Page 2 of Matched (LSU #5)
Hang on. I did a double take, scanning the guy again, trying to place him. I knew I recognised him from somewhere…
He was probably somewhere between eighteen and twenty, dressed in loose shorts and an Adidas T-shirt, with a messy mop of brown hair, slightly lighter than mine, and angular features. His bottom lip was caught between his teeth as he stared down at his phone.
“’Scuse me, mate.”
The guy gasped, his eyes widening, flitting to mine before they flew back to his phone.
He blinked rapidly and then laughed as he straightened up.
“Fuck. Sorry. You scared me. I was in my own world; didn’t even realise there was someone else out here.
” His amusement was suddenly wiped away as his eyes widened even further, his gaze darting around us.
“Look, I don’t have any money. My phone’s not even a good model…
I bet it’s not even worth a tenner second-hand. Twenty, max.”
It took me a second to parse through his jumbled mess of words, and then I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Loudly. “Do you think I’m about to mug you or something?”
He blinked again, eyeing my hands cautiously from beneath his lashes as he slid his phone into his pocket. I made a point of spreading my fingers in case he thought I was planning on punching him or grabbing his phone or something. “You’re not?”
I snorted. “Do I look like a mugger to you?”
“Yes,” he said instantly. What the fuck?
“How?”
“You have a bike.”
I was instantly offended on behalf of all cyclists, even though some of them were fucking assholes.
The reason I’d ridden here was because it was close to my student house, and I didn’t have to waste time waiting around for an Uber if my date went downhill.
I rarely drove my car anywhere in London.
There was no point with the extortionate parking charges and difficulties getting a decent space, not to mention the daily congestion charge.
“Having a bike makes me a mugger, does it?”
The guy huffed out an impatient breath, shaking his head.
“No—I didn’t mean— Fuck. There’s been all that stuff in the local news about those bike muggers that snatch people’s phones, you know?
Obviously, I don’t mean that every single person who rides a bike is a mugger.
But I heard the gangs were using younger people who looked, you know, fit or whatever. ”
“Wow. I’ve gone from a uni student to a member of an organised crime gang in the space of five minutes. Give me a second to phone my friends and tell them about my career change.”
“Will you be using one of your stolen phones?” Finally, he cracked a smile, and my lips curved upwards.
“This is genuinely the weirdest conversation I’ve had. Not counting the random ones when I’ve been high.” I stepped closer to him, lifting my phone in the air so he could see it clearly. “Look. My own phone, that I didn’t steal from a poor, defenceless person.”
He stared at me, his gaze scanning my face as he properly took me in for the first time. “Are…are you Nate?”
My brows flew up. “Do we know each other?”
“Yeah. Uh, no. Not really. I don’t think we’ve ever spoken, but I live with Ander and Levi.”
So that was why he looked familiar. Ander and Levi were two of my football teammates, which meant we probably would’ve crossed paths at one of the house parties or post-match celebrations.
“I guess I should introduce myself properly. I’m Charlie. Charlie Brooks. Um…I’m a first-year student studying sport and exercise science. I live with Ander and Levi.” He laughed, rubbing his hand across his jaw. “I dunno why I said that again. You already know that.”
“Charlie. Hi. Yeah, I’m Nate Glover, and I’m in my final year of a degree in architecture.
I’m on the football team, which you obviously know, and—and I support Glevum FC.
” I added the last part in the hope that it would make him less uncomfortable, and an involuntary smile tugged at my lips as I watched his mouth fall open.
“You support Glevum ? Fucking hell, I didn’t think there were any of us here at LSU. Most of my friends support one of the London teams or Liverpool.” He pulled a face.
“Or one of the Manchester teams,” I added, making him groan. “I can’t believe I’ve found another Glevum supporter here in the wild.” It was…unexpected, to say the least.
“Yeah. Well. They’re one of the smaller teams in the Premier League, and I guess most of their fans are local. Does that mean you’re local to the area? Me, I’m from a shitty little town near to Gloucester.”
“Uh, yeah. No. Local-ish, I guess? Swindon. My dad’s originally from Gloucester, though, and he’s a big fan, so that’s why I started supporting them.”
“Makes sense.” He glanced down at his phone. “Shit. Uh, sorry. I’m supposed to be meeting someone here. I’m gonna go inside and see if she’s here yet.”
I suddenly remembered the original reason I’d approached him.
“Yeah, me too. I’m meant to be meeting up with someone.
That’s why I came over here. I was gonna ask if you’d seen a girl hanging around outside.
” Glancing over at my bike, I added, “I don’t suppose you know if there’s anywhere safe to leave my bike around here, do you? ”
“You won’t be able to mug anyone without it.”
“No?” My brows lifted. “Wanna bet?”
“Remember, I’m poor. Not worth mugging.” He jerked his thumb towards a small alleyway to his left.
“But yeah, there’s a bike rack round the back.
” Spinning on his heel, he headed for it, and I grabbed my bike’s handlebars and followed him down the short stretch of alleyway to a small courtyard with several industrial-sized bins and, as promised, a small bike rack with three bikes chained to it.
“My bike’s that one,” Charlie said, gesturing towards the battered mountain bike on the end of the rack.
Crouching down, I threaded my bike lock through the back wheel and around the frame before clipping it together around the metal bar of the rack. “You gave me all that shit about being a bike mugger when you had a bike yourself?”
As I straightened up, he glanced over at me with a shrug. “Yeah. Sorry about that. Now I know you’re a Glevum fan, I know you can’t possibly be a mugger.”
“I have no idea what logic led you to that conclusion, but I’ll take it. C’mon, let’s see if the people we’re meeting have turned up.”
As we made our way back down the alley, I opened the Matched LSU app and checked myself in.
A pop-up appeared to remind me to stay safe and let my friends know where I was.
I selected the check box to say I’d done so and was presented with another pop-up informing me how to activate an emergency “panic” button, should I need it.
I was impressed with the amount of thought Jonas had put into the app and mentally reminded myself to tell him so.
Still clasping my phone, I headed inside on Charlie’s heels, thanking him when he held the door open for me.
My phone buzzed with a notification from the app, telling me to meet Green41 at the bar.
Okay, that made things easier. If the place had been busy, I wasn’t sure how I’d know who my date was when I didn’t even know her name or anything about the way she looked.
The Game Room was fairly small, with a group of four pool tables and a long row of retro gaming machines along the exposed red brick walls.
Over by the bar, there was a selection of tables and cracked leather sofas, and the bar itself had plenty of seating in the form of padded bar stools.
The walls were plastered with gaming and film posters and memorabilia, and the whole place was dimly lit, with soft music playing from hidden speakers.
The whole vibe was laid-back, relaxed, and I smiled as I looked around.
“This is nice,” Charlie said, echoing my thoughts. His gaze dropped to his phone, and he tugged his lip between his teeth, his brows pulling together. “I dunno what…” He trailed off.
My gaze flicked from Charlie to the empty bar. “What?—”
The door in the far corner of the room opened, and two girls stepped out, heading straight for the bar. Straightening up, I pasted a friendly grin on my face as I approached them.
“Green41?” I asked.
“Blue16?” Charlie said at the same time. He blinked, his head whipping around to mine as his eyes widened. “What the fuck? What did you just say?”
My heart was pounding. “What did you just say?”
“Blue16…uh, did you say Green41?”