17
Oliver
THE CLINK OF GLASSES and the buzz of chatter filled the air in the pub. The warm light from the chandeliers reflected the polished wood, the scent of freshly poured beer, the sweat of Londoners grabbing a pint after work mixed with a distinct smell I never could name. I just knew it to be familiar.
Familiar enough that the occasional heads turning our way, directing whispers towards us were barely a faff and the random commentary on how we were suckers—for cricketers—for being so bad at darts was tuned out.
The walls were filled with pictures from over the years with some of the sporting legends and celebrities who had stepped in to this very pub. Of course, seeing as the pub was merely a ten-minute walk from my family townhouse, the King men were lined up in their own section: from celebrating their first pints to their first centuries, each moment had a captured memory to speak of it.
And I was a part of it.
I stared with the framed image from four years ago. My dad had brought me down here when I’d turned eighteen to get my first pint with him—which, according to him, was a family tradition. Bob, who was now the owner of the pub, had served me, but he’d also served my Dad his first pint fifteen years prior to that, on his very first day.
“Oi! Oliver,” Noah’s voice snapped me out of the memory. “It’s your turn, mate. Unless you’re already ready to admit defeat?”
Noah Davenport was a fellow top-order batsman and our resident joker. He was the kind of guy you never took seriously because he also never took anything seriously; except Cricket.
I rolled my shoulder, the dart cool in my hands as I took my position. I blinked, internally shaking my thoughts before focusing them on the board.
Sameer had missed the bullseye, but he and Noah—who were paired against me and Rihaan—were still ahead of us by a margin, and we’d only just begun.
Pulling back my arm slightly, I took a breath before the dart left my hand, landing just on the triple inner ring.
“If you were shit at it, then why did you suggest a match, you idiot?”
I ignored Noah, even though I knew it was all for a good laugh, but he quite literally had no room to talk, considering how bad he was, and threw the second one.
It landed just by the target, and Rihaan whistled. We were on even points now, and anything more would bring us in the lead.
“Now, Ollie, you might need to—”
“Shut up, Noah.”
I waited a beat before throwing my last one and looked at Noah.
I didn’t need to look at the board. I knew it landed exactly where I wanted to.
Bullseye.
“If only you were this nit-picky about your drives, Davenport.” I tsk’d, before grinning at him. Rihaan snickered as Noah walked to the board, pulling off the darts. “Maybe, focus on that when you go up to Loughborough.”
“Actually, not a bad call. I can give you pointers from what I picked up this season,” Sameer rubbed over his jaw as if mentally going over all the things he could list wrong with Noah’s drives, but his grin gave away that he was only half serious.
Sameer Ali was our resident spinner and the most laid-back guy you’d meet. He had this uncanny ability to hold his calm on and off pitch, and he was the youngest one of us.
“Especially the last match. What were you thinking?”
“Oh, piss off.”
I grinned, knowing I’d done my job. It was simple: if you couldn’t beat them with skill, mess with their heads long enough to let them ruin it for themselves.
And if there was one thing I knew about cricketers was that we might be patient, but we were a stubborn lot.
Case in point, Noah and Sameer bickered through the rest of the game, going over the way Noah had gone out and got bowled out on the first ball and he handed us the easy win.
“I can’t tell if you’re trying to wind me up or what. That shot was barely legal.”
“Please, your Nan could’ve been holding the bat, and she would’ve made at least a run.”
“Don’t bring my Nan into this,” Noah grumbled, making the three of us chuckle, knowing how close he was with her. “And you’ve got no room to laugh, Rihaan. Didn’t you also miss a similar shot at Durham?”
Holding up my drink, I took a gulp in the hope it covered my expressions. Noah was pissed—drunk or mad—could be either at this point to bring up Durham.
The air was tense for a second before Rihaan winked. “Yeah, but the difference is when I do it? It’s art.”
“Yeah, I’m sure Picasso would be proud .”
“I’m more of a Banksy fan, myself, but sure.”
I chuckled, relief washing over me as they carried on with their back and forth, but something in me tugged, and my head was pulled involuntarily in a direction.
I scanned the crowd, the place was now busier than before; there was barely any standing room left, but finding her was easier than breathing. Raina’s long black hair was falling in waves over her shoulder, her face scrunched up in an adorable way as she tried to squeeze past people. She was wearing a thin white turtle neck, along with a black skirt that ended just above her mid-thigh over some sheer tights that made my throat dry.
I straightened up slightly, taking another sip of my beer as I watched her without making it obvious.
“Who are you looking at?”
“No one.”
I looked at Rihaan quickly, who was now scanning the crowd, trying to figure out who got my attention. Thankfully, when I glanced in Raina’s direction for a second, she and Leah were facing the bar.
“You had that look in your eye.”
“What look?” Noah asked because I didn’t need to. I knew the one he was talking about.
“The same one he had when he saw someone at the night of the championship party.”
The two remaining heads snapped in the direction, and I held back a sigh, realising he had blabbed.
Before I could argue or come up with an excuse, Rihaan’s phone buzzed, and a strange expression took over his face.
“Right, I need to…” Rihaan trailed off, his fingers busy as he typed away on his screen. He frowned for a second before shaking his head and standing up. “I gotta run. But Oliver, do yourself a favour and go after her this time. My family already pissed on your chance once. Don’t hold back on our account. You two, leave him be.”
I didn’t reply because, well—what could I have said?
‘Oh, don’t worry about it. And by the way, it’s your sister I’m losing it over?’
Yeah, no thanks. Getting in a pub fight was as high a priority as telling him the truth, and I’d already told Raina that I was going to let her make that call, and I wasn’t going to turn back on my word.
“Aw, Ollie boy, do you get performance anxiety? Do you want us to leave?”
“Shut it.” I muttered as we slid out of the booth. I glanced in the direction she was in earlier, only to find the spot filled by someone else.
A pang of disappointment ran through me before I shook my head.
“Lost her already?”
I sent him a look, and Sameer snickered, pushing Noah. “Right, we better be off before you end up with a black eye. You staying, Oliver?”
“For another minute.”
Enough to give myself a last chance to spot her before anything. It wasn’t like I wouldn’t see her at home. Though saying that, this was the first I’d seen of her in two days, and damn if she didn’t make me realise what a sight for sore eyes she was.
We gave each other a nod before they walked towards the door. I let my footsteps take the familiar route to the bar as people moved out of my way, my gaze searching for hers when someone connected with my chest.
“Shit. Sorry.”
I frowned at the familiar voice before glancing down. “Raina?”
She looked up at me, a frustrated and annoyed look splashed on her face.
“What the hell happened?” I asked before she could reply. Her once-white shirt now had a big stain on it, covering her right side.
“Beer.” Her nose scrunched up like it disgusted her, and I had a feeling I wasn’t too far off. “And men.”
I tried to control my grin, but as Leah stepped behind her, seeing her wear one made me instantly mirror it.
“Look, your prince charming is here,” Leah winked at Raina.
“No.” She looked up at me with a look that read I was somehow a traitor. “He smells of beer, too.”
“My bad, I was unaware of your disdain towards it,” I reply, and she shakes her head. “What are you guys doing here anyways?”
“Getting drinks to celebrate Raina’s promotion,” Leah said, and I nodded.
“No, we were getting drinks. I’m going home now.”
I frowned, noticing the frustration take over her by the minute. “Because of your shirt?”
She gave me an exasperated look that I even had to ask. I chuckled slowly, grabbing her gently by the elbow as I glanced at Leah. “Why don’t you save a spot? We’ll be right back.”
“What—”
Leah’s eyes glimmered as she left without another word and I pulled Raina with me. “Where are we going, exactly?”
“You’ll see.”
Raina resisted slightly as I opened the door to one of the unisex bathrooms. Letting her go in first, I shut it behind me before hesitating on the lock, but then my idea ran into my head again, and I clasped it. Just to be on the safer side.
The bathroom wasn’t too bad, but Raina looked around as if she was going to catch an unwanted disease by just standing in there and it made me want to laugh.
“Well?” She put her hands on her hips, the irritated look still on her face.
“Here,” I said as I slipped my hoodie over my head. I was wearing a t-shirt underneath it that I had paired with some jeans, but if it meant that she’d stay and enjoy the night for a little longer.
Offering it to her, she just stared at and I got a sense of Deja vu from the other morning I did it, and from the look in her eye, she did too. She stared at it for a second before shaking her head.
“Thank you. But I really am not in the mood anymore. And maybe I’m being over dramatic, but it wasn’t even like an ‘Oh, I’m sorry it was an accident’ because the guy had this smug look on his face afterwards, and when I didn’t take his opportunity to buy me a drink, he dismissed without so much so an apology.”
“You’re not being over-dramatic. We can go home if you want, but wouldn’t you rather walk in my hoodie than in your t-shirt?”
“I’m still going to smell like beer. There’s not much of a difference.”
“Sure, if you’d rather walk in that sticking to you. I mean, think about the fact that it was probably mixed with his saliva—”
Raina yelped, as if she hadn’t even thought about that and reached for the hem of her shirt that was tucked in and whipped it off her head in one swift motion.
Everything in me stilled.
Because there she was. Now, standing with only her lace bra—white, lace and absolutely stunning against her warm, brown skin.
I swallowed hard. If seeing her before had made my throat dry, I wasn’t sure if there was a word for how my mouth felt now. I let myself steal another moment before closing my eyes. While it was mostly out of respect, considering I’d riled up her a little, knowing how particular she was, it was also to make sure I still kept a hold of the little sanity I had left when I was around her.
She was absolutely stunning, and every time I looked at her, I felt my breath being knocked over me, but I wasn’t sure what was it about her that made me feel like a teenager. My heart was racing under my chest, the warmth of her spreading all over me as I felt her take my hoodie from outstretched hand.
“I hate you.”
I opened my eyes, hoping that it was an indication that she was now dressed, yet when my gaze ran over her, covered in my hoodie that ended just above her skirt, it only made my heart beat faster.
Clearing my throat, I tried my best to make sure my voice wasn’t strained. “Let’s not start lying to each other, love. We both know you don’t.”
She slapped my arm, and I chuckled, opening the door for her. When she walked ahead of me, it was then I realised how much of an idiot I’d been. I’d worn one of my official team hoodies, and now my name was plastered in big letters over her back.
Something hit me square in the chest as it tried to tug on the last shred of my sanity but it was gone.
I was gone.
It was a little ridiculous how quickly and overwhelmingly I felt things for her, but I knew that not a single nerve in my body was against it.
Saying a silent prayer, I shut the door behind us as we walked. The crowd had raised the noise to another octave as we stood by the archway, trying to find Leah.
I looked down at Raina, only to find her looking at the bar, and though her gaze lingered for a second longer when I glanced in the direction and saw a group of guys, I connected the dots.
“You want to tell me which one it was?”
“Why?” She turned her gaze to me, a challenge in her eyes.
I shrugged. I hadn’t thought of a plan, all I knew was I didn’t like that she was upset. “I’ll avenge you. Prince Charming and all that.”
Her lips twitched, and I grinned as my gaze scanned the room again. Once I spotted Leah, I nudged Raina in her direction.
“Finally!” Leah exclaimed as we reached the small table she’d managed to find. “Unless you two were wrapped up in a hot make-out session, you owe me the next two rounds.”
Raina rolled her eyes as she waited by the table. “I’ll make you the poison of your choice if we go home.”
Leah pressed her lips, trying to figure out how exactly to get her to stay, but I jumped in.
“C’mon, stay for one drink. I’ll get them for you two so we can avoid any more spills.”
Her eyes narrowed at me, but there was no heat in them before she lifted her shoulder. “Fine.”
“Two beers then?”
She whacked me with the back of the sleeve, the fabric barely making an effect as it touched me in the middle of my chest, and I chuckled.
“Two G&Ts, please,” Leah smiled and I nodded before making my way to the bar.
The group of guys were still just as rowdy as I placed my order, and as one of them lunged back and drenched another in his beer, a small part of me snapped. Maybe it was pettiness or me just reading too much into what was a regular thing, but it didn’t sit right with me.
So, when the server handed me the two drinks, I took a deliberate step back as my elbow nudged the guy’s shoulder. He barely had time to register the events as his beer splashed over him and his friends.
“Bloody hell, Watch where—” The guy glared at me and stopped as recognition filled his eyes instantly. “Are you Oliver King?”
I nodded, annoyance flickering in me. “Sorry about that.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Happens to the best of us.” He wiped his shirt, his posture more cautious. “I’m a huge fan, by the way.”
“Thank you.” I gave him another nod as I thanked the server before grabbing the drinks and walking away.
As I reached the table, I noticed they both were looking in my direction. Leah with a proud look, while Raina was just shaking her head. “Did you really have to do that?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I replied easily, placing their drinks in front of them and taking the seat next to her.
Leah sipped on her drink while Raina just stared at me, and I could see her mind ticking. I also saw the moment she decided to say something, so I just nudged her knee, speaking before her. “Stop it. He upset you, and I didn’t like it. Now, drink your drink and enjoy for a bit.”
Her eyes softened before she nodded and turned to Leah and I relaxed.