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Admittedly, the smattering of Portuguese I learned for my junior football program in Brazil is quite rusty, but I’m pretty sure I heard the words “I speak English” in amongst Eduardo’s rapid-fire speech.
“See,” Robbie says, pointing at Eduardo. “I rest my case.”
“Robbie, no one knows what he just said,” Alex says with an eye roll. “But it’s beside the point. The fact is we played like crap today and we need to do better if we want to beat Brighton this weekend. We have a strong defence, a talented midfield, and the best strikers in the country. We shouldn’t be losing like we did the other night.”
The passion and encouragement rolls off him in waves. It’s no wonder the entire football world is in love with him. I can totally see him going into management when he eventually retires.
“We also have a pretty sick captain,” I add with a wink.
“Cheers, mate.” Alex smiles, before it’s replaced with a confused frown. “Tom, are you growling at me?”?
I finally look at Tom and it’s like he’s gone back to the bloke I met at the Sky Sports studio. Except this time his ire is directed at the captain.
“I don’t fucking growl.” The tone of his voice instantly puts a lie to the words.
Around us, several of our teammates are chuckling under their breath while also averting their glances. No doubt they have no desire to be on the receiving end of Tom’s fierce glare.
Ordinarily, I’d probably join in with the laughter, and maybe throw a teasing comment out at him. But there’s too much concern swirling in me as I study his pinched features. What the hell is going on? He’s been a grumpy fucking prick all day. No, not just today—he’s been moody for several days now. Since the loss to Palace, maybe? That would be understandable—no one likes to lose, especially not someone as competitive as Tom. But no, now that I think about it, his mood was off even before then. And he’s been snapping at Alex a lot, which is strange because Alex is basically the nicest guy ever.
“Can you arseholes just let Vinnie get on with his speech,” Tom grates out.
Vinnie sighs, running a hand over his shaved head. “Fuck, I can’t remember what I was going to say. Just make sure tomorrow when you show up for training, you actually show the fuck up. I don’t want to see another shitfest like that again.”
“Well, that was motivating,” Robbie drawls as Vinnie leaves the locker room. “Who wants to get a pub lunch?”
Viz and Davey agree quickly—I’ve learned over my weeks here that, despite their endless teasing, those two are practically joined at the hip—then Sean jumps on board, and finally Alex gives his reluctant agreement, warning them all he’ll be keeping an eye on their beer consumption.
Robbie turns to me with an expectant look.
“He can’t. We’re going to talk about some new training ideas,” Tom answers for me.?
I blink at him in surprise. “What? You never said anything.”
“I just did.”
“Bossy fucker,” I mutter under my breath, but from the look Tom is giving me, it wasn’t quiet enough.
We all hit the showers, and then the boys go off to the pub while Tom drives me back to his place so we can go over whatever training ideas he has. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been in this car now—he still insists on driving me to training every morning—but I’m still completely mesmerised by the buttery leather seats and sleek design. I don’t even know that much about cars, but I know enough to be able to tell that this one ishot. And the guy behind the wheel just makes it even sexier.
I give myself the mental slap that’s become a bit of a familiar habit lately. I’ve been doing pretty well with the whole cutting out my flirting recently, but it hasn’t been without alotof effort.
We get to Tom’s place and he lets us in through the garage this time.
“Do you like Alex?” he says abruptly, practically the second we’re inside the house.
I spin around to face him, finding his blue eyes wide with surprise. Okay, so I’m guessing he hadn’t actually intended to ask me that question. “Alex Williams?”
Tom throws his hands up in obvious frustration. “Do we know another Alex?”
My brows shoot up. “I know stacks of Alexes. It’s a pretty common name.”
He scowls at me. “You know what I mean. Stop being a shit.”
I can’t help letting out a soft chuckle. “Okay, well if you’re talking about Alex Williams, then sure. He’s a really nice guy. Everyone likes him,” I add with a shrug.
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I meant, do you like him.”
“You mean do I fancy him?” I clarify, one eyebrow arched.
