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Dylan pulled aside his covers and moved towards the bathroom. ‘I know, Mum, believe me. I was just trying to be one of the lads.’ He held up his hands. ‘I won’t make the mistake again. Now let me have a shower and get myself sorted for the game. If you fancied doing some scrambled eggs for me with wholemeal toast that would be great.’ He triedsmiling, even though his stomach lurched at the thought of food.

Lucy frowned. ‘I’ll make you breakfast, but you need to get it together, Dylan. Jordan will go nuts if he finds out you were partying last night.’

Dylan stood under the shower and cursed his stupidity. Why hadn’t he stopped drinking earlier? Why hadn’t he gone home earlier? His head ached, his legs felt like lead. Damn it, thiswas a big game. He had to play well. He’d be in huge trouble if anyone knew he was out drinking last night.

When he came out of the shower, Kelly held up her phone. ‘You’re in deep now.’

Dylan grabbed his sister’s phone and groaned. Taylor had posted photos of them in the nightclub. In one, Dylan was holding a bottle of champagne and drinking from the neck. Jesus Christ.

‘She has over a thousandInstagram followers. A lot of people are going to have seen those already,’ Kelly said.

Dylan grabbed his own phone and rang Taylor. It went straight to voicemail. No doubt she was still in bed, sleeping off her hangover. He sent her a message:Take down the pics of last night NOW.

Dylan sat on the edge of his bed and put his head into his hands. He felt as if a bomb had exploded inside hishead. He’d never drunk so much in his life. Most of his teammatesfollowed Taylor on Instagram. They would be seriously unimpressed, and what if one of them slagged him in front of Jordan?

Kelly stood in front of him, arms folded. ‘You need to cop on, Dylan. You were absolutely plastered last night. I had to drag you to bed. It was after four when you came in. You’re so lucky Mum or Granddaddidn’t wake up and see you.’

‘It all got a bit out of control. Taylor wanted one more drink and then … I don’t really remember after that.’

‘You have to learn to say no to Taylor. She’s going to get you into trouble, Dylan. Mum’ll freak if Jordan benches you or drops you.’

Dylan looked at his shaky hands and felt a surge of anger. ‘Stop blaming Taylor. She didn’t force me to stay out. I wantedto be with her. I guess I just lost track of time.’

Kelly sighed. ‘I know you’re mad about her, but please don’t mess up.’

Dylan turned his back on his sister. ‘Can everyone just get off my back? Jesus, I had a good time, so shoot me.’

He grabbed his clothes and went into the bathroom.

Dylan examined his bloodshot eyes in the mirror. He’d make sure he didn’t get too close to Jordan today sohe might not notice them. He splashed some cold water on his face and jogged on the spot in an effort to get his energy flowing, but he just felt dizzy.

As he walked towards the kitchen and smelt eggs, the nausea rose again. He couldn’t face food.

‘Eat up.’ Lucy put a big plate of eggs and toast in front of him. ‘I won’t go on about last night, but I’m very disappointed in you and you must understandthat it can never happen again. Never.’

‘I’m sorry, Mum.’

Dylan nibbled the toast, and as soon as Lucy left the roomto shout at Kelly to hurry up, he scraped the breakfast into the bin and hid it under a newspaper.

Dylan rubbed his aching eyes. He’d have to try his best to look fresh and full of energy today so no one would suspect how rotten he felt.

Lucy’s heart sank as Dylan missed histhird shot at goal. Jordan was going crazy on the side-line. She paced up and down, praying he would get it together.

‘What the hell is going on with you? Come on, Dylan, look lively,’ Jordan roared.

Dylan fumbled a beautiful pass from Nick and the opposition used his mistake to win the ball.

As Lucy paced back towards the parents, she heard them all groan as the opposition scored another goal.Lucy heard a few people cursing Dylan’s bad play. She heard one father muttering, ‘It was a waste of money bringing that fellow to St Jude’s. Should have given the scholarship to someone more deserving.’

A mother defended Dylan. ‘Hang on, he’s been fantastic in almost all of the matches so far. Scored lots of goals.’

‘Well, he sure as hell didn’t turn up today,’ the father snapped.

‘Apparentlyhe was out drinking last night,’ another woman said.

‘What?’ The parents looked shocked.

‘Oliver saw photos on Taylor’s Instagram. Taylor and Dylan drinking champagne in a nightclub until the wee hours.’