Blindsided (Game On 2)

“Much appreciated,” Dad said. “But you’re more than welcome to have a few beers, as long as you keep out of trouble.”

This time, it was Hunter and Jesse who exchanged a look. I dreaded to think about the kind of trouble those two had got into in the past.

“We have no plans to get into trouble,” Hunter said. “Only to have fun.”

“And what is on your ‘fun’ agenda today?” Mum asked.

I gave Jesse a shy grin, trying not to twitch in my seat with excitement. Okay, we were only planning to go for a coffee, but I didn’t care what the plans were, I just wanted to spend time with him.

Neither Jesse nor I wanted to be the first to speak, so instead, we stayed quiet.

“Did I say something wrong?” Mum asked.

Hunter was the first to get a sense of something brewing. “What’s with you two?”

“Nothing,” I said, quickly, “It’s nothing, there’s nothing … and … it’s nothing.”

Jesse burst out laughing, and tried not to splutter out his mouthful of cereal. I was pleased he realised it was nerves making me mumble, not that I’d changed my mind.

“What’s going on?” Dad asked.

“I … Isabelle and I were … we were gonna go out and grab a coffee this morning,” Jesse said.

“Just the two of you?” Hunter asked, and Jesse nodded.

I had a flashback to when I was twelve and I asked my parents if I could go to my first sleepover. The same level of silence and tension filled the room, before Mum and Dad began firing questions at me about who would be there, what we’d be doing, what time we were planning to go to sleep, and what time I’d be home.

“That sounds nice,” Mum said, giving me a sneaky grin. “Just make sure you’re home in time for lunch.”

Sunday lunch was always reserved for sitting down as a family for a roast. I feared, even when we were thirty, Georgia and I would still have to drag our bums back to Notting Hill every Sunday so we could eat together.

“We will,” Jesse said. “I would never miss your Sunday roast!”

“I’m very impressed with your sucking up skills,” I said, as Jesse sat down opposite me in Starbucks, and handed me my latte. “Telling my mum you wouldn’t miss her roast dinner is one of the best compliments you could ever give her!”

“I wasn’t sucking up,” Jesse laughed. “I meant it. We don’t do the Sunday lunch thing in our house because a lot of the time I’m at training, or at away matches. It doesn’t count as sitting down as a family if someone is missing.”

“Good point.”

“I like home-cooked meals. My mom tries, but she’s missing the cooking gene. She actually prefers if I eat at the training ground, because she knows I’ll be getting something healthy instead of burnt dinners or takeout food.”

I smiled. “Then your mum must have some other talents. Everyone is good at something.”

“She is an amazing mother,” Jesse said, thoughtfully. “You know how some people seem to be born to do one thing? For my mom, it was being a parent. She has that natural, nurturing thing going on, and a lot of my friends would go to her when they needed to talk about something they didn’t want to share with their own parents. She’s pretty special. I’m lucky to have her.”

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“I have a younger sister, Kayla. She’s fourteen and a total pain in the ass.”

He smiled when he spoke so I knew he didn’t mean it, and a little shiver ran through me. I loved the idea of him having a younger sister to take care of. I imagined him to be the protective type. Not in a scary big brother way, but in a way that let her know he would always be there for her.

“What does she think of you being a football star?”

“Well, at first she hated me. When we had to move to L.A, she told me I ruined her life because she had to leave all of her friends behind in Phoenix. She didn’t talk to me for weeks.”

“Not at all?”

Jesse shook his head. “Not a word. It really sucked because we always got along, but the move was rough on her. She eventually came around the first time she watched me play for the Warriors. Then she realised having a soccer player for a brother made her super cool at her new school.”