Page 7 of Be My Endgame

“Obviously,” Alex agreed, shoving both hands into his pockets. Kieran’s soft snort suggested their performance had been found wanting—there went Alex’s backup plan of a career in theatre.

Lee seemed to arrive at the same conclusion because he cleared his throat, hesitated, and then turned to leave with an awkward little shrug of his shoulders. Alex followed suit and hoped that come morning Kieran would have forgotten all about that little moment.

Posted by@AlexanderBeaufort (May 23, 6:19 p.m.):

And so it begins! Such an honour to be part of the national team. We’ll do our best to bring it home! Today’s challenge though - don’t get buried under the mountain-high piles of clothes @TheJeffWhitlock left in our room.

Their first trainingsession started with printed handouts, of all things. And it wasn’t anything to do with football strategy either.

Seated in a circle on the training pitch, the morning sun raising fog above the grass, Alex could tell he wasn’t alone in his confusion at being asked to keep one copy of … aGuardianarticle on wealth management? Yes, that. Keep one copy, and pass the rest of the printouts on to the player next to him.

“Y’know,” someone said to Alex’s left, “this reminds me of school. Never finished those A levels, now did I?”

“Told you I consider myself responsible for more than just your performance on the pitch.” Kieran looked perfectly comfortable sitting cross-legged on the damp grass with them. “First five minutes of every training session, we’ll have aconversation, lads. About anything other than football.”

“Financial planning, though?” Jeff asked, tone openly dubious.

Kieran nodded. “Among other things. I realise that for a bunch of millionaires, that seems like a quaint idea—but been there, done that, got the bankruptcy declaration to prove it.” He didn’t leave time for comments. “Three minutes to read the article, then I want some thoughts. Don’t have to be clever thoughts—it’s not a test. Whatever comes to mind, yeah?”

Murmurs of agreement because it wasn’t like anyone would tell the coach to stuff it. Alex skimmed the text that declared financial failure the norm for a majority of pro athletes, then advised against wasting money on yachts and false friends, and to instead control spending, invest in low-risk and market-neutral funds, have a plan B, and avoid get-rich-quick schemes.

“Thoughts?” Kieran asked.

“Kinda itching to buy another sports car,” Jeff said, straight-faced.

A few people snorted, Kieran among them. “Fantastic,” he said. “Taught you a real valuable lesson, haven’t I?”

To Alex’s surprise, it was Lee who spoke up next. “Seems like boring stuff, financial management. ‘S true, though, that we’ll retire by, like, thirty-five—bit later for the goalies, maybe.” He wasn’t looking at anyone in particular, his attention firmly fixed on the article. “That’s still a lot of life to go. Especially if there are people depending on us.”

How about investing in a woman who cares more about you than she cares about diamonds and expensive bags? If you can find one.Alex thought but didn’t say it—not the place for snark, plus he didn’t actually know much about Lee’s private life other than that he wasn’t wearing a ring. Honestly, Lee didn’t seem like the type to indulge someone other than himself.

“Excellent point,” Kieran said. “And that’s if you don’t get injured a month or a year from now and never recover.”

“You’re just a bundle of fucking sunshine, aren’t you?” Lewis mumbled.

“Nowyou’re getting it.” Kieran’s grin was massive as he rose from the ground. “All right, gentlemen. Time to get this show on the road.”

With that, he moved them through a series of warm-up exercises before lining them up for passing drills, the ball zipping back and forth as names got called out. Then dribbling exercises, and set-piece practice. Defensive drills.

And as it turned out, Kieran had not forgotten the exchange he’d witnessed yesterday—at least Alex assumed that was the reason he and Lee got paired up. Because facing off against each other had worked so well for them in the past. Well, no time like the present for some personal growth.

Alex kept his voice neutral. “You want to start in defence or attack?”

“I can go either way.” Something sparked in Lee’s eyes—amusement, maybe. It was brief, gone in a second, and didn’t show in his tone when he continued. “Why don’t I start defending, switch it up for a change?”

Heroically, Alex managed to bypass any comment about how Lee could teach him a thing or two about wangling questionable penalties. Alex didn’t get nearly enough credit for his restraint. “Sure,” was all he said.

Next to them, Jeff and Finley, a right-back, were already engaged in a battle of skills and wit, Jeff lobbing over-the-top insults that Finley countered with laughter and taunts he seemed to have borrowed straight from a boxing ring. By contrast, Alex stayed silent as he tried to break past Lee, who was equally silent as he fought to block Alex’s path. Kieran passed them a couple of times, pausing to watch before he moved on to the next pair.

Alex wasn’t sure whether he or Lee had the upper hand. He was also sweaty and unsettled, tooawareof Lee. Usually, Lee relied on his footwork and speed much more than he did on sheer physicality—Alex had watched enough hours of footage to know his style. This was different. It felt like a dare, like Lee was just waiting to see how much he could get away with until Alex cried foul.

Well, Alex had been tackled by enough entitled upper-class pricks to handle a bit of rough play. He wasn’t about to blink first.

Switch.

Alex shoved hair off his forehead and didn’t let his attention linger on how Lee lifted his jersey to wipe his face, exposing a flat stomach with a hint of abs, a tattoo curling in the dip beside his left hip bone.Enough.

By the time Lee’s jersey dropped back into place, Alex had dragged his gaze away, up to Lee’s face. Lee tilted his head, Alex arched an eyebrow, and they were off again, roles reversed. With Lee attacking, he was in his element, while Alex’s speciality lay in directing the game from the back, in finding gaps to get that one pass through that opened up the game. Gritting his teeth, Alex shoved in close and fought Lee for every inch.

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