Chapter 28 Eva #2
“I’d rather spiral about how it’s already July and I’ve done nothing this year than ask him anything even remotely related to my looks,” she scoffed, looking appalled.
“Sure, sure,” Arna replied at the same time the siren blared, and Marlee squealed, yanking on the Hearts scarf draped around my neck. “Okay, no one talk to me until quarter time, got it?”
“Wow, Marls, has Seb seen you this obsessed with other men?” Cooper asked jovially, taking the now empty glass from my hand and replacing it with a full one.
Marlee didn’t even flinch, already lost in the field of players finding their place, the crowd on the other side of the glass taking their seats as the siren went one final time.
“Winter, can you pass me those liquorice bullets?” Arna called, already seated.
From what the girls said, this year had been brutal for the team and much to Andy’s frustration they were the headline fronting each news outlet most weeks.
Even the positive stories coming out from Urban Pulse - a direct result of Arna’s position as Senior Editor at the large media platform - wasn’t enough to wash away the vitriol.
“We should sit,” I said to no one in particular, taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl Flick held out before I headed for the front row of the box.
“Maybe I should get myself an AFL player,” Flick said.
“You definitely should,” Winter answered. “I can ask Jack if any of his teammates are single?”
“Oh, hell no. I prefer to imagine what it would be like to date and then complain how unlucky I am when it comes to love.”
“Half the team has tried to sleep with you,” Arna spoke around a mouthful of liquorice she was nervously gorging on. “And you have willpower I could only dream about.”
“Maybe you should practice some willpower with those bullets,” Marlee interjected, and Flick and I laughed.
“I can’t help it, I get so nervous. Win, tell them how difficult it is to watch someone you love being thrown into the ground.
” When Winter didn’t reply, I looked over to where she stood biting her thumb nail, looking at least three shades whiter than she had before the match and Jack hadn’t even touched the ball yet.
“You good, Win?” I called, a smile threatening to break free at the look of terror she cast my way.
“Sorry,” she breathed. “I’m fine.” She sounded closer to a panic attack than fine, but we had her and she knew that.
“Come on,” Flick said, linking their arms and escorting her to the spread of snacks and beverages.
“Let’s get you a shot and I can explain why I would never date a sport star.
” Winter nodded gratefully and I watched with awe at the ease with which Felicity shared a story about how she went to the store for eggs and left thirty minutes later with snacks, no eggs and somehow had banana in her hair, as if she didn’t mind the world knowing every embarrassing thing she’d ever done or said.
And then she laughed, a bright, unapologetic sound that made Winter smile too.
No one mentioned how the story was entirely unrelated to dating a sport star, as that was just Flick. Always here, there and everywhere.
I wondered if the body which moved to press close beside me was also observing the pair and just as impressed as I was at Flick’s social awareness, only when I turned towards him, he was watching me.
“At some point we need to talk about your tantrum,” I said before I lost my courage.
He reached for my free hand, the one that told the world I was part of a couple thanks to the perfect ring beautifying my finger.
I tried not to spend too much time admiring the flawless nature of both the design and the stone itself.
Marriage wasn’t something I gave much credence to, likely bitter from how well the sanctity of the tradition turned out for Mum, but there was something about this piece that felt not only perfect, but mine.
Like someone had reached into my heart and built it from scratch.
Green was my favourite colour and had been for as long as I could remember and an emerald cut, emerald stone - as if I’d custom ordered my own fake engagement ring, which made it slightly strange that this was a piece of jewellery he had lying around.
I ignored the flutter of sprinkles that sizzled under my skin when he rested our now adjoined hands on his thigh, desperately trying to appear aloof. To match the ease he was serving with his knowing stare.
“Tantrum?”
I offered no reaction to his question, focusing on the field where I easily located Andy followed by Jack among the sea of red and black jerseys. He knew what I meant and while I wasn’t planning on opening the conversation here and now, I wanted him to know it was something we would be discussing.
“Will we also be discussing what happened after?” He’d leaned closer, the heat in his words intentional and my uninvited blush rose. Pushing my body's quiet betrayal aside, I raised a pointed brow his way.
“Maybe. I don’t really remember anything worth discussing though.
” The sudden roar of his laugh jolted me, echoing in the box loudly and when I glanced towards the girls, it was no surprise that all four sets of eyes were on us.
They were all smiling, only Marlee looked particularly gleeful and the near mania in her stare told me I was in for more questions than even I could handle.
The crowd erupted into a cacophony of cheers, stealing our focus back to the game where the Hearts had just kicked the opening goal and I emptied my lungs on a deep exhale, happy to have avoided any questions when I didn’t currently have answers.
Cooper slipped his hand from mine, curling his arm around my shoulders and drawing me into his side. His lips brushed the side of my head before I fully registered what he was doing, and I had to swallow down a contented sigh, wrapped in the woodsy, leather-tinged comfort of his embrace.
“Happy to remind you whenever you want, baby,” he breathed, before returning his attention to the game as if he hadn’t just sent a firework to my core and a seductive promise to my heart.
“Rightio!” Arna stood, brushing her hands down her legs and straightening her pants. “Let’s wash that loss away with more booze. Message your man and tell him to have some of those passionfruit cocktails ready for us, Marls. Andy is going to be particularly grumpy.”
“I think I’m just going to head home. I’m peopled out.
” Win hated being out at the best of times, let alone after 10pm and watching your partner’s team get beaten by fifty wouldn’t have been helping.
After the Hearts kicked the opening goal of the match, what followed was a masterclass in precision, unfortunately, delivered by their opponents - the Jets.
“Nice try. Jacky is going to need you to comfort his wounded pride. You have your loops, right?” Arna questioned. Winter nodded, pointing to her ears where unsurprisingly, they were already wedged and probably had been the whole time.
“Perfect. Let’s go then,” Flick said. “I want to dance.”
“Oooooh, I could dance,” I cooed, feeling the alcohol I’d been chugging making the decision for me. Standing, I wobbled on the spot before Coop placed a hand on my waist.
“You right, Evy?” There was that name again. The one he’d given me so long ago. The one which set me apart in his world. His eyes softened as he peered down, sending a warmth trickling through me like the golden light at dawn.
He’d been uncharacteristically quiet for most of the match, speaking only when directly asked a question but I could feel his gaze lingering on me.
He kept my glass full, handing me water in between each as if he knew I would need the hydration, and anytime I went to the bathroom, he was my sentinel, waiting right outside like an angry bodyguard.
It was kind of hot. Scarily sexy actually and with each drink, it was becoming harder not to drag him inside with me and kiss the anger away like we’d done earlier.
“Come on, lumber snack, let’s go see my brother and hope he doesn’t know we had mind blowing sex earlier.”
“Mind blowing, huh? I thought you couldn’t remember,” he teased with a raised brow, and I wondered if he too was watching an internal replay of our afternoon.
“I mean, it was okay,” I rolled my eyes a few times in case he missed the first full circle until one of my contacts started to move and I had to jab my finger into my eyeball to stop myself losing my vision.
“You’re going to lose a contact,” Cooper said with a laugh, and I blinked rapidly until it righted itself.
“Hurry up, lovers,” Marlee called from where she and the others stood just outside the door and I linked my arm through Cooper’s, both because I didn’t want to let him go and because I needed some sober support if we were going to get to that dancing.