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Theo:
Thanks
Me:
Anytime. I meant what I said. I’m here for you and you’re not alone x
I waited for a while, but he didn’t respond. Taking my original seat on my sofa, I began the tedious process of scrolling through Netflix again. I needed to lose myself in something, anything that would take my mind off my teammate.
I shot upright, rubbing at my eyes. There was a ringing sound and a robotic voice informing me that someone was at the door. Shit, I must’ve fallen asleep. Bloody jet lag.
Yawning, I flung the door open without bothering to check who it was and found Rory standing outside. He gave me a once-over, handed me a steaming cup of takeaway coffee, and then pushed his way inside, taking a seat on my sofa.
“Make yourself at home.” I was aiming for sarcasm, but I was caught by a yawn midway through.
“Jet-lagged?” He raised a brow.
I took a large gulp of the coffee. Mmm, a perfectly frothy latte. “What do you think? I flew halfway around the world. I don’t even know what day or time it is.”
Collapsing down next to him, I threw my legs up on my coffee table and took another huge gulp of my latte. “Speaking of, can we talk about carbon offsetting my flights? I don’t even wanna know what my carbon footprint is right now.”
“Already done,” he informed me. “The airline has a carbon offset scheme. We just had to add an additional fee on top of your flight costs.”
“Good.” I turned to face him. “So what’s new with you?”
His expression turned serious. “Nothing. I want to talk about you. Cal tells me that you were physically fighting with Theo. That’s not what I wanted to hear.”
Cal…who was Cal? Wait a minute… “Cal? That guy we met on the island? The one with the American actor, Jett? Ah, fuck, I never got to see Jett again. I wanted to take a selfie with him.”
Rory’s brows rose. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Cal’s my Cambridge uni friend—the one who made your trip possible. I asked him to keep an eye out for you and, if he saw you, to report back to me.”
“You asked him to spy on me? How could you?” I widened my eyes, giving him my most betrayed look.
“Enough with the dramatics. It wasn’t like that. I simply asked him to let me know if he saw you. And he did, and what he told me concerned me.”
“Well, there’s no need to be concerned. Your plan worked. Yeah, we fought a bit at the beginning, but me and Theo are friends now. Proper friends.”
“Are you serious?” He stared at me, hope and disbelief warring in his gaze.
“Yeah, I’m serious. We sorted our shit out, and now we’re friends. You can stop worrying about me fucking things up. It’s all good between us.”
He eyed me carefully and then smiled, accepting my words. “I’m glad to hear it. It was my one and only idea to get you two on the same side, so I’m pleased—no, relieved—to hear that everything worked out. I spoke with Harvey a couple of times while you were away. Knowles has officially retired, and Harvey’s willing to extend your contract on the proviso that you’ll both be on your best behaviour. He’s going to give it three months, and if all is well, we’ll have a new contract drafted up.”
Tension I hadn’t even known I was carrying drained out of me at his words. “That sounds great. Thanks for everything. You’re the best.” I stood, crossing the room to the bag I’d left lying against the wall, and rummaged around inside. Straightening up, I returned to Rory. “Here. This is for you.”
When I handed him the large bottle of vodka, he smiled, surprised. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Yeah, well, I wanted to. I couldn’t exactly go souvenir shopping while I was in rehab, but I got you that in the duty-free. I know it’s not much, but I know you deal with a lot of shit from me, so, yeah.”
“C’mere, you.” He hugged me with one arm, patting my back. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks.”
When he released me, he waved the bottle at me. “I’m officially off the clock, so why don’t we sample some of this, and you can tell me what you got up to while you were away? Whatever won’t break your NDA, of course. I’ve heard a little about the resort from Cal, but I’d like to hear it from you. What do you say?”
Already on my feet and heading in the direction of the kitchen, I nodded. I could do this. All I had to do was avoid mentioning Theo. “You’re a man after my own heart, Rory. I’ve had three weeks of abstaining from alcohol—”Except for the night I licked champagne off my teammate’s body, on a deserted beach under the stars. “—and I could use a drink. As for the gossip, I’ll tell you all the boring details. Did you know that I spent hours clearing debris from the beach? Oh, and the day Cal saw me, I got caught in a tropical thunderstorm…”
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