AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Luke’s face lit up. “Now, you’re talking.”
I used to spend my summers with Natalie on the same recreational soccer team. Her parents paid for the annual fee because there was no way in hell my foster parents would have. “I used to play when I was younger. I miss it.”
“Well, we should see a match, then. I’ll ask my friend if he would like to join us.” He had already opened his phone and was searching.
Wow. I guess we have one thing in common. I praised myself for bringing it up.
I watched as his fingers moved over his smart phone.
“There’s a match today at Boleyn Ground. It’s West Ham versus Tottenham Hotspur. Oh my God, we have to see it.”
“Can you get tickets?”
He looked at me and smiled as if I had made a joke.
Well, that answers that.
As we walked out of Westminster Abbey, Luke drummed his fingers over the black screen. “Damn. More meetings this afternoon.I’m sure I’ll be able to make it."
"We don't have to go."
"No way.I’ll leave early if I have to. I haven’t been to a football match in ages.”
Luke rubbed his hands together with a manic grin on his face. It was nice to see a gleam of excitement in his eyes instead of his mask of polite amusement. I didn’t argue as Luke called a cab to bring him to work, giving the driver explicit directions to take me wherever I wanted.
“The game starts at three o’clock. Best to be there at two-thirty. I’ll call and send a car wherever you are.”
He leaned across the seats and his lips brushed my cheek. When he pulled away, his smile was full of so much warmth that my breath caught in my throat.
“Have a good day, Jessica.”
Luke slid out of the car and gave me a small wave through the window. As soon as he had left the car, I felt his absencelike a hole in my stomach. I was still looking outwhen the driver cleared his throat. He was staring at me through the rear-view mirror.
“Uh—can you take me to the Tower of London?”
* * *
Breathless, I stepped out of the cab and searched the throng of people for Luke. Hundreds worethe West Ham colors of deep red-purple and blue stood in several security lines outside the stadium. The driver had assured me that Luke would be nearby. At last, I looked through a group of red and blue-clad men with rosettes attached to their shirts and recognized his profile. Luke’s dark hard tilted back with laughter. A good-looking man in his twenties stood beside him, his shoulders bent forward and shaking with mirth.
This must be the friend who he was talking about. As if he had heard my thoughts, the man’s eyes rested on me and he gave me a slight nod. Luke turned on the spot and gave me a brilliant smile. I hitched a grinand walked toward him.
“There you are, darling.”
Darling? I laughed despite myself as Luke swept me in his arms and his mouth sealed my lips in a brief but heated kiss. For a moment, it made me feel like he missed me. He pulled away and slid his arm over my shoulders.
Oh right, he’s acting again.
I gathered up my resolve and prepared myself to talk in a high-pitched voice that most girls seemed to have when reunited with their boyfriends.
“Did you enjoy the tower?” he asked as he brought me closer to his friend.
“Yes, it was good."
"Just good?"
I was disappointed. Itwas stripped bare of its original furnishings and the replacements didn’t look very authentic. It was like visiting Disneyland, but I had a nice walk along London Bridge.
“Jessica, this is my friend Brandon I was talking to you about. Brandon this is my girlfriend, Jessica.”
