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Liam landed. Hard. His body bounced like a rag doll, skidded to a stop. The other player was sprawled out next to him, clutching his elbow.
“Get up,” she screamed, not caring any more about the score.
Liam crawled, reaching forward. Stretched out, reaching for the try line.
Two players to his right. They didn’t slow. Big bodies. Thick muscle. They launched themselves, piling on top, tackling him hard. Adelaide screamed, tears springing to her eyes.No. Don’t get hurt.
Eli reached for her, gripping her hand tightly as the whistle blew.
Too far away to see, panic boiled in her veins, the need to vault the barrier and check on him overwhelming. But Elijah held her there. Stopped her from running across the field.
Vision blurry with tears, she looked to the screen. Waiting for news.
She prayed that he wasn’t hurt.
Close-up footage flashed onto the screen, the players scrambling off him. Adelaide watched, squeezing Eli’s hand. When Liam didn’t move, her breath caught.
The screen flashed green. “Try” lit up in capital letters.
He’d done it. Somehow, against all the odds, he’d scored. But at what cost? Was he hurt? Where were the medics? What the hell was taking so long? Frantic, she looked around. Why weren’t they with him? There, running to him, they held a backboard between them. Adelaide swallowed around the lump in her throat.
Video footage flashed to the live feed again. She watched with her heart beating like a hummingbird’s wings. Liam gingerly lifted himself up, got to his feet, and tested his weight on his right ankle. Adelaide saw the grin he shot to his teammate. No pain.
Relief swamped her, making her dizzy.
Liam jogged the few metres to meet the medics and slapped one on the shoulder. Bowing their heads together, they talked for a moment before Liam turned to the stand. He looked directly to where she and Eli sat in the family allocation.
Her breath caught. He was so damn gorgeous. Larger than life too. Every one of the fans surrounding them screamed for him. But she knew he was looking for them. His best friend and her, the tag-along younger sister. Liam shot them a double thumbs-up, and Adelaide choked out a teary laugh, reaching for Eli. Immediately, her brother let out his breath, his shoulders slumping in relief.
“Should have been a bloody penalty,” Eli muttered.
Three
Kingston
A
delaide. How in the heck had he managed to capture her attention? Him of all people. He was waiting for her to open her eyes, come to her senses, and leave him in her wake in a cloud of dust.
It certainly wouldn’t be the first time he’d been dumped. Although, that implied going beyond asking someone out. On the odd occasion that the person said yes, it rarely went past that first date. He’d given up looking. His mum, bless her, was desperate for grandbabies and his dad could never understand why he was still single. He was a big, handsome boy. But that was half the problem wasn’t it. Anything other than ripped and people stopped looking. He didn’t blame them—he understood wanting to be with someone who looked after themselves. He was nothing special in the looks department either. He was just… him. But he did work hard to get where he was.
Hitting rock bottom had changed his life, and for that, King would always be grateful. He had a lot to offer a partner—he was smart enough, caring, had a decent job, felt like he made a difference to his students, and would treat his partner like a king or queen—but in today’s world of perfect Instagram models, he never felt like he was enough.
He just hoped Adelaide liked what she saw enough for… anything more, really. The woman had him enraptured. Captivated. Ensnared.
He’d happily stay tangled up with her too.
She was intelligent and so full of life. Stunning as well. She’d been like a beacon to him the night of their speed date—in a sea of greys and blacks, she was colour. Bright tones and pastels all at once, shimmering and dancing together. A siren drawing him in and leaving him wanting more. Long fuchsia, soft-as-silk hair and rose-pink lips. King had watched her as she entered, struck dumb by her magnetism.
Without thinking, he’d rushed forward, taking a seat as close to her as possible so they’d get a chance to speak. He couldn’t have dreamed up a better ending to the night than Adelaide wanting to spend more time with him. King couldn’t believe his luck. He was still pinching himself trying to figure out if it was even real. Would he wake up only for it to have been a dream? Lord, he hoped not.
Eve—his friend—had pushed him to go, telling him that he needed to get out there and meet people. She raised it every time they talked. Like a dog with a bone, she hounded him, and King had given up, buying the ticket just to get Eve off his case. He hadn’t planned on actually going. But when she’d shown up at his place a couple of hours before go time, ordered him to iron his clothes, threatening to shove him out the door in his underwear if he didn’t, he’d acquiesced. Now, he could kiss her for forcing his hand. Not only had Adelaide wanted to spend more than the allocated five minutes with him, they’d talked through the night and into the next morning. It was by far the best first date he’d ever been on. Adelaide had surprised him too, calling and texting as much as he had with her. Every conversation of theirs that week had lasted hours.
King was getting ready for their pre-date date, and he was completely flustered. He couldn’t believe that she’d wanted to do something that he loved as well as dinner at the night markets. So, there he was, lifting his bicycle off the roof racks of his trusty Subaru. There was nothing better than being outdoors.
Nerves churned in his belly, and he looked down at the T-shirt and board shorts he was wearing. The dark colours were flattering on him, and the shirt hugged his shoulders and arms, highlighting the muscles he’d worked so hard to build over the last couple of years. He was comfortable, and that always boded well.
He lifted the second bike off his roof rack and wheeled it over to the path they were cycling along. It was the first thing he’d thought of when Adelaide said she wanted to know him better. He loved cycling almost as much as surfing, two things that a few years ago he never would have imagined doing. But a lot had changed in that time.
