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“We need to make it convincing.”
Her fingers snaked through my hair. She kissed me; her nose bumped against mine.
She pulled away and a smug smile twisted her lips. “I missed that.”
Chapter 39
Miri
Thescentoffreshlybaked cakes wafted from the kitchen. Normally I loved the smell when Reece was baking, but today it turned my stomach. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. Gabe hadn’t let me explain myself. The thought of how we’d left things made my chest ache. How was I supposed to carry on like this? I couldn’t go out on the pitch and pretend nothing had happened between us. I’d have to make him understand. He couldn’t shut me out. He was angry, but how could he not even give me a chance to explain?
Reece put a batch of muffins on the counter. “Banana and raisin. Your favorite.”
Nausea turned my stomach. “Maybe later.”
Frankie dropped down on the couch next to me. “Fancy popping to the Drum and Monkey for a pint?”
“Maybe another time. I’m not in the mood.”
Elliot looked up from his phone. “I brought some weights home from the gym. We can do some work on your conditioning if you want?”
I looked up to find everyone watching me. An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach. Something was going on. Everyone was being so nice to me. Too nice.
“What’s going on? Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Haven’t you seen the news, Miri?” Frankie asked.
“What news?”
Frankie looked between Reece and Elliot, her expression weary. “I told you. She doesn’t know.”
My jaw set. “She doesn’t know what?”
Reece rubbed his eyebrow, smearing flour on his face. “Miri, there’s been something in the news. It’s about Gabe …”
Panic made my brain reel. “Is he okay?”
Frankie bowed her head and murmured, “He’s back together with Emma Cousins. There are pictures all over the news.”
A deep pain stabbed my heart. “What?”
How could it have happened so quickly? Gabe had only confronted me about the tape yesterday. How could he have moved on a day later? Unless they’d never truly broken up. Unless they’d still been in contact when he’d been with me. I pulled out my phone and swiped through dozens of Gabe’s new Instagram stories: Gabe and Emma strolling down a busy street, Gabe and Emma in front of the Eiffel Tower. But one image made my breath hitch. It had been taken through a window. A stolen moment of intimacy between lovers in a café. Emma’s hair fell in beautiful glossy waves. Gabe wore a smart suit. His hand rested on her neck as they kissed.
Reece’s dark, feeling eyes met mine. “If you need to talk, I’m here. We’re all here.”
Silence wrapped around us. I didn’t want to be around any of them. I needed to get in the shower and cry where no one could hear me. Gabe was back with Emma. It was all so quick and convenient. What the hell? After everything that had happened with his dad?
Frankie exchanged a grim look with Reece before she cleared her throat. “Perhaps it’s innocent?”
My stomach hardened. It wasn’t innocent. This was England’s most notorious fuckboy being a fuckboy. He’d been so angry at me. He hadn’t even given me a chance to explain. But he’d kept things from me, too. I’d been such an idiot to fall in love with a man like him. He had every right to be angry and upset, but he hadn’t given me a chance to explain, and he hadn’t even asked after my welfare. He’d got back together with his ex-girlfriend a day later. He was every bit as cold and ruthless as his reputation. I’d been an idiot to think he was anything better. What mumbo jumbo had Reece spurted? A womanizer, not even capable of emotional intimacy.
I offered my family a weak smile. They’d welcomed him into our home. He’d let us all down. “I’m sorry. I need to be alone.”
On the frost-hardened pitch, I warmed down with the other girls, but a grim heaviness in my chest wouldn’t let me relax. I’d had to walk past Gabe’s office to get out here. Mercifully, it had been empty. A week had passed, and the heavy knot in my chest hadn’t loosened a notch. I couldn’t speak to him after those photos. My breath made clouds in the freezing air. Claire blew her whistle to gather us in and we huddled together, pink-cheeked and sweating.
“Great training session, ladies. Same time tomorrow.”
Exhausted and limp, I turned and made my way back to the changing room. Claire fell in step beside me.
