I shoot her a look and say to Mum, “Don’t worry about it.I didn’t tell you specifically so you wouldn’t worry.AJ and Trish looked after me.”
“We had no choice,” Trish chimes in.
“But we were glad to do it,” AJ says, gripping my hand.
“If it happens again, you… All of you, better tell me or I will hit t’ roof.”
“Yes, Mrs.Thurston,” AJ says, sounding like a kid again and that makes me laugh.
“I don’t know what you’re laughing at.Yer might be a big shot footballer, but you’re still my son and I will still ground you if I have to.”
“You sound like my mum,” AJ says, also trying not to laugh now.
“Your mother has always had a lot of sense.We really should have a family dinner one night.You too, the both of yer,” she says, gesturing to Trish and Mel.
“We would love to,” Mel says, looking delighted.
“Would we?”Trish says, looking like she would be anything but delighted.
“Yes.We would, darling.We will even cook!”
“Will we?”Trish looks even more irritated now.
“Please don’t.We can order in.And yes, Trish, it’ll be a cheat day.”I say, trying to sound commanding, but I’m pretty sure it comes out as pleading.
“Today was a cheat day.You won’t get another one until the end of the season.”
“Wonderful, we’ll arrange it for then,” My mum says, and I guess it’s settled then.My whole world will be together under one roof.Fun.
“Are you forgetting the small matter of the Global Cup?”AJ says.
“Oh, yer boys are so busy,” Mum almost gushes with pride.“I’ve always wanted to go to the United States.”
“Come with us then, we get family passes.And if we get knocked out at the group stage, we can turn it into a double…well, triple family holiday?”I say, looking at them all, excited at the prospect.
“We’re going to bring football home, though,” AJ says, defiantly.
“A lot of good teams in the world, AJ,” I say to him, knowing exactly what I’m doing.He’s cute when he’s passionate.
“And we’re the best team in the world.Tell me a better country with a better striker partnership than you and I?”He takes a sip of tea, and he reminds me of the Kermit meme.
“I hope you’ll both still be boyfriends after the European Cup final,” Trish says, stirring the proverbial pot with a big wooden spoon.
“We will,” we say in unison and then move in for a kiss at the same time.
“See, same page,” AJ says, squeezing my hand.
The rest of the evening is filled with more cups of tea and another cheesy movie on Netflix.At the end of the night, Mum heads home where she promises to talk to Dad again, and AJ takes up his now usual spot next to me in bed, but sleep is the last thing we do.
Chapter 35
AJ
The penultimate game of the season.We are level on points with Union.We both have thirty goals in the league, which are insane numbers for players our age and in the first full season.Kyle has seventeen assists to my twelve though.He’s always helped the team more, hell, I wouldn’t have racked up so many goals in our younger days if it wasn’t for his mad crossing and passing ability.
Sitting in the locker room, I’m taking it all in, like it’s my first ever game again.There's excitement in the air.Gaffer is going over tactics and once again reminding us to “go down if you feel contact in the box” and once again it feels as if those words are directed at me.After all the goodwill I’ve gained with the media after last year’s “dive” and this year’s “threatening behavior,” it’s a damn miracle that they’re writing fluff pieces about me.I guess when you play for the most powerful team in world football, it helps.And that I’m all right at the sport, too.
Today’s opponents are fighting for nothing.They always languish in mid-table, which means they will try and fuck up our chances of winning the league—maybe the team will turn into Prime Catalonia and bag a ton of goals.They’re a physical side with a lot of height.Some of them are as tall as me, but none of them are quicker.
