No Ordinary Bloke (26 page)

Because Adam hung out with an international set, both teams were a mix of ex-pats from around the world. There was an Irishman, Seamus, on the other team who’d I tangled with in the past. He was a poor loser on the field and generally a conceited twat who worked at an Irish pub in town. He had a giant chip on his shoulder about a million things, from the Irish banking bailout to football to the fucking potato famine. He gave me a hard time about working for the man, which I had no patience for. It wasn’t my bloody fault he pulled pints for a living.

So while I talked an old Brazilian friend of mine, he went straight to Adam and asked to be introduced to Allison. I watched as Adam made the introduction. Allison laughed at whatever Seamus said, but I was pleased when she soon walked away. Before the game started, Seamus came up to me and asked, “So what’s the story on the new bird with Adam?”

“Actually, Allison is with me. Adam is married with a baby in case you didn’t notice.” My tone was flat.

“She’s with you then. That’s what I was wondering.” He cocked his fucking jaunty head to the side.

“She’s a friend.”

He snorted and before walking away said, “One of
your
friends. One of those.”

And what did the rat bastard do? At any chance he could, he wandered over to talk with Allison. Any time there was a long break in play or he was on the sideline, he went over and said a few words. After the first time, I was annoyed. After the second, I was angry. After the third, I wanted to throttle his skinny Irish neck.

When he started walking over for a fourth time, I ran up to him and pushed his shoulder. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Going to talk to my new friend.” He sneered at me. “Why? Are you worried?”

Anger flamed through me, and I got in his face. Giving his chest swift poke, I snarled, “Don’t get any ideas, arsehole.”

“I’ll do whatever the feck I want,” he said, taking a step back. He looked at me with disdain. “You talk so tough with that failed cockney. You may have been tough once, but now you’re nothing more than another twat in a suit.”

I clenched my fist, ready to hit the guy. “You dirty cock—”

“David!” Adam’s yell came from down the field. Another voice yelled, “Seamus! Get back here.”

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Adam giving me a disapproving stare. I turned back to the bastard, Seamus, and practically growled, “Stay away from her.”

“Fuck you…” he said and walked away.

“Bastard,” I muttered. Before I went back to Adam, I glanced at Allison who was talking to Nicki about what I didn’t know.

Of course, Seamus and I scuffled on the field a bit more than warranted. When the game ended and my team won, he did his usual poor loser routine and checked his messages on his phone rather than shaking hands like a decent bloke would do. So I paid him no attention while I shook hands and patted the backs of the rest of the guys. After a few minutes, I looked up to see him talking with Allison with no one else around. I searched for Nicki, but she and V were now talking with Adam and one of his old colleagues from the BBC.

With no one to stop me, I stormed after Seamus. His back was toward me, so Allison saw me first. She winced like she knew trouble was ahead, but I didn’t care. I grabbed Seamus by the shoulder and swung him around. I growled. “I told you to stay away.”

He closed his eyes like he was tired of it all and then shook his head. “Like I’m going to listen to you?” He nodded at Allison. “The lady doesn’t seem to have a problem with it.”

I heard Allison say my name, but I paid no attention. I’d had it with that little gobshite. Instinct told me to clock the arse, and my right hook slammed into his jaw.

“Jesus Christ!” he screamed as his hand went to where I hit him. “You’re a fucking maniac.”

Though I was standing right next to her, I only faintly heard Allison cry out my name. I was too infused with rage. I was just about to punch the bastard again when I felt Adam’s strong hand on my shoulder. “David…” The only time he ever touched me or talked to me like that was when he was breaking up a fight. We had an unspoken agreement that I would always back down. For the first time, I questioned whether I really wanted to do it. He dug his fingers into me hard and whispered in my ear, “You have successfully terrified your new girlfriend. Knock it off.”

That caught my attention. Taking a step back to signal I was backing down, I shrugged off Adam’s hand. I couldn’t let Seamus have the last word. “Get the fuck out of here,” I said with a nod toward the other side of the field.

Still rubbing his jaw, Seamus spat at me. “You’re fucking mental, you know that?” He began walking away but he just had to say one more thing to antagonize me. I heard him mutter, “She’s not even that hot.”

“You fucking cocksucker!” I started after him, only to feel Adam grab me again. And this time he really got me. Sure I teased Adam all the time about being a gentleman and all that bullshit, but the fact was we actually were pretty evenly matched. He hadn’t fought his whole life like me, so I’d probably win in a real scrap, but he was my size and strong from working out. He could hold me back if he wanted, and this time he wasn’t letting go. He whispered again in my ear. “Get a hold of yourself, mate. He isn’t worth it. You need to talk to Allison before she runs away.”

“Okay,” I said, exhaling.

“Good.” Adam released me, and I heard him say in a quiet voice to Allison, “Don’t worry. He can just be bit of a hothead sometimes.”

I turned around just as he walked away. When I finally looked at Allison, she had her hands on her hips with a look of complete exasperation. “David, what in the hell?”

Yes, she was my girlfriend, or at least I thought of her as my girlfriend and Adam thought of her as my girlfriend, even if she didn’t think of herself as that, but regardless, she was the love in my life and most likely the love of my life. Still when she looked at me with her hands on her hips, I swore me mum was staring at me.

I felt just as badly as I always had for starting a stupid fight for no good reason. And just like with me mum’s stare, the expression on Allison’s face crumbled all my resolve and bravado into dust. “I’m so sorry. That was stupid of me. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“I really don’t know what you were thinking, either.” She shook her head. “I can handle myself, you know. I do it every day. So some loser guy keeps talking to me. So what? I don’t care. He wasn’t touching me, and I had no intention of touching him.”

“I know.” Chastened, I hung my head. “I just got jealous, and we’ve been in scrapes in the past. We don’t like each other.”

“I don’t like lots of people, but I don’t try to kill them.” She put her hand to her heart. “That was really scary. You seemed unhinged. Do you get that way often?”

“Not really. I have a temper, but it usually only flares up for a very good reason.”

There was real fear in her eyes, a fear that scared me more than her. I grabbed her hand. “Allison, you have to know I’ve never hurt anyone I love. Never, never, never. I’m not my father.”

“So who do you hurt? Because you certainly seem like Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde right now.”

“Don’t think that. I’m just a hot head with football arseholes usually.” I smiled. “And once some guy snatched Sylvia’s phone while we were walking in Manhattan at night. I tackled that bloke pretty good.”

Allison’s lips turned up into the slightest of smiles. “I guess she got her phone back.”

“She did.”

“Anyone else?”

“Not really. When I was young it was a problem, but I’ve mellowed.” I chuckled. “When we were teenagers, I actually decked Adam, but that was for a good reason. Even he would say it was the right thing to do.”

“You hurt Adam? He’s like your brother. I mean…you two are closer than my brothers.”

“When he was seventeen, I caught him cheating on Nicki. He was drunk after his grandfather’s funeral. I punched him so he’d snap out of it.”

Her eyes were wide as saucers in disbelief. “Adam cheated on Nicki? Poor Nicki.”

“They were seventeen. She’d pushed him away.” I waved it aside. “Remember I told you the short version of their story. The long one has too much stupid drama like that. Don’t worry about them. As you can see, they’re solid. Have been for years.”

“Good. You had me doubting true love for a moment.”

Relieved that I’d calmed her down, I took her into my arms. “I’m so sorry, love. I was a jealous fool.”

She played with the lettering on my football shirt. “There was no reason to be jealous though. I’m with you. I want to be with you, not that stupid, red-faced Irish guy.”

“I know…but we just got together.” I stared into those earnest green eyes of hers. As frightening as it was for me, I owed her an explanation. I took a deep breath and spoke my heart. “Don’t you see? Because everyone else can. I’m falling in love with you. I’ve never felt like this before.”

“I haven’t either,” she whispered. Her gaze was intense, but she soon pursed her lips. “You mean so much to me, but it’s only been a few months since I got out of a relationship. One that started out great, but turned out was a lie. I’m a little gun shy, and it scares me how much I care for you.”

“I understand,” I said as my heart swelled. If she felt a fraction for me what I felt for her, I was a blessed man. I stroked her hair. “I would be, too. But I will never, ever hurt you like that. And even if I want to beat up stupid Irish guys, I would never harm you. Never.”

“I know. You just scared me.” She frowned. “And I don’t like the idea of you getting hurt.”

“Me?” I laughed. “
That’s
not going to happen.”

“How do you know?”

I tapped my head. “Because I’m smart. I’m not getting in a fight with blokes bigger than me.”

“Good.” She kissed my forehead. “But don’t get into any fights at all, okay?”

“Okay.”

Late that afternoon, Allison and I were both packing up our bags. She planned to take a taxi to Union Station, and I’d take one to Dulles Airport. Even though we were joking, the mood was blue. As I stuffed my stinky football gear in a plastic bag, I grumbled. “I don’t want to wait three weeks to see you again.”

“But that’s when I’ll be back in London.”

She’d finished before me and flopped on the bed. She lay on her stomach with her cute arse up in the air. I was waiting for just the right moment to pinch it. “What are you doing next weekend?”

“Next weekend?” She laughed. “I don’t know. I think I’m free.”

“Good. I’ll get you a ticket. Can you make a Friday flight?”

“You are not buying me a ticket.”

“I have so many fucking frequent flyer miles on every airline on this earth. I can’t use them all no matter how many I give away.”

“Who do you give them away to?”

“Everyone. Me mum. Aunt Judith. Nicki. Adam. Me football mates. Even Sylvia.”

“Why do you always say her name like that? So does Adam. Only Nicki seems to like her. What’s she like?”

“Impossible.” I zipped my bag just to underscore how I felt about her. “She lives in New York, so I suppose I should introduce you. Maybe I’ll just send the two of you into Starbucks with a few quid and come back in an hour when you’re done talking.”

“Aren’t you worried she’ll talk about you?”

“Talk about
me
? Bollocks to that. She can’t shut up about herself.”

“Now I really want to meet her.” She laughed. “She actually sounds hilarious.”

“Tell that to Adam.” I sat beside her and pinched her bum. “Can we get back to your coming to London?”

“Did you just pinch my butt again?”

“Yes. I had to get your attention.”

She reached over and pinched my arse. “You have it.”

“You little…” We tousled for a minute or two until I wrestled her down so she was beneath me, making me smile. “Oh, I like this.”

“Hmm.” Her eyes were shining bright. “I do, too.”

“Come to London.”

“I don’t think it makes sense to come just for a weekend.”

“Then let’s both take a couple of days off so we have more time. You have holiday time, don’t you?”

“Yes…” Her voice was hesitant, but she was still smiling.