AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Now I really do want to laugh but I manage to hold it in, not my surprise though, that’s written all over my face as his eyes narrow on me.
‘You could say I learned my lesson the hard way,’ he says to me, like he’s daring me to question any of it.
‘You wouldn’t change what you do now though,’ Adele says. ‘It’s obvious you enjoy it, and you’re your own boss, none of the playing up to the fans, gruelling training sessions, competition nerves... Seriously, I keep telling Louis he’s got to think about retiring soon.’
Valentine chuckles. ‘Good luck with that. Now why don’t I go and get those drinks...’
‘I’ll go.’ I reach out, my hand gentle on his arm. I still need the breather and a chance to clear my head. ‘Then Adele can tell me all about the wild things you got up to in your youth.’
She chuckles as I walk away and I hear Valentine grumble something I can’t quite make out. But, truth is, I’d struggle to hear anything over my head that’s roaring so loudly with this new version of the man I know. Was it the so-called ‘stunt’ that made him so... I don’t want to say boring. Christ, he’s anything but boring now. Thursday night drowned out that impression of the man.
And now I want to know everything. Like, did he truly learn his lesson the hard way?
Did ending his football career ruin his life’s dream and create this tamer, more conservative version of him? Or was it something else?
And just how wild was he?
And how can he sit there and judge me when he’s done his ‘crazy’ and then some?
I smile all the more, my mind puzzling over it as I obtain our drinks and wander back outside to the viewing seats and find him still with Adele, chatting animatedly about something. Even seeing him like this is different.
I offer Adele one of the glasses.
‘I’m afraid I didn’t grab you one, Valentine. I wasn’t sure what soft drink you’d fancy, and it doesn’t help me pursue my goal if you’re within earshot.’
He grimaces as Adele laughs.
‘I really do like this one, Valentine. Can we keep her?’
I almost spurt my drink everywhere. ‘I like you too. If I’d known football attracted such like-minded women, I’d have got into it years ago.’
Valentine groans. ‘What have I let myself in for? I hope they hurry up in those changing rooms; I think I’m going to need some male backup asap.’
‘Surely your past can’t be all that bad?’ I purr, leaning one hand into his chest in what’s probably too flirtatious a gesture but what can I say, Thursday has changed everything.
He chuckles beneath my palm, shakes his head at Adele, whose brows are back with the roof of the stadium.
‘Right, I’m gone.’ And with that he walks away.
I watch him go, my eyes caught up in his impressive frame that is encased in a light grey suit that totally suits the lightness of his mood.
‘You’ve been all over that, haven’t you?’
Jesus. I choke on the champagne I’m halfway to swallowing. ‘I’ve what?’
I eye Adele and she just laughs, her big brown eyes dancing, her shiny black bob swinging with the shake of her head.
‘You know what I mean...’ She waves her glass in his direction and my eyes flit there and back just as quick. ‘You can’t fool me, not with that look in your eye.’
‘What look?’ I sound drunk, repetitive, bumbling, but hell...
‘Okay. So, maybe it’s not so much you as him. I haven’t seen him like this in...’ she looks off into the distance as she considers it ‘...too long. And it’s nice. It’s like getting an inkling of the old Valentine.’
‘The old Valentine?’ I imagine we’re back to the boy he was in his youth, the one who ruined his football career for a stunt.
‘Oh, yeah. Seriously, you may not think it now, not with his high-flying career, the big CEO with the world-renowned PR business, but back in the day...he was trouble with a capitalT. If anyone needed good PR it was him.’
My eyes bulge in their sockets and she laughs at me. ‘Don’t believe me?’
