Page 59 of Someone For Everyone

She stretched up to hook the lights over the tree. ‘Who is the health and safety officer?’

He paused. ‘Me, I guess.’

‘Well, that’s okay then.’ She looked down and smiled. ‘It’s probably easier if you circle the tree with the lights and I’ll spread them out.’

‘Whatever you say… Hey, careful there,’ he said, catching her when she wobbled. ‘Are you sure you’re okay up there?’

She lifted her hands, demonstrating her balancing skills. ‘See? Perfect core stability.’

He raised an eyebrow and began circling the tree with the lights. ‘I don’t know who to keep a closer eye on, you or Jacob.’

‘Harsh. Although to be fair, I do seem to cry a lot more than him.’ She spaced out the lights as he draped them around the tree, her thoughts drifting back to their earlier conversation. ‘So you didn’t see it coming with your girlfriend?’

‘Nope,’ he said, adjusting the lights. ‘I thought we were happy.’ And then he paused. ‘To be fair, when I look back, I see things I didn’t at the time. Does that make sense?’

‘Perfect sense. I’m an expert in hindsight analysis.’

‘Well, I wish I was,’ he said, stripping off his hoodie. ‘Christ, I’m hot.’

Kate tried not to stare the flash of bare stomach as his T-shirt rode up. He might not play sport anymore, but his physique didn’t seem to have suffered. She swallowed awkwardly. The sight of the muscles flexing in his tattooed forearms was oddly distracting. ‘What kinds of things?’

He handed her a bauble. ‘Nothing major. For the most part she was a great girlfriend,’ he said, watching her stretch up to place the decoration. ‘Do you need to move the chair?’

‘No, it’s fine.’ The chair wobbled. ‘On second thoughts, you’re probably right.’

Resting her hands on his shoulders, she intended to jump down, but he lifted her instead and lowered her slowly to the floor. Finding herself momentarily airborne was rather alarming. Although not as alarming as when her chest connected with his and her body slid down his, until her feet found the floor. There was a long drawn-out moment, when neither of them moved.

Eventually, she found her voice. ‘I sense a but coming…?’

He held her gaze a fraction longer, before moving away, leaving a rush of cold air in his wake. ‘There were times when she was a little obsessed about her image and how many followers she had on Instagram.’ He went in search of more baubles. ‘I didn’t understand why it mattered, but clearly it did. She’d get annoyed with me for not taking her side, even though I felt I was on her side, and then it was radio silence for a few days. I learnt to ride it out and wait for her to start speaking to me again.’ He gave a brief shrug. ‘Apart from that, it was good. It only changed when I got my diagnosis.’

After checking that Jacob was okay, Kate resumed hanging baubles. They had an antique quality to them. The images had faded, but she could faintly make out Victorian skaters on a lake, and carollers grouped around a candlelit tree. ‘In what way did things change?’

He kicked off his trainers. It was his turn to climb on the chair.

She tried not to stare at his exposed lower back, as his T-shirt lifted when he stretched upwards. Of course he had a perfectly sculpted back. Why was she even surprised?

She pulled her top down over her very untoned bottom.

‘At first, she was shocked, like I was. And then she got angry, said she couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t carry on playing, even though the club refused to allow it. She wanted me to find another club abroad, who weren’t bothered about insurance.’ He stepped off the chair and repositioned it.

Kate rummaged through the last box, unearthing a few strands of gold ribbon. Struck by an idea, she glanced at Calvin. Dare she?Oh, what the hell.

She discreetly reached for his trainers.

‘I tried explaining that it didn’t matter where I played, the risk of me dropping dead of heart failure wasn’t going away,’ he said, climbing back onto the chair. ‘And then she became prickly and critical, less sympathetic… that’s when she started questioning our future together.’

When Kate was sure he was distracted hanging baubles, she removed his shoelaces and replaced them with gold ribbons. ‘Is that when she broke things off?’

His short laugh was loaded with sarcasm. ‘It might have been easier if she had. Nope, the next thing I knew, she’d hooked up with a teammate of mine.’

Kate blinked up at him. ‘Oh, Calvin, that’s awful.’

‘And just like that, I’d been replaced. She’d upgraded to a wealthier and healthier version.’ He rubbed his chin. ‘Sorry, that makes me sound callous.’

‘Far from it. Crikey, she could give Tristan a run for his money.’ She got up and held out her hand. ‘Need help getting down?’

At least that brought a smile to his face. ‘I can manage, thanks.’

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