling with awareness, with heat.

‘Absolutely.’ I smile at Adele, hoping I’m not as flushed as I feel. Lobster skin and a white dress. No, just no. ‘We should go and get a glass of champagne to celebrate, before we’re inundated by your husband and his teammates.’

She laughs and smiles up at Valentine. ‘She’s a treasure; I wish you’d introduced us years ago.’

She pats his chest in a very familiar gesture and I realise that they are friends too. That he hasn’t just brought me to meet influential acquaintances; these are his friends. I shouldn’t be surprised. But I don’t know; he just seems so reserved, so measured, so controlled...Not so much after you cracked him, though.

‘I only had the pleasure of meeting her recently myself.’ He grins at me and I want to mute my brain that is talking so much gibberish as I adjust to this side of him and his life.

‘You’ve known each other long then?’

‘Oh, years and years,’ Adele says, leaning into him a little. ‘He used to train with Louis but a silly little stunt one night ended up screwing his right foot—his extra-talented foot—for good.’

‘You weren’t even on the scene then,’ Valentine corrects her.

‘No, but I know all about it! Louis dined out on that tale for years.’

‘I’m so glad my misery was such a great source of entertainment.’

‘Your misery?’ She raises her eyebrows at him. ‘Your stupidity, you mean.’

‘I won the bet though.’ He grins back and I absorb this extra titbit, fascinated by their easy camaraderie over something that surely must have been devastating for Valentine at the time. Even more fascinated by the surprising idea of Valentine as a stunt performing footballer.

‘You used to train together? With Louis? At football?’

‘Back in our teens, yeah.’

‘Youwere a professional footballer?’ I say, still struggling to take it in.

He nods. ‘Never quite made it into the first team though.’

‘No,’ Adele pipes up. ‘Your wild antics saw to that.’

Wild? Valentine?

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