Free Rags 2 Pitches: A Secret Baby Sports Romance by Jessica Evans Page B

team and thought about the match. It was a friendly match against the official under-18 team, just to see how we played. There was no official ref, one of the coaches was going to do that, but seeing as I was the last to join the team, most likely I would be stuck on the bench.
    “Good, but remember what I said and have a think about it.”
    “Well, someone got some last night!” Rick said as he punched me on the shoulder. Every fucking team had an idiot and Rick deserved that title for so many fucking reasons. The coaches loved him ‘cause he could run like the fucking wind, but he was a dirty player. The guy had more fouls than I’d had hot dinners and his penalty scores were through the roof, but then again so were his goals.
    “Yeah, mate. Unlike you!”
    I wasn’t in the mood. If Nicola wasn’t eating or sleeping, she was crying, and then she was blaming it on her exams. I just didn’t feel like it was a good day for him winding me up.
    “Don’t let that put you off your game, then.”
    “What, sitting on the bench?”
    He stood, trying to think of a good comeback, and right then and there he had proved himself once again to be the idiot of the team. The rest of the guys laughed at him as he turned red and then went to his locker.
    He should stick to what he knew, running and playing football. He fell short on everything else, most of all having a personality that didn’t involve putting other people down.
    Twat!

     

Chapter 21
    Nicola

    The stadium wasn’t that full, which made me surprised that we needed tickets to enter. I didn’t even know where to sit until this girl called over to me, “Are you Nicola?”
    I was shocked, because I had only been there a day and so far Ryan hadn’t really mentioned anyone apart from Tony, who was on his team, and Tom, his flatmate.
    “Yes,” I smiled trying to look as if I had a personality because so far being up here with Ryan, I thought that if he didn’t dump me as soon as he put me back on the train to Euston, I would be kind of surprised.
    “I’m Claire, Tony’s sister. I came down this weekend to watch him. Tony’s…”
    Before she even finished, I said, “I know, he’s a reserve like Ryan.”
    She nodded as if she was happy that I knew something about Tony. She was pretty, the typical blond hair and blue eyes, yet there was something comforting about her.
    “The boys made sure that we got seats together. So that we could get to know each other.”
    Really? Ryan never said anything, then again I’d never really given him the chance to say anything. I had been too busy being an emotional wreck.
    “Anyway, we’re kind of early. I came with Tony, they’re going to warm up and everything before they play.”
    That made sense; I’d wondered why it was so quiet.
    “Do you want a coffee or anything? The cafe should be open.”
    “Yes please. Why do the matches have to be so early?”
    She laughed, “Not used to getting up for eight?”
    “I am, but I only got here yesterday and when we were walking down, well it was still dark.”
    “Don’t worry, welcome to the life of being a footballer’s girlfriend. It has its good points - and bad ones too.”
    She had a point, I suppose I’d never really thought of it like that. Then, I had a flash of my future with Ryan. Getting up early and going to see him at matches kind of made me feel warm inside, knowing that I would have a place in his life.
    “True, there’s good and bad in everything.”
    I liked Claire from the moment I met her. I didn’t know anyone in Manchester, but then I thought about the fact that I was going to have a baby; maybe medical school might have to go out of the window. As she talked about Manchester being a great city, I started to think that maybe, just maybe, if I did get the grades, having a baby and moving up here would make perfect sense. It was something that I had never really considered, but something I would have to, if we decided to keep the baby.

    ***

    Ryan