AllFreeNovel
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“I just want to fucking sleep,” I whine.
“Surely it’s not so bad from your bedroom,” Bridget reasons, although she has to raise her voice to be heard which completely invalidates her point. Bridget O’Leary is my oldest friend. We met at primary school after her family moved from Ireland, and now she’s head of the Wearside FC PR department. It’s literally in her nature to be rational and non-confrontational at all times.
“Oh, you can. That godawful sound travels! Four nights this has gone on for! He’s a fucking insomniac or something,” I shout back, again struggling to be heard at my normal level.
“Why don’t you go and politely ask him to turn the volume down? He probably doesn’t realise you can hear it,” Brooke suggests, also trying to be helpful. Only thing is, I don’t want helpful resolutions. I want my closest friends to share in my complete and utter rage. She winces as a particularly brutalsound travels through the wall at this point I’m beginning to feel sorry for the zombies.
“Fuck it, let’s go!” I stand abruptly from my sofa.
Dressed in our pyjamas and slippers, despite their protests, I drag both girls into the hallway with me for support. Bridget and Brooke share an apartment a few floors above me, so it’s not strange to find us wandering the corridors between each other’s flats in PJs. I can’t say I’ve ever stormed the hallways of the building waging war though, so this is new for us.
When I come to a halt outside his door, I knock a little harder than I intend to. No one answers, so I try again harder. He’s in there; his game is still playing the sounds of slaughtered zombies!
I look back to the girls who are watching me, clearly worried I’m on the verge of some homicidal meltdown.
“Maybe we should come back in the morning when you’ve calmed down?” Bridget whispers, leaning forward slightly to where I stand ahead of them.
“No fucking way! I’ll bet any money he’s a deadbeat gamer who doesn’t work and thinks it’s perfectly fine to playvideo games all night and sleep all day with no care or consideration for those of us who actually contribute to society.”
“Do you not think you’re being a little judgemental when you don’t know the guy?” Brooke asks.
Yes, I’m being judgemental, but I’m pissed off, so whatever.
Turning back to the door, I ignore her and do what any other batshit person would do in this situation and bang on the door, loud, hard and fast, until he answers, half-naked, looking a little panicked.
“Shit, what’s going on?” he asks, looking between the three of us, confusion etched in his beautiful face. Fuck, I was not expecting this! “Are you okay?” He glances down the corridor for signs of danger that don’t exist.
I know it’s stereotypical of me and since I’m a female footballer who hears all the stereotypes, I should know better, but when you see gamers in movies and on TV, they’re always super nerdy; pale and thin from staying indoors all day, but this guy… Shit, he’s gorgeous.
He’s tall. Very tall. I’m above average height for a woman at five foot eight and this guy has an easy six inches on me. He’stoned without being overly ripped. His shirtless torso is tight and firm with a light sprinkling of dark chest hair, and he has the most beautiful collarbones I’ve ever seen. I didn’t even realise I had a thing for collarbones, but hey, it’s apparently my new kink because I want to lick them.
But it’s his eyes that really suck me in. They’re the most brilliant shade of forest green I’ve ever seen. And they’re staring right at me.
Shit,he’sstaring right at me, waiting for me to speak. His lips quirk as he notices and my gaze follows the curves.
“You’re loud!” I snap myself out of the trance he’s pulled me into. “I’m sorry?” His eyebrows pucker ever so slightly at my
aggression.
“Your games are loud,” I say, steadying my voice and recovering from my initial shock. I plant my hands firmly on my hips, taking a step closer to him.
I’m obviously not very intimidating because he smirks at me, actually fucking smirks, and leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest. Holy forearms, he has those too, all lean muscle and thick veins and…I’m losing focus again.
“I wear a headset,” he says simply, no apology in sight.
“Your headset is obviously not working,” I reply through gritted teeth.
“I’m sorry, I’ll check out the speakers because you shouldn’t be able to hear a thing.” He’s cool and collected when he runs his hand through his tousled deep brown hair.
“Well, make sure you do because some of us actually have jobs to go to and need a decent night sleep,” I say snidely. “Come on, let’s go,” I add for the benefit of the girls behind me who have been useless this entire time.
“You know, when you introduce yourself to someone, you’re supposed to give them your name,” he says as I walk away, a cocky confidence oozing out of him.
“And why is that?” I ask, turning back to face him, ignoring the giggles from Brooke and Bridget.
“It’s good manners.” He smirks at me once more from his doorway. “I’m Luke.”
“I’m Bridget, this is Brooke, and the grumpy one is Natasha,” Bridget says, helpfully looking between us when I don’t respond.
