Defending Hearts. Rebecca Crowley

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ in other players’ way, but not so big that it slows him down.”

      “And here I thought it was all about kicking a ball into a net,” Jared remarked loudly—too loudly, considering how warmly they’d been welcomed into what was clearly a regular audience in this box.

      Then again, no one else seemed bothered. Maybe she was overreacting. Weren’t her mother and sister always telling her she was too uptight? Although they could use a little more detail orientation between the two of them, so…

      Glynn shrugged. “There’s a reason why soccer is the most popular sport in the world. You can enjoy it on a simple level, like kicking a ball into a goal, or on a very complicated, technical level.”

      “Guess on which level Glynn resides?” Sean grinned.

      Kate’s interest grew as the match wore on, largely thanks to Glynn’s commentary. His friends rolled their eyes but she liked how he explained the stakes of each missed shot, each lost tackle, each yellow card raised by the referee. She enjoyed getting the color of player rivalries and injury bounce-backs, and although she still relied heavily on his technical commentary, by the middle of the second half she understood the basics enough to raise her fist in anger at an unfairly awarded free kick.

      “This is called a set piece,” Glynn explained as both teams arranged themselves in front of Skyline’s goal. “Tucson isn’t having a good season, but they’ve had a lot of goals from set pieces. Skyline is in real danger here.”

      The scoreboard was still nil-nil, and the crowd held a collective breath as the ref blew the whistle and the Tucson midfielder shot the ball. It arced with seemingly deadly aim, until Oz jumped above the opposition player in front of him and headed it far from the area.

      Applause thundered around the stadium as the ball went back into open play, and Ted and Sean high-fived their approval.

      Glynn grinned at her. “And that’s why sometimes stopping a goal can be just as important as scoring one.”

      Beside her Jared groaned under his breath, and she turned to him guiltily. She’d invited him, then ignored him most of the afternoon as she got caught up in the game. She forced a smile, determined to give him more attention.

      “I’m dying,” he muttered. “This is the most boring sport in the world. How much longer does it go on for?”

      “Twenty minutes. But Ted said the box stays open for two hours after it ends.”

      She counted the beer bottles at his feet while he weighed up this information. Good thing she was driving.

      He sighed. “Free booze is free booze. I guess I can stand a little more time with the nerd brigade.”

      She flinched at his last two words, suddenly reminded of too many men, all of them bullies. Her tone hardened as she replied, “I want to stay long enough to say hi to Oz and thank him for the tickets. Maybe I should call you a taxi.”

      “It’s all good, babe.” He shot her a seductive smile she bet usually worked like a charm. “I want to hang with you, it doesn’t matter where.”

      Great. She’d invited Jared because she thought they were squarely in the friend zone. He’d read that as romantic, and now she had to reject him, probably losing her one work ally—and by extension his entire division—in the process.

      Nice work, Mitchell. One more item for the list of Reasons Kate Will Be Single Forever.

      She was still pondering when and how to make her lack of interest clear to Jared when the whistle blew, ending the match. The scoreboard was goalless—a draw.

      “All that running and no one even got a point,” Jared remarked, stretching as he rose. “One of these days y’all should check out a football game, see how a real sport gets played.”

      The guys ignored his comment as they filed back into the box, where a fresh dessert buffet had been set out. Jared loaded a plate while she hung back with Sean.

      “Does Oz normally stop into the box afterward? Or should I wait for him outside or something? I want to thank him for the tickets before we head out.”

      He wrinkled his nose. “It depends. If they win he might come up and celebrate, but for a draw… I doubt it. Do you want me to text him? He has to do the press thing, shower and change. You might be waiting awhile.”

      Her heart sank. “That’s okay, I’ll call him later.”

      “Or,” he mused before shouting over to Glynn. “Hey, Kate was hoping to see our man. I don’t think he’ll come up, do you?”

      Glynn shook his head, crossing to join them. “Not today.”

      “But she wants to thank him for the tickets.”

      Something passed between the two friends, unspoken, inscrutable. Glynn turned to her with a smile. “Why don’t you come to my housewarming tonight? He’ll be there.”

      “Tonight? That’s really nice but you don’t have to—”

      “You said you’re new to the city, right? Come hang out, meet some new people,” Sean suggested.

      “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want you there,” Glynn added. “You seem cool. And we’re always about recruiting new soccer fans.”

      Heat crawled up her ears. Cool? Cool? God, if only they knew. Her idea of a wild night was getting pizza delivered instead of picking it up.

      “We’ll be there,” Jared announced, appearing behind her. He grinned down at her and winked. “Let’s show these soccer fans how to party.”

      * * * *

      Oz paused on the landing outside Glynn’s apartment, which occupied the entire top floor of a converted warehouse, and tried to shake off his bad mood. It wasn’t Glynn’s fault Skyline couldn’t get a goal today, and it wouldn’t be fair to drag this black cloud into his party.

      Oz inhaled, exhaled even more slowly. He often struggled to wind down after a match, and this evening was no exception. His mind whirred as he involuntarily reviewed every move he’d made in those ninety minutes, and at intervals his body literally trembled with excess adrenaline.

      He wouldn’t sleep tonight, that was for sure.

      He breathed deeply again. Closed his eyes. Reopened them when all he saw was the zero-zero scoreboard. He debated going home, saving his friends from his bleak mood, but female voices approaching in the stairwell prompted him forward.

      He opened the door. Maybe the love of my life is inside.

      Oz had seen Glynn’s apartment before, having accompanied him on one of the walk-throughs when he was deciding whether to buy it. The cavernous, echoing space they’d surveyed that day seemed a lifetime away from the vividly decorated apartment ringing with laughter. Music pumped from the built-in sound system, a bartender tossed bottles into the air, and the space heaved with the best and brightest of the tech world in which Glynn was a major figure.

      He smiled, proud of his best friend’s success. Glynn spent his first year in Atlanta sleeping in one of Oz’s spare bedrooms, investing everything he earned СКАЧАТЬ