Page 39 of Matched (LSU #5)

T his news was too important to be shared by text, and I’d already waited too many days to tell them. Hitting the button on my phone, I paced up and down my bedroom as I waited for the video call to connect.

There was a flash of a fence panel, followed by a blinding strip of sunlight, and then Gem and Rocky both appeared on the screen.“Charlie!”

“Hi. How are you two doing? The weather looks good there.”

“Yeah. Rock’s been mowing the lawn for me, and I’ve been pulling up weeds.” Gem flipped the camera around. “What do you think of the new stain we used on the fence panels?”

“It looks good. I miss you guys. Not long until I come home now, and I can help you with whatever still needs doing.” I paused. “How would you feel if I brought an extra person back with me?”

The camera switched back to my siblings, both of them wearing identical expressions of curiosity, and I grinned.

“Bet you ten pounds he’s gonna say it’s Nate,” Rocky stated confidently.

Gem’s brows rose. “Is it Nate?”

Was I that easy to read? “It is, in fact. I might have a boyfriend, and he might have decided to stay in London instead of moving to Plymouth.”

My words were followed by a flurry of congratulations, and then the questions came. When my phone beeped with the reminder I’d set, I realised we’d been talking for almost an hour.

“I’ve gotta go. I’m meeting some of my friends. I’ll see you next week, okay?”

After I ended the call, I crossed the room to my bedside table, where my little trophy sat next to my lamp so I could see it before I went to sleep. Stroking my finger over the smooth surface, I smiled.

“Over here!”

Bringing my bike to a stop, I dismounted and then wheeled it over to where Ander was waiting under a huge tree.

“Ander? What’s all this about?” I looked around, taking in the piles of bags, bikes, and assorted paraphernalia strewn across the ground. There was even a guitar case propped up against the tree trunk. “Why did Nate make me set a reminder on my phone? Where is he?”

“Surprise!” Ander shouted, spinning me around, and I watched as figures emerged from the tree line, gathering on the large open patch of grass.

“What’s happening?”

“Your boyfriend thought we should all play football for old time’s sake. Like when we were all training together. So we rounded up as many free people from the team as we could get. Nate wanted enough for a proper five-a-side match, and with the help of a few extra volunteers, here we are.”

They’d done this for me?

Fuck. There was a lump in my throat.

Nate reached me first, pulling me into him. I slid my hands up his arms. “Hi, mugger. I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

He dipped his head to place a soft kiss just below my ear.

“Believe it. They didn’t need much persuading, anyway.

Everyone wanted to come, but some of them were working or doing assignments and exam revision.

Elliot came through at the last minute—he got his cousin to come, and Ander somehow persuaded JJ to bring Killian.

” His voice lowered to a whisper. “Apparently, he’s got good ball-handling skills, although I’m honestly not sure which kind of balls he’s referring to. ”

I smirked at the sight of Elliot eyeing Killian with caution, but I noticed that they both looked much more relaxed around each other than the times I’d seen them on campus.

Here, there was no distinction between student and teacher.

Just a group of guys preparing for a kickaround in the park on a sunny afternoon.

“Levi and Preston both wanted to come, but they’re away with their boyfriends, and Travis and Damon both have big projects they have to submit by tomorrow, so Elliot’s gonna play, as well as Cole and Hux.

That way, we have ten people, and we can do a five-a-side match,” Ander announced, sidling up next to me and throwing his arm across my shoulders.

He pressed his cheek into mine, his face close to Nate’s. “This is cosy, isn’t it?”

“Get away from my boyfriend.” Nate shoved at him, and he smirked.

“Sorry, Nate. Do you want me to cuddle you?” Before Nate could respond, Ander moved, hugging him from behind.

Used to the antics of my housemate, I sighed as I stepped away from them both. “It’s best to humour him.”

Nate patted Ander’s hands. “Okay. That’s enough now.”

Ander pouted, but he released Nate. “Fine.” Cupping his hands around his mouth, he raised his voice enough to be heard by the group of people milling around.

“Let’s get this started. Shirts versus skins.

Me and Nate are team captains. Charlie, you’re with me.

That way Nate can’t be accused of favouritism. ”

Cole raised his hand. “Hux just got a call from the studio, and he had to step away for a minute to sort something out. We need another player.”

“Any volunteers?” Ander scanned the guys seated on the grass before shaking his head. “Never mind. We can do four against four?—”

“I—I’ll do it.”

Ander’s face softened as he took in Leo’s flushed cheeks and shy, hesitant smile. “Are you sure?”When Leo nodded, Ander clapped his hands. “Okay! That makes ten of us. Let’s go!”

When everyone had been split into two teams, Nate and Ander tossed a coin to decide who would be shirts and who would be skins.

I ended up on the skins team, which was a shame because I’d been hoping for a chance to ogle my boyfriend’s body.

To be fair, he already looked sexy as fuck in his sleeveless T-shirt and shorts, so it was probably for the best. I needed to focus on the game, not Nate’s delicious body.

“Let’s talk tactics.” Ander gathered our team under a tree a little way from the others.

“Liam, you and me will attack. Bennett, you’re strongest in defence, so do you want to be the goalie?

Then Finn and Charlie can be our attack-defence combo.

It’s five-a-side, so we’ll probably all end up doing a bit of everything, but I think that’s the best way to start.

We’ve got three unknowns on the other team, and I wanna suss them out before we change anything up. ”

I smiled at how seriously he was taking the whole thing, but his enthusiasm was contagious. We were going to win this.

Niccolò, who had been lying in the sun next to Noah with his head on JJ’s thigh, leapt to his feet when we stripped our shirts off. He whistled loudly and jabbed his finger in the direction of his boyfriend. “I love football!”

“Me too.” Noah’s gaze slid down Liam’s body. “Especially right now.”

“You two are so thirsty.” JJ shook his head in mock disappointment. “Nic, I expect it from you, but Noah…”

“As ifyou weren’t looking at Daddy K like you wanted to eat him.” Niccolò rolled his eyes at his friend. I noticed Killian heave a long-suffering sigh, but the corners of his eyes were crinkling with amusement.

Ander clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention, and leaving our spectators to photograph and film our antics, we took our places.

It was probably the most fun I’d ever had playing football.

It descended into an uncontrolled mess of illegal moves, cheating, and questionable goals, the sun warming overheated skin even further, and copious amounts of water downed.

Then there was the feel of Nate’s body sliding against mine.

Obviously, we decided to mark each other.

And yes, maybe he tackled me when the ball was nowhere near us so he could grope my body, and no, Killian, kissing the opposition does not mean an automatic red card.

I was breathless and laughing and way too hot when Ander declared the game was over, collapsing onto the grass with a groan.

Bottles of water were passed around, and then Huxley brought out his guitar and began to play.

My body cooled as I rested in the shade against the huge tree trunk with Nate’s head in my lap. I threaded my fingers through his hair, stroking gently, and he smiled up at me, his hand coming up to wrap around my forearm.

His thumb slowly rubbed over my skin. “This is nice.”

“Mmm. Thank you for thinking of this.”

“It was partly for selfish reasons. Everyone’s been working so hard and getting stressed about exams and assignments, and I thought it would do us good to have a bit of time away from campus.”

“Yeah.” My fingers slid out of his hair to trace over the lines and curves of his gorgeous face. “This was exactly what we needed.”

“Spare a thought for the lecturers who have to mark all your work.”

I tilted my head towards Killian, who was the most relaxed I’d ever seen him, reclining on the grass with JJ sprawled half on top of him. JJ’s eyes were closed as Killian stroked up and down his back, and I might have been wrong, but it looked like he’d actually fallen asleep.

“At least you get paid for it,” I pointed out, and the corners of Killian’s mouth curved into a hint of a smile.

“There has to be one upside, I suppose.”

My gaze returned to Nate. I love you , he mouthed, and my stomach flipped.

I love you, too , I mouthed back.

We stayed there for hours, basking in the rays of the summer sun as Huxley strummed his guitar.