AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She offers a wry smile. “Fine then, what doyouthink is the most romantic movie?”
I take a moment to think about it while Courtney sits there, arms folded over her chest, brows eyebrow arched sceptically.
“The Lion King,” I finally say. “Are you really going to argue with Sir Elton?”
Courtney narrows her eyes at me. “Well played, Whitford.”
I let out a soft breath of laughter and spring up from the couch, brushing myself off. “I should probably get going. Do you think he’s planning to surface anytime soon?” I ask, glancing at the ceiling towards Keegan’s room. I did, after all, come over here today to spend time with my son. Apart from my initial greeting, the only other words I’ve heard from him today were a brief “No, thanks” when I went up to ask if he wanted to watch a film with us.
“Why don’t you stay for tea?” Courtney suggests. “That’ll get him to surface.? We could grab a Chinese from the place down the road—they’ve got that plum pork you like.”
“Oh, god, don’t tempt me,” I groan. Her suggestion sounds perfect, but deep fried pork in plum sauce won’t be good for my training regimen. Neither will fried rice, or spring rolls. Bloody hell, my mouth is watering.
“Come on, babes,” Courtney insists. “Splurging for one night won’t do you any harm. And if you’re really worried you can get something healthy—like tofu or whatever.”
My eyes narrow. “While you two gorge yourself on deliciousness? No thanks. If I stay, I’m eating a proper Chinese.”
She grins at me and then calls out in the direction of the stairs. “Keegan! Guess what—Dad’s staying for tea!”
I hear little feet pounding and then Keegan is dashing down the stairs. He stops halfway down, a hopeful expression on his face. “Can Archie Milligan come?”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “Archie’s busy so you’re stuck with me.”
Keegan’s face falls. “Oh. Well, I guess you’re okay.”
I roll my eyes, ignoring Courtney’s snort of laughter. “Well I’m glad you think I’mokay.”
Chapter fourteen
Archie
Thefirsttrainingsessionafter a loss is always hard. Half the team are demotivated and the other half aretoomotivated.
It’s exhausting trying to navigate between the depressies and the yessies.
Tom seems to be in a category all on his own. Anger. Or maybe it’s more like…agitation. Whatever it is, it’s kept a scowl permanently etched on his face, and his tone gruff and dismissive—not a teasing smirk in sight. It made today’s session even more brutal. I love training, and I especially love the one on one time with Tom, but for once I’m glad it’s over.?
“Today was a pile of sloppy dog shit,” Vinnie growls, following us into the locker room. For once, there’s a crack in his generally stoic features and I can tell that he's genuinely disappointed in us. Perhaps even more so than he was after the loss on Saturday night.
“Thanks for the visual, boss,” Robbie says with a look of disgust on his face.?
Vinnie ignores him. “Fellas-
“I know Saturday’s game was hard on all of you-” Robbie interrupts, lowering his voice in an admirable impression of Vinnie.
“We’re a better team than this,” Viz continues, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
“And what happened today in training can’t happen again” Davey ends with a bow.
“If you fuckers are done with your comedy routine,” Vinnie growls, unimpressed.
“Come on, boss, even Eduardo knows this speech, and he only speaks Spanish,” Robbie says, gesturing at the man in question.
“He’s Portuguese,” Alex corrects. At Robbie’s blank look, Alex explains, “It’s a completely different country. He speaks Portuguese, not Spanish.”
Robbie shrugs. “He doesn’t speak English, which was my point.”
“Gosto de vocês como irmãos, mas se soubessem que eu falava inglês obrigavam-me a socializar,” Eduardo says with a smile, before going back to unlacing his boots.
