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Theo was livid, I was livid, and the rest of the team were extremely pissed off with both of us. Moreso with me. I could see Harvey pacing on the sidelines, the vein protruding in his forehead, and I knew I was in for a tongue-lashing when this match ended.
In a few minutes, it was all over, and as we trudged off the pitch, the team and the crowd were united in their disapproval.
Nausea churned in my stomach. This was my fault and my fault alone. I’d let my hatred of Theo get the better of me, and it had cost us vital points. Yeah, there was a chance that the goalie would’ve saved Theo’s shot, but he was right—he had been wide open, with no other players standing in his way.
I hung my head as Harvey ranted, completely irate. I took his anger and accepted it. When he was finally done, I slumped on the bench in the dressing room with my head in my hands. Hot tears stung at the back of my eyelids, but I refused to let them fall.
“Jordan.”
Raising my head, I saw Rory crouching in front of me. “What are you doing here?” I rasped, scrubbing at my face.
“I came to see if you were okay. Officially, you made a bad decision, and the team paid for it. But unofficially, as your friend, everyone makes mistakes. We all fuck up.” Climbing to his feet, he squeezed my shoulder. “Put it behind you and move on.”
“I’ll try.” Glancing up at him, I attempted a smile. “Thanks.”
“Chin up. Oh, and don’t forget you have that interview withOffsidemagazine in an hour.”
I groaned. I’d forgotten all about it. This was the worst timing possible.
“Okay. Yeah,” I muttered.
“I’ll leave you to it. I’ll be waiting in the meeting room for you.” He left me alone, and I began mechanically stripping down, grabbing my towel, and heading into the showers. I caught Theo’s eye as I entered when he was exiting his shower with a towel wrapped around his waist, his raven hair wet and messy, droplets running down his defined torso. As soon as he saw me, his expression darkened, but for once, I didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, I turned away, heading into the closest unoccupied shower without another word.
* * *
“Mr. Emery. Thanks for meeting us today.” A tall, dark-haired guy in a suit rose to his feet when I entered the room. Next to him, a younger guy with chestnut hair glanced at me and then back at the dark-haired guy. He cleared his throat, chewing on his lip before he also climbed to his feet.
I barely paid him any attention because the first guy was introducing himself, and his name immediately set alarm bells ringing.
“Dean Lewin,Offsidemagazine’s digital editor. This is my colleague, Adam Collins.”
“DeanLewin?” I clipped out, and Dean shook his head.
“Yes, Theo is my cousin, but that’s irrelevant. I’m bound by the journalistic code, and regardless, Theo and I barely know each other.” He shook his head again. “That’s irrelevant, too. You have my word, and the word ofOffsidemagazine, that we’ll be completely impartial.”
His gaze was sincere, but I was still on edge. I relaxed a little as he went through the pre-approved questions that Rory had already coached me on, answering them with ease. I knew that any questions about me and Theo were banned, so I was caught off guard by Dean’s next question.
“Harvey Raines called you ‘reckless’ after your conduct on the pitch today. What do you have to say about that?”
My gaze shot to Rory, and he seemed as much at a loss for words as I was. Great.
“Reckless?” I said carefully.
Dean cleared his throat, glancing down at his iPad briefly. “Social media also refers to you with that moniker. There have been rumours of parties—”
“That’s enough.” Rory shot to his feet, his expression dark. “This interview is over.”
Dean’s eyes widened before he slumped in his chair, pinching his brow. “My apologies. Rest assured, neither of the previous two questions will appear in the interview. We’re here to focus on Jordan’s underwear brand deal.”
The guy next to him, Adam, shot him a savage glare, which would’ve made me smile if I hadn’t been so fucking out of sorts from the events of today.
We wrapped up the interview, and although I still had my suspicions around the fact that the journalist was Theo’s fucking cousin, I believed him when he said he was impartial for some reason.
When I was finally back in my house, the silence reminding me that I was alone, I fell back onto the sofa with my eyes closed.
Today had been one of the worst days I’d experienced in a long time, and most of it had been my fault.
I needed to forget.
