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I stared at them, trying to work out what they were saying. But they were too far away and the boys on the pitch were too loud. I needed to know what she’d said. What he’d said.

I watched the boys’ practice but wasn’t paying attention.

I was trying to calm myself down. We had a thing; there was no reason he was going to fall for Zoe, even if she was gorgeous.

But I relaxed a bit at the end of practice, when he looked up to the stands and smiled at me.

Until the name ‘Grace’ flashed in my head again.

I sent him a message.

ME : Meet me behind the clubhouse?

It wasn’t until the boys had gone back into the changing rooms that I got a reply.

SHANE : OK

A one-word reply? What if Zoe had won him over? What if he’d told her about us?

Megan and Niall were kissing against the fence when I walked past, and I was almost at the clubhouse when I heard Niall’s voice.

‘Let’s go, Lexie!’ he called.

‘Just need to do something,’ I said without turning round, and he didn’t say anything else. Probably went back to kissing Megan. I had a quick look to make sure nobody was watching, before walking to the back of the clubhouse.

And there he was. Leaning against the wall, hands in pockets. He looked over slowly. I hadn’t even said anything, it was like he sensed I was there.

‘Hey,’ he said.

‘Hey.’ And the panic began to subside.

I jogged over, standing in front of him, between his legs, and leaned my head on his chest. His heart was racing.

‘Hey, are you OK?’ he asked, prising me away gently.

I looked up at him and forced tears back from where they came from. So embarrassing. I couldn’t cry. But he did something to me, made all my feelings so much bigger than they’d ever been. He made them rise to the surface where they erupted like lava. He made me feel everything.

‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ I lied.

He tilted my chin up to look at him, then pushed hair behind my ear. ‘You sure?’

I nodded, scared of speaking.

‘You look amazing when you play, you know.’

That smile. Suggestive and warm at the same time, making his blue eyes shine.

‘Thanks. So do you.’

And it was true. He was such a natural. Beautiful to watch.

‘I don’t know about that. I also think your brother might kill me soon. Harrison has made me starting striker now, like confirmed.’

‘Yeah, he won’t like that. But it’s not your fault you’re better.’

‘Ah, he’s a great player; probably suits the wing better, that’s all.’

And it made me want to kiss him right there, how nice he was, even though Niall had been such a dick. It made him even hotter. But I didn’t, because I had something to ask him.

‘My parents are away this weekend, and Niall will probably go to Megan’s, so if he does, do you think you’d maybe want to come over? I could show you the beach?’

I was nervous now, looking at the size difference of my boots next to his. He was taking too long to reply …

‘I’d like that,’ he said eventually.

I smiled so hard it hurt. ‘Yeah?’ I looked up again and he was smiling too.

‘Yeah,’ he said.

I reached up to kiss him. Our mouths were warm and salty, and we fell into a perfect rhythm before he pulled away.

‘Maybe I could cook for us?’ he said.

That was a shock. ‘You cook?’

‘Yeah, just something I picked up.’

‘You get more impressive every time I talk to you,’ I said.

He laughed. ‘I wouldn’t say that. I just like it, you know?’

‘I can’t wait. I’ll text you and let you know when Niall’s gone.’

‘Sounds good.’

And it was only then I remembered he’d been talking to Zoe. I couldn’t ask what they were talking about, how could I? I’d sound ridiculously jealous. Which I wasn’t …

On the way home I didn’t even care that Niall was giving me the silent treatment. In fact, I was happy about it.

And just as we were getting out of the car, he said the most beautiful words I’d ever heard.

‘I’m going to Megan’s this weekend. So don’t be running to tell Mum and Dad.’ Megan’s parents weren’t even away. They didn’t mind having Niall sleeping over, even though Megan preferred our house. They were taking Niall and Megan up the coast. I guess I was kind of jealous how easy it was for him.

‘Whatever,’ I said, using his favourite word against him. I forced my face to hide the fireworks, the butterflies and the very best kind of racing heartbeat at the thought of Shane coming over.

‘Why are you being so helpful?’ Niall asked me with a tone in the house later on. I’d been helping Mum pack for her trip to Sweden, suggesting clothes that looked good on her. And now I was upstairs, looking for my Chanel bag to lend her, which meant I had had to walk past him gaming.

‘Why are you still playing Roblox ? You know how cringe that is? Isn’t that like P5 stuff?’

‘It’s ironic.’

‘You don’t even know what ironic means.’

‘Can’t wait to go to Meg’s this weekend.

Make sure the serial killer doesn’t get you,’ Niall replied.

He didn’t take his eyes off the screen once.

And that was a new thing. Well, a since-Megan thing.

A few months ago, I would have sat down beside him, and he’d have handed me the controller to take over. But now he barely looked at me.

‘Dick.’ He knew I had a thing about serial killers.

We shared a bedroom until we were ten because I was convinced that a serial killer would come and get me in the middle of the night.

I made Niall sleep in the bed closest to the door, so they’d kill him first when they got there, in the hope that I’d have time to escape while he just lay there in a heap, soaking the thousand-pound carpet in blood.

‘I can’t wait for you to go to Meg’s either.’ I sighed, taking my bag downstairs to Mum.

‘Thanks, love,’ Mum said as she packed. ‘Do you think I’ve enough?’ She looked genuinely worried, even though she’d packed enough clothes for two weeks.

‘I think you’ll be OK, Mum.’ I picked a jumper out of her suitcase. One I hadn’t seen before, wool, Fair Isle. Not Mum’s style at all.

‘Do you like it? Like Sarah Lund from The Killing .’ She smiled. ‘But The Killing is Danish …’ She tailed off in thought. ‘Never mind. I’ve also been practising my Swedish on Duolingo.’

‘What can you say?’ I asked, actually interested.

‘ Hej. Tack. God morgon . Hello, thank you, good morning. Oh and obduktion !’ Mum timed the zip of the suitcase with her new word.

‘What does that mean?’

‘Autopsy. But I learned that one from my shows.’

I laughed.

‘It’s nice to see you so happy, Lex.’ Mum put her hand on my shoulder.

‘This last couple of years, I don’t know, you haven’t seemed like yourself.

But that smile? That’s the Lexie I know.

’ She smiled at me warmly. I thought about hugging her, but decided against it. It would be too out of character.

‘Who knows, probably just hormones or something.’ I shrugged. ‘But I’m away to bed anyway, and you’ll be gone before I wake up, so have an amazing trip!’

‘Thanks, pet. There’s money in the kitchen if you want to order food. And not too much training, promise?’

‘Promise,’ I said, and I was glad I wasn’t lying to her. I wasn’t thinking about training this weekend; I was only thinking about Shane.

I studied for an hour before I went to sleep. I hadn’t been keeping up with my list. Ever since Shane, my head had been all over the place.

I hardly slept. How could I? Tomorrow night there’d be no parents and no Niall. Just me and Shane.

And I couldn’t ignore the fact that I was scared. Would he expect me to do stuff ? I’d only got to grips with kissing him. I don’t think I was ready for anything else.

Mum and Dad were already gone by the time I got up. Only Niall was in the kitchen.

‘You know I’ll know if you have a party,’ he said, eating a Pop-Tart.

I poured porridge into a bowl and rolled my eyes at him. ‘ Not having a party.’

‘Mum and Dad have gone, you don’t need to suck up with your healthy eating.’

I shrugged. ‘My body is a temple.’ I sent a message to Shane.

ME : Want to come over at 7? 7 Seaport Close

SHANE : Can’t wait :)

Niall didn’t say anything after that, but he left the rest of his Pop-Tart on the counter.

The rest of the day was the same. A fuzzy daze that nobody, not even Zoe, could dissipate. Any time I remembered her talking to Shane or the name ‘Grace’ I just thought about the fact he’d be with me in a few hours.

When I got home, I inspected the house. The cleaner had done a pretty good job, but I still went over all the counters again. I needed it to be perfect. I dimmed the kitchen lights, lit candles on the island and put my favourite Spotify playlist on low in the background.

I couldn’t wait for him to come. I showered, wore my nicest underwear, the pink lace that Megan had bought me from Victoria’s Secret.

Not that I had a clue about any of that stuff, but I remember Megan saying you should always wear nice underwear just in case.

She said it was in case you get knocked down by a car and the hospital have to cut your clothes off.

Or if you accidentally take your clothes off in front of someone hot.

I’d laughed so much at that because I could totally imagine her doing it.

And then I felt sick as the image of her and Niall haunted me.

Even though it was early February, I wore a dress because I knew it looked good.

A summer dress dotted with flowers that grazed the tops of my thighs and sat low on my chest. I pulled a chunky cardigan over my shoulders and I was careful with my make-up, lining my eyes with kohl, applying highlighter and contour in all the right places.

I even straightened my hair until it fell over my shoulders in a shiny caramel curtain.

Nike socks and trainers. Just so he’d recognize me.

I must have looked at the clock on my phone about a million times that afternoon. Finally it was seven, and I was so excited I thought I was going to explode.

The doorbell rang and I had to compose myself before opening the door.