Chapter 28 Liam
Liam
Gritting my teeth, I breathe through the burning protests of my muscles as I haul myself into another pull-up, sweat dripping down my forehead onto the gym mat below.
“Jesus,” Ravi mutters from the bench press beside me. “Murphy’s on an absolute mission today.”
I side-eye him as I heave myself up for another set of reps.
Jack is spotting Ravi. He racks the bar and leans over, clapping him on the stomach. “Ease up, Ry,” he warns.
“What?” Ravi says. “I’m just wondering what’s crawled up his arse. Thought he was going to murder Sneath with his striking during drills.”
Ravi’s got a point. I’ve been taking penalties like I’m trying to blast the ball clean through the back of the net and on to Belgium. Poor Sneath, in goals, looked scared for his life by the end of the session.
I drop down from the pull-up bar, rolling my shoulders as I take a swig of water. I’ve been channeling all my frustration into training because I don’t know what else to do with it. It’s mounting inside me like a tsunami waiting to crash.
I’m still reeling after what happened to Anna on Monday. The fact that Roger even thought he could touch her bothers me. I’ve been bothered all damn week. Ever since I left her flat on Tuesday morning, with her insisting she was fine, I’ve been going stir crazy.
I can’t comfort her, clean her up, and then leave like none of it really means anything. I’m not wired that way. She hasn’t reached out, though, and I’m starting to wonder if I pushed her too hard. If I was too intimate.
“Murphy.” Jack’s voice jolts me out of my spiral. “You planning on staring at that water bottle all day, or are we hitting the ice baths?”
My phone vibrates against my thigh and I fish it out to see Danielle’s name flashing across the screen.
“I’ve gotta take this,” I tell him, holding up my phone. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
He nods and stalks off toward the ice baths.
“Hello?”
“Liam! Hey!” He voice grates against my eardrums. “I have some big news!”
“Yeah?” I grab my towel from the floor, slinging it over my shoulder as I head for somewhere quieter. “What’s going on?”
“Armani,” she says.
I wait a beat. “What about them?”
“They want you, Liam. For a collaboration. David Beckham worked with Boss and it was a major success. Armani love your look and want you to work on their upcoming spring campaign. Underwear, shoes, travel luggage, fragrance… it’s huge!”
I stop walking, the breath knocked out of me. “Wait, why would Armani want me?”
“Because you’re gorgeous, of course,” she gushes.
“Like modeling and shite?”
“More or less, yeah. You’ll be the face of their campaign.”
“I’m not a bloody model, Danielle.”
“We’re talking about a multimillion-pound deal, Liam! People won’t be talking about your punch-up with Keogh, they’ll be talking about your face plastered all over buses and the Tube stations instead.”
All I hear is a multimillion-pound deal. But diverting attention away from my colossal fuck-up doesn’t sound so bad either.
“All right, I’m listening.”
“They want to see you perform well tomorrow night against Eastbourne Green. I’ll be there along with the brand’s most senior executives, watching you work your magic. This match could literally change your career trajectory! Bring Finn! Hell, bring your friend, Roland or whatever his name is.”
“You mean my cousin, Roman,” I say.
“Whatever, my point is: bring people. Get excited.”
I’m more interested in what it could secure for my family’s future, but sure. “And if I have a shite game?”
Her laugh pierces my eardrums and I cringe. “You won’t. You’re Liam Murphy. You don’t do shit games.”
“Everyone has shit games, Danielle. Even Messi has off days.”
“Well, tomorrow can’t be one of them. And who knows, if you play your cards right, maybe they won’t be the only ones who’ll reward you afterward.”
Christ, she won’t leave the topic alone. Sleeping with her was such an awful mistake. But somehow, she’s the most sought-after agent in football. And right now, I need my connections more than I need my pride.
Irritation flares hot in my chest. “I’ve gotta go.”
Her syrupy “Bye” echoes in my ear before I hang up. Grimacing, I turn and head for the ice baths.
“A model?” Roman’s amused face fills my phone screen. “They gonna fill your briefs with socks?”
“All right, all right,” I say, smiling despite his piss-taking. “It’s not about the modeling, it’s about the money.”
“How much are we talking?” he asks.
“Multimillion-pound deal,” I say.
He releases a low whistle. “Shite. That’s proper money, that is.”
“Danielle thinks it’ll help people forget about the Keogh incident,” I explain.
“Bastard deserved it,” he says, his mouth shifting to a smirk. “But I’m sure you’re well over it now.”
I rub a hand over my face, groaning.
“What’s he talking about, Liam?” Zoey pops into view, looking between me and Roman suspiciously.
I look at Roman dead in the eyes through the screen. “I’ll kick you straight in the bollocks for that.”
“Liam here’s shagging Finn’s teacher,” Roman says with a cat-that-got-the-cream grin.
Zoey swats Roman’s arm. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” then she focuses on me. “Oh, Liam, you foolish man.”
I wave a hand. “Calm down, it’s not that serious.”
“Not that serious? Says the white knight running to her rescue Monday night,” Roman adds.
His flippant tone has my jaw working, and I bite back a grimace. “Watch your fucking mouth,” I warn.
Roman’s sly grin vanishes instantly. “Shit, Liam, I didn’t mean—”
“Whatever happened wasn’t a joke, all right? Have some bloody respect. She was upset. I wasn’t about to leave her like that.” My voice is cold enough to freeze hell over.
“Sorry, mate. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize—” He stops mid-sentence. When I look at Zoey, her expression is serious too.
“Forget it,” I say, running a hand over my face. “The reason I called was because I was gonna see if you guys wanted to come to tomorrow’s game. With Mel and Finn.”
“Of course,” Zoey says quickly. “We’d love to.”
“Invite Anna,” Roman says, wiggling his eyebrows.
Smart-arse.
My jaw works. “We’re just friends.”
I want her to come. Of course I do. I’d do anything to erase the haunted look she had in her eyes on Monday night.
But it’s not my place. She asked me to come over because something about having me there made her feel safe.
I was happy to be there for her. But wanting her at my game, caring this much about her healing? It isn’t part of our deal.
“Right,” Zoey says. “That’s why you nearly reached through the screen to throttle Roman just now.”
“Da!” Finn yells as he comes charging into view, launching himself onto my lap. “We’re going to your game tomorrow?”
I ruffle his hair. “You eavesdropping on your old man now?”
A giggle bubbles up from his chest. “I heard Miss Anna’s name! Can she come too?”
The kid won’t drop the fact that we talked on the phone. He bloody loves her.
The silence that follows is deafening. I swear I catch Zoey muttering a quiet “oh shit.”
I scratch my jaw. “I don’t think so, buddy. I’m sure she’s probably got other plans this weekend.”
“But I want to show her how fast you can run!” Finn exclaims. “And she’s really nice, and she smells good, and—”
“Finn,” I interrupt gently.
“The lad’s got a point,” Roman interrupts. “Especially if she smells good.”
I fix him with a murderous look. “Roman,” I growl.
“Tell you what, little man. Why don’t you ask your da to call her? I bet she’d say yes,” Roman stirs.
“Absolutely not.”
“It’s one game, Liam. It’s not a big deal,” Zoey adds. She pins me with a determined look. “Bring her!”
“Zoey—” I start.
“Please, Da?” Finn turns to me with those big brown eyes I can never say no to.
Zoey presses her lips together to stifle a grin and I roll my eyes at all of them. “Jesus Christ,” I mutter. Roman and his bleedin’ big mouth.
I huff out a breath, knowing I’m beaten. Three against one. “Fine. I’ll ask.”
“Yes!” Finn shouts, punching both fists in the air before tearing off down the hall.
I turn to the screen to see Roman and Zoey wearing matching taunting smiles. “I hate you both.”
“Can’t wait to meet her,” Zoey says.
Roman winks. “You’ll thank us later.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Famous last words.”