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22
I’d been half convinced that last night had been a dream, but when I woke, feeling the warmth of a body next to me and then opening my eyes to take in the sight of my arm slung across the stomach of my very hot housemate, I couldn’t have stopped my grin even if I’d tried.
I reached up, tracing the line shaved into the side of Liam’s head with my fingertip.
“Touching me while I’m asleep? Bit creepy.”
Startled, I yanked my hand back. Liam’s eyes blinked open, and he smiled hesitantly, which turned into a yawn. “Only joking. What’s the time?”
“Uh…” Rolling over, I fumbled for my phone. “Ten past nine.”
“Shit!” Liam shot upright in bed, suddenly wide awake. “I’ve got a football match at ten.”
He threw himself out of the bed, grabbing his clothes that were still strewn across the floor, and threw them on. When he made it to the door, he paused, then turned back and darted across to the bed.
Swooping down, he planted a hard kiss on my lips. “Bye.”
He disappeared out of the door, and shortly afterwards, I heard his own bedroom door slam, followed by the sound of his shower starting up.
I lay back on my bed with a huge smile on my face.
* * *
Liam had already left by the time I made my way downstairs. In fact, the house was empty since all my other housemates were on the football team and playing in the match, or so I assumed.
I was just setting myself up on the sofa, happy to have the space to myself, when the doorbell rang. Groaning under my breath, I unfolded my body from my comfortable position and went to answer the door.
“Phew. I was hoping you were here. Forgot my phone.” Kian pushed into the house, jogging down the hallway past me. “Wanna come?” he threw over his shoulder as he raced into the kitchen.
“Where?” I shouted after him.
“Football. Preston’s playing.”
Fuck, no. Then Liam’s comment about us not having much in common came back to me, and before I could second-guess myself, I was jamming my feet into my trainers. “Wait for me. Just got to grab a hoodie.”
Kian nodded, and I bolted up the stairs, taking a minute to examine my collection of multiple coloured LSU hoodies before throwing on a forest-green one. After grabbing my phone and keys, I rejoined Kian at the front door, and together we jogged across campus to the football pitch, where a few of the players were already warming up.
The stands weren’t too busy—according to Kian, the Sunday morning matches never had that many spectators, so there was plenty of room for me. Taking a deep breath, reminding myself that this wasn’t going to be like my school experience of football and football players, I flashed my student pass at the steward, and he nodded, letting me into the seating area.
“Here, Ash. Found you someone to even the numbers a bit.” Kian flopped into a seat next to a dark-haired guy who I vaguely recalled seeing before.
“Good. Too many ex-Alstone High students here for my taste.” The guy grinned, reaching around Kian to shake my hand. “I’m Asher. Levi’s boyfriend and former school rival of these three.”
I became aware of the two other people sitting with us. A tall guy with rich brown hair gave me a nod, and curled into his side, a pretty, petite girl with a soft smile on her face reached out a hand in greeting. “I’m Raine, and this is Carter.”
“Oh, yeah. Hi.” I’d seen them with Preston and Kian once or twice, but we’d never been properly introduced. I knew Raine was a student here at LSU, and Carter and Kian attended Alstone College. “Nice to meet you all. I’m Noah. One of Preston’s housemates.”
Introductions out of the way, I settled back, waiting for the game to begin. This was the first time in my life that I’d ever voluntarily attended a football match, and I still wasn’t sure exactly what I was doing here, but it had seemed like a good idea at the time.
“Which team is ours?” I asked unthinkingly, and next to me, Kian snorted.
“Football’s really not your thing, is it?”
“You could say that.”
“Kian, swap places with me.” Asher was suddenly standing, and Kian was sliding into his vacated seat. Asher sat down next to me. “I’m training to be a football coach, so I can tell you everything you need to know.”
“Do I need to remind you that I was Alstone High’s top striker the year before you became captain at Highnam?” Kian raised a brow at Asher.
