“Going home?” Callum asks, an arm wrapped around Millie.
“Yeah, man. Can’t wait to say ‘tomato’ and ‘can’ properly without getting weird looks,” he says with an exaggerated American accent.
We all laugh.
“I mean, you’re free to speak however you want,” I say, arching an eyebrow.
“Yeah, but it seems to have such an effect on you guys, I keep it to myself.”
We do like to tease our American boy.
“Maybe you should try it with women?” Finn suggests. “The accent, I mean. It’s probably exotic for the ladies. Maybe you’ll finally find the one after the one-thousand-five-hundred-and-forty-seventh attempt.”
Cameron just rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I don’t think so. Your accent is way stronger than mine, and you’re still single.”
We all laugh at his dig.
“That’s because an Irish accent isn’t exotic here.” He winks. “Might have a better chance this summer in Greece.”
“What about you, Archie?” Millie turns to me with her usual bright smile. “Excited for your humanitarian mission in Uganda? It’s so great you’re doing that.”
“Thanks.” I rub the back of my neck. “Glad to be able to help—and get away from all oftheseblokes.” I nod at my teammates, and Finn throws a pillow at my head.
Cameron arches an eyebrow. “Hey, don’t pretend like you’re not going to miss us.”
“I definitely won’t,” I tease.
We keep chatting about our summer plans, and an hour later, Callum and Millie are the first to call it a night. Finn and Cameron follow suit.
“Time to get back home to the monster,” Callum says, standing up. He’s referring, of course, to his pet parrot, Fergie, with whom I have a complicated relationship.
“Oh, come on. He’s not a monster,” Millie says. “But yeah, you’d better go home. He always gets extra on match day.”
Anyone who poops on my head is a monster in my book, but who am I to judge?
“Will you even be able to go on vacation this summer?” Cameron asks them, standing up.
Millie shakes her head. “Probably not. Still haven’t found a sitter.”
“I can’t even imagine what a task that is,” I say. I was tempted—for about five seconds—to adopt a dog last year, and I know I made the right choice. My independence is too precious to give up.
“Well, have a safe trip,” she says, giving me a little wave. “Try to make some content for your socials while you’re at it. Fans would love that. Actually, that goes for all of you.” She turns to Finn and Cameron. “Just because it’s the summer break doesn’t mean you can forget about your fans. Social media is a twenty-four-seven job.”
“Yes, we were at the briefing yesterday,” Finn teases. “Promise I’ll keep the world entertained from my poolside lounger.”
I roll my eyes, and we all say goodbye.
“Be good in Africa, lad,” Finn says, hugging me. “See you at the wedding.”
And just like that, they’re all out the door. Usually, I would feel a bit sad about the start of summer. I always thrive during the season, when we’re all steaming ahead at a hundred percentand we don’t have time to think. But this time, I’m excited to do something new.
Uganda, here I come.
Chapter 3
“You play football?”
Archie
