A wild night out leaves the lives of Jamie Tartt and Ophelia Adams more intertwined than they ever would have imagined.
Will their decision to try and use the situation to their advantage work out in their favour or will they realize that they should have cut their losses when they had the chance?
———-
previous chapter
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Note: I am so sorry for such a long hiatus! It was unplanned, but life was busy and I was super unmotivated. Also, I know this chapter is kind of short, but I'm definitely back in the groove now so hopefully I will have more chapters ready soon and they will be longer.
If anyone is still around, please let me know!
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The morning after her altercation with Daniel, Lia woke up feeling humiliated.
The thought of Roy being forced to barge into the bathroom to save her, the way she’d fallen apart in front of everyone as Daniel was dragged outside, how she’d blubbered and cried to Keeley and Rebecca about how her mind couldn’t stop racing with the possibilities of what could have happened. Considering it was her first formal event as Mrs.Tartt, she was fairly certain that she couldn’t have made much more of a mess of it if she’d tried.
And things only got worse when she checked her phone.
While Lia hadn’t seen any lingering press when she left with Jamie, Daniel had apparently run into some after he’d been removed and was more than happy to give them his version of events. Rebecca had already issued a statement refuting his claims before Lia even knew what was going on, but she knew who would be believed in the court of public opinion. She could see it already as the people in the comments on the first post she’d found had all sorts of things to say about her and not much of it was very flattering.
She immediately tossed her phone aside and buried herself back in the blankets where she spent the rest of the morning curled up with Jamie. It was the most comforting place she could think of as the support that he’d offered her throughout the aftermath of their evening had meant more to her than she could ever express. He never made her feel unreasonable or pressured her to talk about how she was feeling, he just gave her space to process her emotions while staying close enough to make her feel safe. The gentleness he’d used while he washed her in the bath had almost made her fall to pieces all over again and it had the bond she felt with him growing even stronger despite the tumultuous events that led to their intimate moment.
She was sad to see him go that afternoon when he had to drag himself to training for Richmond’s big match against Chelsea the following day and when that match finally rolled around, Lia - somewhat reluctantly - chose not to attend. She was feeling a little more herself after taking an entire day to hide away and take care of herself, but just the thought of being in a stadium full of people who had probably at least seen some sort of headline about what had happened was enough to make her anxiety spike.
Instead, she went to work, hoping that returning to her routine would bring her a little bit of comfort, but that hope was dashed when the bell above the door rang about halfway through the afternoon. As usual, Lia lifted her head to greet whoever had just walked in, but when her eyes landed on Mike, she felt her blood run cold.
“What are you doing here?”
Her tone was harsh and entirely unwelcoming and for once she was grateful that the store was practically completely devoid of any customers.
“I come in peace,” he assured her, holding his hands up as if to surrender. “Well, I’ve come to hopefully make peace actually. I owe you an apology.”
It had been just over a month since Katie had walked in making the same claim and she was tempted to make a joke about them comparing scripts, but the memory of how her conversation with Katie had gone took all humour of the situation - especially considering the events that had happened a couple of nights earlier.
“It’s too late for that.”
Lia crossed her arms, hoping to seem firm and confident despite her racing heart, but Mike had always been stubborn.
“Please, Lia, can we at least talk?” He requested. “I know I was an absolute arsehole and I don’t deserve any of your time, but it would mean a lot to me…and to Katie.”
“Does she know you’re here?”
“No, she has no idea,” he shook his head. “She’s at home, probably still staring at her phone and trying to think of what to say to you. She’s written and deleted at least fifty different messages this morning.”
“Sorry, am I supposed to feel bad for her?” Lia questioned, feeling her annoyance starting to rise. “Oh, poor Katie, it must be so hard for her to have no idea how to fix the mess she made that led to me being physically attacked.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Mike cringed. “But we want to make things right.”
“That’s what Lia told me a few weeks ago before basically admitting that she had no intention of actually doing anything to fix the situation,” Lia informed him. “And considering you seemed to be the biggest problem, I find it very strange that you’ve suddenly changed your mind about things.”
“I saw the articles,” Mike admitted. “I saw what he was saying about what happened and it makes no sense to me. I don’t believe for a second that you would attend an event with your boyfriend and try to shag Daniel in the bathroom, you’re not that kind of girl.”
The certainty that he spoke with almost caught her off guard, but she was skeptical of his motivations and saw some holes in his story.
“But a few months ago you believed that Daniel’s actions towards me were justified because even though I had a boyfriend, I was supposedly flirting with him all the time,” Lia pointed out. “So if you think I’m capable of that, why wouldn’t I be capable of having an affair right under Jamie’s nose?”
“There’s a bit of a difference between flirting and trying to get off with him while your boyfriend is in another room,” Mike argued as Lia was once again happy that no customers were around to hear their conversation. “Besides, I didn’t think that you actually wanted to be with Daniel, I just said that I understood why he thought it was okay to pursue you the way that he did because you were sort of leading him on all the time.”
“But I wasn’t,” Lia firmly clarified. “I never flirted with him, I never gave him any indication that I was interested. I said no repeatedly and without any indication that I was joking or hoping he’d read between the lines and realize that I actually meant yes. The fact that you took his side in that disagreement is why this happened, Mike! You let him think that I was playing games with him until he was fed up with being messed with and decided to just take what he wanted. God, if Roy hadn’t found us when he did then I don’t even want to think about what could have happened!”
“He wouldn’t have…” Mike trailed off as Lia shot him a look of disbelief and his shoulders slumped as he was forced to face the truth. “Okay, maybe I don’t know what he would have done or how far he would have gone, but that’s what I’m here to admit and apologize for. He’s not who I thought he was - or he’s become someone that I don’t want to be around - and I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you when you tried to tell me. You had no reason to lie about it and I should have listened.”
Lia watched him for a minute, but to her surprise she couldn’t see any signs of insincerity on his face. She waited a little longer - just to make him sweat a bit - before she relented as much as she felt comfortable.
“I appreciate the apology,” she decided, being careful not to use words like ‘it’s fine’. “I can’t say that it makes everything better, but it was big of you to come here and talk to me so I appreciate that.”
Mike nodded and looked somewhat relieved, but a sigh slipped from his lips.
“He was my best friend. I thought I knew him so well, I never thought he’d do anything like this. It seems unreal.”
His firm use of the word was tugged at Lia’s heartstrings. Despite her hesitation to accept his apology and her knowledge that his words didn’t make everything right, she had to admit that finding out your best friend was a predator and a danger to women would have to be very unsettling and upsetting. However, he would have found out a lot sooner had he simply listened to her so every flicker of sympathy she felt was quickly squashed by the reality of the situation.
“I’m sorry that he turned out to be so awful,” Lia empathised before reminding him, “But if you’d listened to me then you would have known about it months ago. It shouldn’t have taken him attempting to assault me for you to believe me. So, again, while I appreciate you taking the time to come and apologize, I’m not sure that it’s enough right now to mend any burnt bridges.”
“I can understand that,” Mike agreed, despite the way his head dropped and his shoulders hunched with disappointment. “But promise me that you’ll answer Katie if she messages you, yeah? She’s worried sick about you and dying to make sure you’re alright.”
“I’ll think about it,” Lia shrugged. “I can’t make any promises. I just need time, Mike. This isn’t something that I can easily forget about.”
That clearly wasn’t what Mike had been hoping to hear as a defeated sigh fell from his lips and he moved towards the door.
“Alright,” he relented, apparently sensing that there was nothing more he could say to convince her. “Well, I hope I’ll see you soon, Lia, and I’m glad that you’re alright.”
There were many responses to that statement that came to Lia’s mind, but it all felt rather pointless so she settled for a simple nod of her head before Mike slipped out the door and left her to her thoughts.
——
Lia was in two minds about whether or not to tell Jamie about her conversation with Mike.
It felt wrong to keep it from him, but he’d been so protective since the incident and she was fairly certain that he wouldn’t take it well. However, any doubt slipped from her mind as soon as Jamie strolled into their living room that evening with his concern for her still written all over his face.
“How are you doing?” He asked as he perched on the arm of the chair across from where she was lounging on the couch. “How was your first day back at work? Wasn’t too much going back, was it?”
“No, work was fine,” she assured him before admitting, “But I did have an interesting visit.”
She saw Jamie’s body language shift, tensing as if he was ready for a fight.
“Oh, yeah? Who?”
“Mike. He wanted to apologize for not believing me, I guess he’s finally come to his senses.”
The scoff of disbelief that slipped from Jamie’s lips summed up her feelings on the matter as well.
“And did you tell him to fuck right off?”
“Sort of, but not in those words,” Lia smiled weakly. “And in the end I told him that I appreciated the apology.”
“Why the fuck did you do that?”
The complete disgust in his voice had Lia biting back another smile, but as she contemplated the question, she found herself feeling very conflicted.
“Because, despite everything that happened, I think he was being genuine and I think both him and Katie have learned a hard lesson.” He looked shocked by her admission, but seemed to sense there was more she wanted to say and stayed quiet until she composed her thoughts enough to continue. “Do you think I’d be mental if I forgave them? Obviously the damage has been done and I don’t think our friendship could ever be the same, but I do miss them.”
It was clear from Jamie’s expression what he truly thought about her question, but she was surprised by what he said when he finally spoke.
“Well, they don’t deserve your forgiveness,” he reminded her. “But if you’re doing it for you then I don’t think it’s mental. Would only be mental if you were doing it because they guilted you into it.”
“I don’t think that’s what’s happening,” Lia mused. “I think I just genuinely miss them and if they’re willing to make it right then I would like to let them.”
“You’re too nice.” Jamie flashed her a brief smile, but his look of concern quickly returned. “As long as they stay away from that prick though, yeah? If they’re still friends with him and ever let him near you again then I’ll kill them all.”
While she would never let him actually hurt anyone, his protectiveness filled her with a warmth as it was comforting to know how fiercely he was growing to care for her.
“I don’t doubt you would,” she assured him. “Anyway, how was your day? How was the match?”
Her question had Jamie’s face darkening in a way that she hadn’t expected. She’d heard that the match was a draw and while the team obviously strived for a win, usually anything that wasn’t a loss was still worth celebrating.
“The match was fine. Started off rough, but we pulled out a draw in the end,” he informed her. “Got some interesting news after though, Zava is coming to play for Richmond.”
“Zava? Who’s Zava?”
“Apparently one of the best footballers in the world.”
“Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?” Lia watched as her question simply earned a shrug of his shoulders. “Are you not happy about it?”
“Dunno, I guess so.”
It was clear from his huffy tone and sullen face that he really wasn’t thrilled about the team’s new player and Lia shifted slightly on the couch before reaching out to Jamie.
“C’mere,” she requested, relieved when Jamie didn’t hesitate before coming over. He settled on the couch beside her and rested his head in her lap. She immediately let her fingers run through his hair in the way she’d discovered he found rather soothing before pressing him a little more. “You don’t sound like you’re happy about it.”
“He’s a good player and he’ll help us win games,” Jamie admitted. “But he’s also a selfish prick. Everyone gave me a hard time for being like that and I worked hard to change, but now they’re acting like he’s some kinda gift from God.”
The tinge of jealousy in his voice helped Lia understand just what the problem was. Jamie was used to being the best - to being the hero on the team - and his position in that role was threatened by the arrival of another similarly talented player.
“Maybe he wants to change too,” she gently suggested. “If he’s so good, surely he could have joined any team in the world. If he’s choosing to join Richmond instead of a more prestigious club then maybe he’s drawn to how well you all play together and wants to be more of a team player.”
“Doubt it,” Jamie pouted. “Probably just wants the fame of swooping in to save us.”
“Richmond doesn’t need saving,” she assured him. “You’re a great team already, even without Zava.”
Jamie pressed a kiss against her thigh as he mumbled out a quiet ‘thanks, babe’ before a silence settled between them.
It seemed that they both had a lot on their minds, but Lia was relieved to know that they were in it all together. She knew that no matter what she decided to do about Katie - or however the situation unfolded - Jamie would be by her side through it all. Thinking back to how things had been only a few short months ago, it was amazing how close they’d become and how natural it all felt. The strength and comfort she took from his presence and the contentedness she felt simply curling up on the couch with his head in her lap had her realizing just how happy she was to have him in her life and as he sighed happily when she scratched lightly at his scalp, she started to realize just how deep her feelings for him were becoming.
A wild night out leaves the lives of Jamie Tartt and Ophelia Adams more intertwined than they ever would have imagined.
Will their decision to try and use the situation to their advantage work out in their favour or will they realize that they should have cut their losses when they had the chance?
A wild night out leaves the lives of Jamie Tartt and Ophelia Adams more intertwined than they ever would have imagined.
Will their decision to try and use the situation to their advantage work out in their favour or will they realize that they should have cut their losses when they had the chance?
———-
previous chapter
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Note: Thank you to everyone who liked, reblogged or commented on the last chapter! I'm so excited to hear what everyone thinks about this story and every comment really means so much so please let me know what you think!
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There was something about pulling up outside her mediocre-at-best flat in Jamie’s fancy car that had the situation really hitting home for Lia.
The contrast between her humble abode and his incredibly expensive vehicle had her realizing that she was entering a world that she had no business being in and that she didn’t really know what she was getting herself into. Jamie had so easily trusted her with a car that was so far out of her price range that it was hard to even imagine and maybe he made enough money that he didn’t care if she simply stole it and never spoke to him again or maybe it was worth the risk for what he potentially stood to gain, but she had agreed to move in with him - basically a complete stranger - with hardly more than a second thought and for very little potential reward. Her behaviour in the last twenty-four hours really was starting to feel like a perfect showcase for why alcohol was harmful to the human brain because clearly she’d lost all common sense.
But she was committed to it now.
She’d promised Jamie that she would give it a try and she wasn’t going to back out before it even started - letting people down was just not something she was programmed to do - so, with a sigh, she pulled her phone out of her bag on the passenger seat beside her as she tried to work up the courage to go inside and face the storm that she knew was waiting for her. The twenty-eight unread text messages and fourteen missed calls from Katie were enough to make her want to drive away forever and start a new life somewhere else, but she knew that her friend would be worried - especially because she couldn’t remember saying goodbye to her before leaving the club with Jamie. She typed out and deleted several replies to the string of long and increasingly frantic messages, but in the end she decided that going inside and explaining things in person would be the right thing to do.
But she regretted that decision as soon as she walked through the door.
“What the fuck, Lia?!” Katie practically shrieked before she even had the chance to close the door behind her. “I’ve been worried sick about you!”
“I was fine,” Lia weakly argued, knowing how she would feel if the tables were turned. “I did message you to let you know that.”
She’d seen the message when she’d scrolled back through their conversation and she knew the garbled drunken text did very little to strengthen her argument and the roll of Katie’s eyes showed her agreement with that thought.
“That message was hardly reassuring, it made no sense!”
“Well, you didn’t seem very worried at the time.”
It was a fair counterpoint considering Katie had simply replied with something along the lines of ‘hope you’re having fun’ and a winking emoji, but the reminder did little to ease her flatmate’s frustration.
“Because I thought you left with Daniel!”
Even just the sound of his name had Lia’s mood quickly shifting. She’d felt guilty for vanishing and for ignoring Katie’s messages that morning while she sorted things out with Jamie - she completely understood why that would be worrisome for her friend and she knew she wouldn’t have appreciated the silence had she been in Katie’s position - but hearing those words leave Katie’s mouth had her suddenly no longer feeling very apologetic.
“Why would you think that?”
She didn’t even bother keeping the disgust out of her voice and Katie shrugged in response.
“Because we went to dance and when we came back you were both gone.”
“Well, I don’t know where he went,” Lia admitted. “But he stormed off shortly after you two went to the dancefloor - right after Jamie stopped him from attacking me.”
The look on Katie’s face could only be described as skeptical and Mike - who had been watching them quietly from the couch, staying out of it as he usually did when they started bickering about anything - drew their attention as he let out a groan of protest.
“We’re all tired, Lia,” he sighed. “Let’s not start with all that right now.”
There was something about his scolding, disappointed tone that had Lia wanting to do as he said and let it all go. He’d become like a brother to her over the years that he dated Katie and she didn’t want to hurt him or create any problems for him, but she was tired. She was tired of being forced to be around Daniel - a man who had never shown her even an ounce of respect - and being treated like a whiny baby whenever she tried to tell them how upsetting his behaviour was for her.
“I’m not trying to start anything, but it’s true,” she told them, keeping her voice soft in an attempt to prevent the usual argument. “He forced me to sit in his lap as soon as you two left the table and then when I managed to get away and headed to the bar, he followed me and tried to grab me even when I was very clear that I wanted him to stop.”
Katie had the decency to look surprised by what she shared, but Mike was clearly not bothered as he rolled his eyes.
“He just fancies you. He doesn’t know how to flirt, that’s all it is.”
A scoff fell from Lia’s lips as she couldn’t believe how easily he dismissed her concerns and her disbelief only deepened when she saw Katie relax as she accepted the way that Mike explained away his friend’s indiscretions. Maybe it was the fact that Daniel’s persistence the night before had truly frightened her or maybe it was because her hangover and her unbelievable morning had her already feeling emotionally maxed out, but she found herself quickly losing her patience and her ability to bite her tongue just to keep the peace.
“That’s not all it is,” she insisted. “He’s a predator! And I don’t want to think about what would have happened if Jamie hadn’t shown up when he did.”
“A predator?” Mike questioned, the word laced with incredulity. “He’s my best mate!”
“I know that, but you still need to hold him accountable and I’m fed up of you making excuses for him,” she informed him, crossing her arms as she turned to face Katie. “And I’m supposed to be your best friend so it hurts that you always take Daniel’s side over mine.”
In an instant, any hint of sheepishness disappeared from Katie’s face as Lia’s accusation had her recoiling as if she’d been slapped.
“Oh, that’s rich coming from you!” Her words were said with a laugh, but it was obvious that Katie didn’t find the situation at all amusing. “You wanna talk about betrayals? Why don’t we talk about how you got married without even telling me that you were seeing anyone!”
It felt like a cheap way to deflect from Lia’s very valid complaints, but she was surprised it hadn’t come up already and a sigh fell from her lips as she explained.
“I’m not married. That whole wedding last night was just for a laugh, it’s not a legal thing,” she assured her, but she braced herself for Katie’s reaction as she added, “But Jamie and I have been dating for a couple of months so we’re going to let people think that we’re married to see if it helps turn his reputation around a little bit.”
She’d hoped that by the time she had to explain their plan, she would have thought of a way to make it sound a little less insane, but from the dropped jaws and blank stares her news received it was obvious that it still seemed just as crazy as it had when Jamie had first suggested it. She gave them a moment to process her words, but just as she was about to offer some more reassurance, Katie found the strength to speak.
“Are you still drunk?” She blurted out. “You must still be drunk or I’m going to start worrying that you’ve lost the plot.”
“No, I’m completely sober.”
“Okay, then you’ve lost your mind,” Katie decided. “Because the Lia that I know would never agree to pretend to be married to a footballer that she doesn’t even know.”
“I do know him,” Lia insisted, feeling a pang of guilt for pushing the lie she was trying to sell to her best friend. “I told you, we’ve been dating for the last few months.”
“Oh, really?” Katie huffed, her hands settling on her hips as her scepticism was written all over her face. “Then why have I never heard about it? Or met him?”
“He asked me to be discreet,” Lia shrugged, the lie making her throat tighten as she tried to be convincing. “Until we were more serious. So I told you that I was working late if I was going to see him and he only stayed over if I knew you would be at Mike’s.”
“Where did you meet?”
“At the bookstore when I was working,” she informed her, thinking back to the story that they’d come up with in Rebecca’s office. “He came in looking for a book for his mum and I helped him find it.”
“I’m not surprised he needed help,” Mike sniggered from the couch. “I doubt Jamie Tartt could read any of the titles without someone there to help him sound out the words.”
It was similar to the joke that Roy had made and she remembered how much it had annoyed Jamie. As Katie laughed along with Mike, Lia suddenly felt a flash of protectiveness over her new ‘boyfriend’ and their ‘holier than thou’ attitude was really beginning to get under her skin.
“You don’t even know him,” she snapped. “But we’re moving in together so maybe you can come over sometime and actually meet him before you judge him so harshly.”
There was another stunned silence, but the next words out of Katie’s mouth only added to Lia’s frustration.
“Is he paying you?”
“No! You know I’m not like that! I care about him, Katie. We’d been talking about it anyway so with all this marriage stuff happening it just makes sense.”
“None of this makes any sense,” Katie huffed. “He’s a manwhore and from what I’ve seen he’s pretty proud of it so you must be really naive if you’re willing to go along with this insane scheme to trick the general public into thinking that Jamie Tartt isn’t a huge slut when he absolutely is.”
“He’s changed and he deserves a second chance.” Considering the brief amount of time she’d spent in his presence, Lia wasn’t entirely sure she believed that statement herself, but her irritation towards them had her giving a truly Oscar worthy performance as she defended her actions. “And I think it’s pretty disgusting that you’re more against me being with someone whose only supposed issue is that he used to be promiscuous than with a dangerous pervert like Daniel!”
“Oi!” Mike barked from the couch. “Stop slagging off my best mate!”
“Everything I’ve said about him is true and you both know it.” Lia’s gaze fell on Katie as she waited for her to speak up - to agree and finally take her side in the seemingly never ending debate - but Katie appeared to suddenly be very interested in a spec of dirt on the carpet and was no longer able to meet her eye. Tears pricked the corners of Lia’s eyes as she gave Katie a moment longer to do the right thing, but when she was met with a lingering silence, she scoffed as she shook her head. “Whatever. I’m going to go pack some things, but I’ll come back to get everything another day and I’ll pay rent for the next two months so you have time to find someone else or figure something out.”
Going into the conversation, Lia had planned to offer to pay her share of the rent indefinitely. With the uncertainty of her arrangement with Jamie, she didn’t want to set herself up to have nowhere to live in a couple of months if it all fell apart, but after what had been said and the continued lack of support in regards to Daniel’s unwanted advances, she was rethinking that decision. She felt hurt, she felt disrespected and she felt like staying in their flat or leaving the door open to return would just be accepting the way they minimized her feelings and would let them think that she was okay with everything that had happened.
She hesitated - leaving space for Katie to stop her, to finally take her side when it really and truly mattered - but when the only response was a huff of annoyance and a roll of her eyes, Lia hung her head and accepted the situation as she marched to her room to start packing her things.
The flat suddenly felt suffocating.
The place that she’d called home for over a year now felt cold and unwelcoming and she was so desperate to get away that she was almost tempted to leave without taking anything, but she knew some time away from her so-called best friend would be the best choice and the only way to do that was to focus and take enough things to last her a couple weeks at least.
She started working quickly - in an uncharacteristically unmethodical and sloppy way - and it didn’t take her long to have two suitcases and a few tote bags ready to go. Not eager for another argument to start, she was anxious to even leave her room and was almost relieved by the cold shoulder she received from Katie as she took the first couple of loads out to the car. However, she wasn’t going to leave without saying goodbye so as she leaned her final suitcase against the door, she paused.
“Alright, well that’s it for now,” she informed the couple who were sitting on the couch. “I’ll let you know when I come back for everything else.”
“Okay,” Katie nodded and the wounded look on her face almost made Lia feel guilty for rushing off after their argument, but the words that followed had her guard immediately going back up. “I just have to ask, who told you this whole pretend marriage thing was a good idea?”
“Well, it was Jamie’s idea,” she admitted. “But I agreed and so did AFC Richmond’s head of marketing.”
“Is that Keeley Jones?”
Despite the surprise she felt at Katie’s sudden knowledge of the staffing team of a random football club, it seemed like an innocent enough question and Lia nodded her head.
“Yeah, it is.”
“Well, that explains a lot,” Katie laughed, a smirk sliding onto her face that had Lia’s stomach tightening in knots. “Did you know that she’s his ex-girlfriend? She’s probably just pawning him off on you to get him out of her own hair.”
While that little tidbit of information had Lia feeling very confused and surprised that no one had thought to mention it at their meeting, what bothered her the most was how smug Katie was as she told her. She wasn’t sharing the news with the intention of gently coaxing Lia away from a situation that she thought was bad, she was sharing it to prove a point in some kind of big ‘gotcha’ moment. So, Lia kept her face steady as she shrugged.
“I know, we’ve met before,” she lied. “But she isn’t pawning him off on me, I care about him and I want to be with him.”
Her insistence was met with nothing more than another sarcastic laugh from her friend and Lia turned away, walking out the door without even wasting her breath to say goodbye.
------
Should I be concerned?
The text came through from her father that evening as Lia sat at the table in the dining area of Jamie’s kitchen - her kitchen - with a mug of tea in front of her. She felt a flash of anxiety as a link to the article came through immediately after to let her know what he was referring to and she quickly typed out a reply.
No, everything’s fine. I’m not married but if anyone asks, just tell them I am. I’ll explain tomorrow.
Almost immediately he sent back a thumbs up and a heart and after her disastrous experience with Katie that afternoon, she was relieved that he was choosing to take a more understanding approach. She wasn’t entirely sure that he’d be happy about the situation once he found out all the details, but she knew that he would support her no matter what and she was still reeling from the disappointment of finding out that her best friend didn’t feel the same.
She let out a sigh as she put her phone back down on the counter and looked around the room. She hadn’t been entirely surprised to find Jamie’s cupboards and fridge rather lacking when it came to food. There were plenty of protein powders and energy drinks, but the kitchen was pretty devoid of anything with any real nutrition. The house was tidy though - more so than she’d expected from a young, hotshot bachelor - and it was far more luxurious than the tiny two bedroom flat that she’d been living in before.
Again, she found herself reflecting on the fact that pretending to be married to Jamie Tartt wasn’t the worst situation in the world, but when she heard the door handle click as it turned and the creak of the front door opening she couldn’t deny the nerves that hit her.
Strolling into the kitchen a moment later, Jamie flashed her a smile as he tossed his coat onto the back of one of the chairs across from her.
“Hiya, you alright?”
“Yeah, you?”
She tried to match his welcoming smile, but it felt strained and from the skeptical look that slid onto Jamie’s face, he’d noticed it too.
“Yeah,” he nodded, reaching down to his coat pocket. “I actually got something for ya.”
“You did?” The surprise was clear in her voice, but she couldn’t deny that after the combative afternoon she’d had the gesture had her feeling very touched. However, when he slid a small velvet box across the table and she opened it to reveal a much larger and fancier ring than the one currently resting on her finger, the surprise shifted into shock and awe. “Jamie…this is too much. I can’t accept it.”
“Course you can,” Jamie insisted. “Can’t have you walkin’ around with a ring like that. It looks like I bought it at Poundland.”
Despite her reluctance to accept the expensive gift sitting in front of her, his observation was very accurate and Lia couldn’t hold back the giggle that slipped from her lips.
“You probably did buy it at Poundland,” she mused, admiring the cheap ring on her finger. “Where else would we have found rings in the middle of the night? Especially ones this tacky.”
“Exactly, that’s why you need one that’s a bit more flashy,” Jamie insisted. “And then when this is all over you can sell it or whatever, get something for your trouble.”
“Oh, I see, this is your sneaky way of still trying to pay me for all this.”
“No!” An indignant scowl slid onto Jamie’s face, but his furrowed brow relaxed as Lia’s attempt at keeping a straight face broke into a smile. “You can keep it forever for all I care. Save it as a memory of me to get you through those long, lonely nights.”
“I’m sure it’ll provide a lot of comfort.”
The sarcasm in her voice had Jamie chuckling softly as he wandered into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water as Lia carefully took her new rings out of their box. She had to credit him for his good taste. Even though it was flashier than the costume jewellery they’d found the night before, it was simple and classy and she had to admit that it was almost exactly the kind of ring that she would like to be given in a real proposal. However, she was well aware that it was probably worth more than she earned in at least six months and the weight of how indulgent it felt to wear such a beautiful piece of jewellery weighed heavily on her finger as she slid it into place.
“Looks nice,” Jamie commented as he joined her again at the table. “So, why’d you look so miserable when I walked in here? Hope it wasn’t because you were thinking about being stuck with me.”
The sudden change in topic caught her off guard, but she was quickly learning that Jamie didn’t seem like the type to beat around the bush. He was direct, but she couldn’t quite figure out if he just didn’t want to waste time by sugarcoating things or if he just didn’t care enough to.
“No, I wasn’t,” she assured him. “I was just thinking about how I’m in the market for a new best friend.”
“Oh,” Jamie frowned. “Is she not a fan of me?”
“Apparently not,” she admitted. “And I think she thinks that’s why I’m upset, but for me it’s more to do with the man you saved me from last night.”
A flash of something dark crossed over Jamie’s face - something that felt almost protective - and Lia felt a little flicker of comfort despite the loneliness she’d been feeling before he came home.
“Yeah? What’s the story with that prick?”
“His name is Daniel and he’s my best friend’s boyfriend’s best friend,” she explained, pausing as she watched him try to mentally follow the trail of people connecting her to the man in question. “He’s always made me uncomfortable. Even though I’ve told him a million times that I’m not interested in him, he keeps pestering me and trying to convince me.to give him a chance. He touches me all the time in ways that I don’t think are appropriate, but everyone just laughs it off when I complain about it. They make excuses for him all the time and I’ve had enough of it. I think that’s why he got so aggressive last night because I finally lost my patience with him and really put my foot down.”
“You should’ve used your foot to kick him in the fucking balls,” Jamie suggested. “Men like that are fucking disgusting.”
“I’m glad you agree. I told them about what happened when I went to get my stuff this morning and they just kept dismissing it and acting like I was overreacting, I was starting to feel like I was the crazy one,” Lia admitted, feeling a genuine wave of relief that Jamie hadn’t taken their side. From how quickly he’d come to her rescue the night before, she was fairly certain that he’d realized the severity of the situation, but she’d heard enough stories about professional athletes to doubt Jamie’s true intention when he’d helped her out. Which led her to her next point. “And then Katie started acting like you potentially being a bit promiscuous was just as bad - if not worse - than how Daniel had behaved and it just really upset me.”
The dark look quickly slid back onto Jamie’s face and Lia wondered if perhaps she should have kept that information to herself.
“Are you serious? That’s a fucking joke,” he protested. “I mean, I’ve been lucky over the years, you know, sexually and yeah, maybe I could’ve been more respectful sometimes after the fact, but my mum raised me right and I would never harass a girl who tells me no or says she’s not interested.”
There was a pleading edge to his voice that cut through his understandable indignation as if he wanted her to know that what he was saying was true and there was something sincere about his annoyance that had her nodding her head.
“I believe you,” she assured him. “I know we barely know anything about each other and I don’t know much about why your reputation is in such dire need of repair, but I’m very grateful for how you stepped in last night and I think you seem like a pretty decent guy.”
“I’m trying to be,” he insisted before adding a little more information, “But I’ve been known to be a little bit of cocky, selfish twat.”
His blunt admission had a laugh falling from Lia’s lips as she covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from spitting tea all over the table.
“Well, it’s big of you to admit that now.”
“It’s true, I can’t deny it,” Jamie shrugged. “It’s…complicated. I just always felt that I had to be the best and then I was the best and I knew it. And I was so worried that people might think I’m weak that I acted so tough that no one could ever doubt me. But I can see now that it isn’t worth it, that it’s better to be a team player. I’m just trying to figure out how.”
“I think the fact that you can see your own faults and actually want to improve is a pretty great start,” Lia mused. “We all have flaws and being cocky and selfish aren’t impossible things to fix.”
“I hope so, but it’s left me with a few bridges to build.”
“And I’m sure you can do it.”
Lia flashed him what she hoped was a supportive smile and was relieved when he matched it with one of his own.
“So, what did the rest of your friends and family think about us being married?” He asked. “I hope I haven’t turned everyone against you.”
“No, I don’t think you have,” Lia assured him. “But the only person who’s reached out is my dad and he’s not worried.”
“No?”
“He trusts me,” she explained before laughing to herself at how ridiculous that claim might seem based on what Jamie knew of her. “Contrary to what last night might make you think, I don’t usually do wild stuff like get wasted and marry strangers. I don’t even drink very often and I almost never drink enough to not remember the whole night so he probably knows that I have a decent explanation for whatever happened.”
“Do you?”
There was a hint of a smirk on his face as he questioned her that had her giggling again as she shrugged.
“No, I guess not, but I work at the bookstore with him so I have until tomorrow to come up with something reasonable.”
“Good luck to you,” Jamie teased. “And let me know if you do.”
“I will,” Lia smiled. “But what about you? How did your teammates take it? Have you told your family?”
“The team didn’t care, but I don’t know if most of them really care about me at all right now. And I don’t talk to my dad much, but I told my mom.” Just the mention of his mother had a soft smile sliding onto his face and Lia felt a flicker of endearment at his obvious love for her. “She told me me that you look smart.”
That claim had Lia barking out a laugh as she stared at him in disbelief.
“She saw a picture of me drunkenly marrying her son and thought that made me seem intelligent?”
“She’s a good judge of character.” Jamie told her, the pride shining through in his voice. “And she wants to meet you actually.”
“In Manchester?” Lia’s eyes lit up as she felt a flicker of excitement that only grew when Jamie shrugged and nodded his head. “That would be nice. I love Manchester, I spent a lot of time up there when I was younger.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Lia nodded, smiling at how hopeful he sounded. “My aunt’s a teacher so I used to spend most summers with her so I didn’t have to go to work every day with my dad over the school break and her husband is proper Mancunian so they’ve lived there for as long as I can remember.”
“Proper Mancunian?” Jamie asked, suddenly looking a little sheepish. “Is he City or United?”
There wasn’t very much that Lia knew about football, but she was informed enough to know that those were the names of the two big teams in Manchester. However, she wasn’t informed enough to know exactly how to answer.
“Um, is one of them blue?” She asked, waiting for him to confirm before she continued with more confidence. “Then that’s the one he likes, the one that wears light blue.”
“Ah, probably won’t like me much either then.”
“Oh,” Lia frowned. “Why not?”
“I used to play for them, for Manchester City” he explained. “I left when I went on that show and definitely burned a few bridges. Almost wrecked my whole career actually, I don’t know what I’d be doing right now if Richmond hadn’t taken me back.”
There was a sadness in his voice as he made that confession that really tugged on Lia’s heart. She believed that he was capable of being a ‘cocky twat’ as he’d so delicately put it - his own admissions and Katie’s harsh judgements supported that fact and she’d seen glimmers of it throughout their conversations - but even in their brief time together, it was obvious that there was more to him than most people thought. He had a softer side - a sweeter, funny side - and Lia felt a renewed sense that she was doing the right thing. He was clearly troubled by something and if he needed to get the public off his back and turn their opinion around to give him the confidence to work through his issues and become a better person than she was happy to help him out.
“Your team can’t care about you as little as you think then,” she pointed out. “They must think you deserve a second chance.”
“Or they just want to win and know I can help ‘em out.”
“Well, whatever the reason they let you back in, I’m sure you can win them over and prove to them that you’re trying to change,” she assured him. “And once my uncle thinks we’re together, he won’t say a bad word about you. He loves me too much to disrespect my boyfriend - or husband - so maybe he’ll put in a good word for you with the rest of the City fans too.”
Jamie didn’t look convinced, but he appreciated her support enough to accept her words of comfort without any arguments and a silence fell between them as Lia finished her now cold tea before a yawn slipped from her lips. She glanced at her phone and saw that it wasn’t quite nine o’clock, but the wild night before and lingering hangover had her already itching for bed.
“So,” she started, catching Jamie’s attention again. “Can you show me where the guest room is?”
She watched as his face went from confused to understanding until it settled on something a little sheepish.
“I can, yeah,” he nodded. “But there’s not much in there. Just some spare gym equipment.”
“That’s okay. As long as there’s a bed, that’s all I need.”
“There’s just some spare gym stuff,” Jamie repeated. “That’s all there is, there’s no bed.”
Flooded with a flash of panic, Lia stared at Jamie for a moment as she tried to puzzle out if he was joking.
“You can’t be serious,” she groaned as the look on his face made it clear that he was. “Where does your mum sleep when she visits you?”
“She hasn’t been since I moved here,” he shrugged. “Figured I’d buy one if anyone ever did visit, but I haven’t got around to it yet and it hasn’t been an issue.”
Her initial anxious reaction quickly shifted into one of annoyance as she couldn’t believe that he’d asked her to move in without realizing that he had nowhere for her to actually sleep, but her exhaustion left her quickly resigning herself to her fate.
“I guess I’ll just take the couch then.”
“No, I can’t have you doing that,” Jamie insisted, looking at her like she’d suggested something truly farfetched. “We can just share my bed.”
The panic came back as she felt her cheeks heat up at the thought of spending the night curled up in bed beside him and the smirk that slid onto Jamie’s face as he noticed the flush of colour only added to her embarrassment.
“Won’t that be weird?”
“Why would it be?” He countered. “We did last night, didn’t we? I don’t want you sleeping on the couch and if I do then I’ll be done in for training tomorrow.”
It was a valid point and it only took a minute of mulling it over for Lia to realize that sharing a bed wasn’t really that outrageous. She’d shared a bed with Katie several times over the years in a completely platonic way so there was no reason why she couldn’t do the same with Jamie and since they had no idea how long their little arrangement was going to last, it didn’t make sense for one of them to suffer indefinitely by sleeping on the couch - even though she was sure that Jamie’s couch was top of the line and probably more comfortable than her own bed had been.
“Okay,” she nodded in agreement after her moment of thought. “You’re right, it makes the most sense. Do you mind if I go to bed now? I’m pretty tired and I have work in the morning.”
“Course I don’t mind,” Jamie assured her. “I’ll help you with your suitcase.”
“Oh, you don’t have to…”
Her protests fell on deaf ears as Jamie rose from the table and headed down the hall to where she’d left her things by the front door. She tried again to stop him and was ignored once again, but she had to admit that the way his muscles strained under his shirt as he carried her heavy suitcase up the stairs had her wondering if she’d really be able to resist the temptation that came with sharing a bed with such a handsome and fit man.
A wild night out leaves the lives of Jamie Tartt and Ophelia Adams more intertwined than they ever would have imagined.
Will their decision to try and use the situation to their advantage work out in their favour or will they realize that they should have cut their losses when they had the chance?
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Note: This is my first foray into Ted Lasso fanfiction so please be kind!
The story starts between episodes five and six of season two and while I will stick as close to the story as possible, things may be changed slightly or added as necessary!
I have a big chunk of the story planned out, but this is the only chapter I have written so far. I couldn't resist posting it to see what people think and gauge the response so please let me know what you think and hopefully there will be more chapters ready soon! :)
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Ophelia ‘Lia’ Adams was not a party animal.
She didn’t mind the occasional drink and had even been known to get drunk every once in a while, but going out to clubs every weekend and staying out all night was not her idea of a good time.
However, Lia was a good friend with a tendency to be a little too self-sacrificing and that was how she’d been roped into throwing on a dress that was far too short to be decent and sipping on a tequila shot as she got herself ready for a wild night out.
“You’re supposed to drink it all in one go,” her friend, Katie, teased her as she flopped onto her bed. “It’s a shot, not a cocktail.”
“I know, but shots always make me feel sick.”
“Right,” Katie giggled. “I forgot you’re like twenty-four going on sixty.”
Lia huffed, rolling her eyes in the mirror as she straightened her hair and mumbled out a quiet and half-hearted ‘am not’ in protest.
“You are,” Katie insisted. “But I appreciate that you’re actually coming out tonight so I won’t tease you about it too much.”
“Good, because I can still change my mind,” Lia pointed out. “Where are we going anyway?”
“Club 95!”
The grin that slid onto Katie’s face made her excitement clear, but Lia raised an eyebrow.
“And how are we planning to get in there? Isn’t it basically exclusive to celebrities? People like us usually just spend the night queuing up outside places like that praying that we’ll get in.”
“Not tonight,” Katie practically sang with glee. “Daniel has a connection - through his uncle or something - and he got us all on the guest list.”
As soon as the name left her mouth, Lia’s head snapped around so fast she almost ripped the hair clamped in her straightener right out of her head.
“Daniel’s going to be there? You never told me that!”
“Of course he is,” Katie rolled her eyes. “He’s Mike’s best friend.”
Mike was Katie’s boyfriend and considering the reason they were even going out was to celebrate his birthday, it did make sense that his best friend would be there, but the thought still made Lia’s skin crawl.
Daniel was sleezy. There was no other way to describe him. He consistently made her uncomfortable with unwanted advances and he was completely undeterred by the fact that she rejected him every single time. Of course, he mostly accosted her when they were alone, but Katie and Mike had seen him in action harassing other women so she really had no idea why Mike insisted on being his friend. Whenever she confronted him about it, Mike would shrug and remind her that he’d known him since they were kids before insisting that he wasn’t really that bad and Lia would huff, roll her eyes and eventually decided to just do her best to avoid any events he might be at in the future. She’d so successfully avoided being in his company that she’d almost forgot he existed and she cursed herself for slipping up.
A sigh fell from her lips as she quickly lifted the tequila shot off of the dresser in front of her and finally downed what was left in the tiny glass. She heard Katie let out a cheer at her sudden enthusiasm, but Lia rolled her eyes as she held out the shot glass for a refill.
“There’s no way I can spend an evening in Daniel’s company if I’m sober.”
“Well, then you better pick up the pace,” Katie informed her as she poured them both another shot. “Because they’re going to be here in about half an hour.”
With a groan, Lia felt even the slightest hint of potential excitement for the evening slipping away. Knowing it was too late to back out, she tossed back the shot as soon as it was poured in the hopes that she could get herself feeling fuzzy enough by the time that Daniel was present to find him at least mildly tolerable.
-
When Mike and Daniel first arrived at the flat that Lia and Katie shared, it almost seemed like Daniel had turned over a new leaf in the months since Lia had seen him. He seemed calmer, less conceited and less misogynistic than she remembered him being and she relaxed slightly as she thought that maybe the night could still be fun after all. However, when they were leaving and she bent over to do up the zip on the heeled boots she was wearing and his hand ‘grazed’ her ass, she realized that his apparent change was too good to be true.
She’d jumped away from him with a squeak of displeasure, but he’d simply smirked and brushed it off as an accident caused by the narrow hallway and the close proximity it created. Lia didn’t buy it and flashed him a glare, but Katie’s pleading eyes had her letting it go in an attempt to keep the peace. She reluctantly laughed it off, but any glimmer of hope for civility between them had disappeared.
And it only got worse when they got to the club.
As promised, Daniel had led them past the long queue of people desperate for a way through the swanky red ropes at the door and straight inside, but as they settled in a booth in a dark back corner, it became clear that Daniel expected more than just a thank you for his efforts. With Katie and Mike tucked together on the opposite side of the table - distracted by each other - the occasional squeeze of Lia’s knee or stroke of her thigh went mostly unnoticed by them despite her growing discomfort and simmering rage. She kept up the steady pace of her drinking, but the nagging thought that it might be better to keep her wits about her was rising in her mind the more handsy that Daniel got. However, when Katie and Mike announced they were heading to the dancefloor and Daniel took advantage of the moment when Lia stood up to follow them to pull her down into his lap, her fury and disgust had her storming towards the bar to get another drink the moment she could drag herself out of his grip.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to loudly and openly demand that Daniel stop groping her and warn him never to touch another woman without her consent again. But it was Mike’s birthday and she also didn’t want to ruin his night.
So, the scream stayed in her throat, tightening and constricting her ability to breath until she was worried that she might pass out if she didn’t get something to take the edge off of her frustration soon. The busy club and crowded space in front of the bar did nothing to ease her anxiety as it slowed her pursuit of relief, but her restraint was finally broken when she felt an arm slide around her waist and smelt the waft of a cologne that told her the arm belonged to Daniel.
“Stop!” Her voice was firm and the way she ripped herself away from him left no room for misinterpretation, but the smirk on his face told her that he wasn’t going to pay much attention to the request. “I don’t want you to touch me again!”
“Oh, come on, Lia! Don’t be so dramatic. Let me buy you a drink and we can hang out while Mike and Katie are having a dance.”
He moved closer, but Lia stayed strong and held out her arm to keep some distance between them.
“No, I don’t want to do that. I don’t want anything to do with you.”
He moved closer and Lia felt her throat tightening even more as panic gripped her until Daniel suddenly paused his advances and she felt a different arm drape loosely over her shoulders. She tensed as she turned to see who was touching her now and was surprised to see an unfamiliar face.
“Hiya, babe!” The greeting was overly familiar for a stranger, but the soft smile on his face urged her to play along and had her relaxing into his body. “I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
“I didn’t know we were coming here.”
It wasn’t entirely a lie as she hadn’t known where they would be spending their evening, but considering she didn’t know the man who had come to her rescue she wouldn’t have been able to tell him if she had. The entire interaction had stopped Daniel in his tracks, but Lia found the complete shock on his face a little offensive. It looked almost as if the idea of another man being interested in her was incomprehensible for him, but the man holding her spoke up again before he could voice his disbelief.
“Is this guy bothering you?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but Daniel found his confidence again and cut her off.
“Are you serious?” He asked, mouth agape. “You know Jamie Tartt the footballer?”
Still slightly unsure of what exactly was happening, Lia shrugged noncommittally, but smiled sweetly at the man - apparently ‘Jamie’ - as she felt him tighten his grip.
“Yeah, mate,” he confirmed, the word sounding more like a threat than a term of endearment. “She knows me really well if you know what I’m sayin’ so I suggest you piss off.”
Daniel hesitated as his eyes flicked between them as if he was puzzling out whether or not he was being fooled and Lia held her breath as she silently prayed that they’d been convincing enough, only relaxing when he finally scoffed and shook his head.
“Whatever, she’s not worth the hassle.”
He didn’t stick around for a reaction to his parting shot, but Jamie waited until he’d stormed off and disappeared into the crowd to let his arm fall from her shoulders.
“Do you know him?”
“Unfortunately.”
A sigh fell from her lips as she nodded her head and despite the loud music blasting out from the dancefloor, she heard the disbelief in his voice loud and clear as he asked his next question.
“Is he your friend?”
“No,” she said firmly, shaking her head. “Not at all.”
“Good, because he seems like an absolute prick.”
His blunt honesty had a giggle slipping past her lips as she nodded in agreement.
“That is a pretty spot on assessment,” she admitted. “So, thank you very much for coming to my rescue, Jamie Tartt the footballer.”
“You’re welcome,” he nodded before flashing her a smirk. “Now, why don’t you buy me a drink? You know, for being so chivalrous.”
It was a bold - borderline cocky - request, but Lia found herself laughing again as there was something about her knight in shining armor that put her at ease. He wasn’t arrogant in the off-putting way that Daniel was, it was more of an endearing self-confidence that he exuded. She didn’t even want to think about what could have happened had he not just stepped in and scared Daniel off so she eagerly and happily led him to the bar to compensate him for his kindness.
-
The biggest downside that Lia found to being an inexperienced drinker was that her low level of exposure to alcohol made her much more susceptible to hangovers than those who were used to drinking copious amounts of liquor.
And when she woke up the night after Mike’s birthday celebrations, she was immediately reminded of that fact.
Her stomach churned, her head throbbed and before she even opened her eyes it felt like she was feeling worse and worse with every passing moment. The more the fogginess of sleep drained from her mind, the more pains and discomfort she became aware of and she briefly wondered if she’d finally gone too far and might actually die from her hangover as she felt like there was truly no way that she could feel worse than she did in that moment.
That is, until she felt the bed shift as the person who was apparently laying beside her rolled over and let out a groan. A groan that definitely didn’t belong to her female flatmate.
Her eyes snapped open as panic took over and had her heart pounding in her chest. The room she was in was unfamiliar to her. The sheets she was wrapped in were far too expensive to be her own. She realized that she had no idea where she was and as she also began to realize that she couldn’t remember much of the night, her panic began to grow. The memory of her interaction with Daniel haunted her, but even though he was a horrible and misogynistic sleaze, she clung to a shred of hope that he wouldn’t be awful enough to take advantage of her if she was delirious - or do anything himself to get her in such a state.
With her thudding heartbeat echoing in her ears, she slowly rolled over and was instantly flooded with relief.
“Oh, thank god,” she let out the breath she’d been holding. “It’s you.”
Beside her was not the man who’d spent most of the part of the evening that she could recall harassing her, but the man who had saved her from him. His name - Jamie Tartt the footballer - sprang into her head as did a few blurry memories of the start of their evening together, but how she’d ended up in his bed was still a mystery to her.
“Course it’s me,” Jamie huffed, cracking an eye to look at her with a grimace on his face that told her he was feeling much the same as she was. “Who were you expecting?”
“No one,” Lia admitted. “I expected to wake up in my own bed, alone.”
Jamie grunted in response, letting his eye drift shut again as a silence settled between them until Lia worked up the courage to ask the question that was burning in her mind.
“Did we…uh…Did we…you know?”
If she had the energy to be embarrassed then Lia imagined her cheeks would probably be burning from her childish attempt at asking if they’d had sex, but her current hungover state left her unable to care even when Jamie opened his eyes again and flashed her a smirk.
“Did we fuck?” He clarified, waiting for her to nod before he half-heartedly attempted to shrug. “If I’m bein’ honest with ya, I can’t remember. But based on the fact that I still have my pants on and I’m not even under the blanket, I’m gonna say no.”
Another sigh of relief slipped from Lia's lips as he confirmed her suspicions. Her bra and underwear were still firmly in place despite her missing dress so she’d been hopeful that they hadn’t gone too far, but she had to admit that his handsome face and what she could see of his toned body were quite enticing and she couldn’t have blamed herself for giving into the temptation.
“That’s good, especially if we both can’t even remember it.”
Clearly a man of few words after such a heavy night of drinking, Jamie simply hummed in agreement, but as Lia gave up on conversation and let her arm fall over her face to shield her eyes from the sun streaming in through the window, Jamie seemed to find his voice.
“Fuckin’ hell,” he groaned. “And especially if you’re fuckin’ married!”
“What? I’m not married?” Lia dropped her arm back down to the bed as her brow furrowed in confusion, but Jamie quickly lifted it back up to show her the engagement ring and wedding band resting on her ring finger. However, even through the shock and confusion, the ring wrapped around his own finger didn’t escape her notice as her panic returned in full force. “Are you married?”
“No, what are you on about?”
The confusion in Jamie’s face matched her own, but an idea was taking root in Lia’s mind that she just couldn’t shake. It was ridiculous. It was unrealistic. It was something that only happened in movies. But it was starting to seem like the only explanation. Pulling her arm from Jamie’s grip, she moved to sit up as fast as her weary body would allow and she leaned back against the headboard as she racked her exhausted brain for any kind of answer. However, her movement and the shift of the blanket filled the room with the sound of crinkling paper and she noticed a picture resting on the duvet between their legs.
A picture that created almost as many questions as it answered.
A picture of her and Jamie kissing at an altar in what appeared to be their wedding.
“Oh, no, no, no, no,” Lia gasped, reaching for the picture to get a closer look. “This can not be happening.”
Jamie was still looking at her like she’d lost her mind until she held out the picture for him.
“Oh, fuck.” His eyes widened as he took the paper from her hand. “Are we married?”
“No, there’s no way,” Lia insisted, hopelessly wishing her brain was working at full capacity. “There’s no way that’s legal. We would have needed a marriage license and those take time. There’s laws about it, there’s rules you have to follow.”
“Not if you’re rich enough,” Jamie pointed out. “People will let you do anything for enough money.”
“I don’t have any money!”
“Okay, but I do.”
He said it like it was obvious, but it only added to Lia’s confusion.
“Who are you?” She asked, starting to sound as frantic as she felt. “I know you’re Jamie Tartt the footballer, but what does that mean?”
“It means I’m Jamie Tartt and a footballer,” he rather unhelpfully explained. “I play for AFC Richmond, like, professionally.”
“So, you’re basically like a celebrity?”
“I guess so, yeah. To some people.”
“And you have the money to bribe your way into a drunken, last minute marriage?”
“Probably,” Jamie shrugged. “Can’t say that I’ve ever tried.”
“How are you so calm about this?” The question made her exasperation clear, but she was panicking and his nonchalant demeanor was getting under her skin. “We’re married, Jamie! This is a nightmare.”
“First of all, that’s offensive,” he informed her, tossing the picture back down on the bed. “And I’m too fucking hungover to care. We don’t even know if it’s real.”
“Okay, but this,” Lia held her hand up in front of his face to remind him of her rings. “Makes it seem pretty real.”
“I dunno,” Jamie smirked, grabbing her wrist to stop her from moving her hand away. “Because if I was actually gonna propose, it wouldn’t be with a ring that cheap.”
“And surely it would be to someone whose name you actually know.”
“Course I know your name,” Jamie insisted. His tone was indignant, but as Lia patiently waited for him to elaborate, he quickly caved as he let go of her hand. “Alright, so maybe I can’t remember it right now, but I probably knew it last night.”
Lia stared at him for a moment before flopping back against the pillow and letting out a sigh as she raised a hand to rub at her temples in an attempt to soothe her pounding headache.
“It’s Lia,” she informed him. “This is crazy. What are we going to do?”
“Take a nap?” His suggestion was met with a huff of protest and a request for him to take it seriously, but he argued that he was. “I have training later, I need to sleep this off.”
It was a hard point to argue with when a nap did sound so appealing, but the uncertainty of the situation had Lia feeling overwhelmed and in her fragile state, her emotions bubbled to the surface.
“Please, Jamie,” Lia practically whispered, blinking back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. “We need to figure this out.”
The emotion in her voice caught Jamie’s attention and he flicked his eyes up to meet hers. There was concern on his face, but it was clear that he was fighting some kind of internal battle - probably between whether he should do something to ease her worries or stick with his plan to take a nap - until after a moment of deep thought, he let out a sigh and nodded his head.
“Alright, but can we at least stop to get a coffee on the way?”
“On the way where?”
“To Richmond,” he clarified, dragging himself out of bed and chivalrously passing Lia her dress that was on the floor by his feet. “I know some people who can probably help us.”
“Oh, perfect, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Jamie’s words were said with a sigh that made it clear to Lia just how much of a struggle it had been for him to get out of bed, but as he disappeared into the bathroom and she climbed out of bed herself, the effort that such a simple movement took made her realize that Jamie might have been on to something when he suggested they take a nap.
-
“Well, hello, Mr. and Mrs. Tartt.”
The greeting came from a tall, blonde woman who - from her seat behind a large desk - appeared to be the owner of the office Jamie had taken her to. Their entrance had also caught the attention of the other woman sitting by the desk and the dark haired man beside her. When they’d arrived at the football stadium, Lia had worried that Jamie had simply been trying to shut her up by saying he had someone who could help them and had instead brought her with him to the training he’d mentioned earlier with the expectation that she’d find her own way home, but she was reassured that it still seemed like he had some kind of plan.
“How do you know about that?”
Jamie pulled two more chairs over to the desk, gesturing for Lia to sit down as the woman who’d greeted them pointed to the newspaper in front of her. There on the front page was a copy of the picture they’d found when they woke up and a snappy headline about Tartt being off the market.
“Oh my god,” she groaned. “This is so bad. I still can’t believe that it’s even legal for a bar to host last minute weddings for incredibly intoxicated people!”
“Luckily, I don’t think it is,” the woman informed her before adding an introduction. “I’m Rebecca Welton, owner of AFC Richmond, and this is Keeley Jones, our head of marketing and Roy Kent, one of our coaches.”
“Nice to meet you,” Lia murmured. “I’m Lia Adams, probably one of the most embarrassed people in the country right now.”
“It’s alright,” Keeley assured her with a warm smile. “We all do stupid shit sometimes, everyone will forget all about it in a couple weeks.”
Rebecca nodded in agreement before adding, “So, what can we do for you both?”
“I thought you’d know what to do,” Jamie shrugged. “Help us figure out if it’s legal and all that.”
“I can reach out to some people that should be able to help,” Rebecca agreed, picking up her phone and quickly typing away. “But I can almost guarantee you that whatever ceremony you had last night was not legally binding.”
Relief washed over Lia as she sank back into her chair, hoping that Rebecca’s assurances would prove to be true.
“What’s the story with you two anyway?” Keeley asked. “How did you meet?”
“Last night at a bar,” Jamie informed them before smugly adding, “I saved her from some guy that was being a prick.”
“You only just met last night and decided to get married that fast? That’s so romantic!”
Keeley’s use of the word ‘romantic’ wasn’t exactly the one that Lia would have chosen, but Roy - who had been simply watching them intensely the whole time - spoke up before she could argue.
“Well, it makes sense,” he scoffed. “If she spent any longer in his company than she never would have agreed to marry him.”
“Shut up, old man,” Jamie shot back. “Don’t be such a dick.”
Anger flashed across Roy’s face, but a ping from Rebecca’s phone distracted everyone before he could answer.
“Ah, just what I thought,” she smiled as she read the message. “There is no way that you are actually legally married and my contacts found no trace of an application for a marriage license under either of your names.”
Hearing once and for all that they hadn’t made too much of a mess with their drunken wild adventure was almost enough to have Lia squealing with glee, but the headache that was still lingering in her poor, dehydrated brain had her settling for an ear to ear grin.
“Wow, thank you so much for your help. That was such a quick response.”
“I only work with the best,” Rebecca informed her, flashing her a wink. “So, you’re both free to go your separate ways.”
“Well, hang on a minute,” Jamie protested. “This could actually be good for me.”
“How so?”
The shock was clear in Lia’s voice, but as she looked around the room it seemed her confusion was shared by almost everyone there.
“Well, I have a bit of a bad reputation,” he admitted, providing Lia with more questions than answers. “And this might make people start giving me the benefit of the doubt. You know, if I’m a family man.”
There was a smirk on his face, but Lia wasn’t entirely sure that she liked what it seemed like he was suggesting as she pressed for more information.
“What kind of a bad reputation do you have?”
“People think that I’m a bit of a cocky prick who sleeps around a lot.”
“Because you are a cocky prick who sleeps around a lot.”
The interjection came from Roy, but Jamie kept his cool as he rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, I know, but I’m tryin’ to be better.”
“And what?” Lia questioned, her skepticism clear in her voice. “You want to marry me to help convince people that you’ve changed?”
“Not, like, for real,” he assured her. “But it’s already all over the papers, we can just let people think that it’s real.”
The suggestion had a giggle falling from Lia’s lips as she was so sure that there was no way he was serious until Keeley jumped into the conversation.
“It would actually probably help Jamie out a lot,” she reluctantly agreed. “It would be good for people to see that there’s another side to him.”
The shock that she felt hearing those words leave Keeley’s mouth had her so stunned that she was unable to formulate any kind of response. However, she was grateful that as she sat with her jaw dropped, trying to wrap her mind around what was happening, Rebecca - who appeared to be just as aghast as she was - chimed in with some sense.
“You’re not actually serious, are you?” She questioned. “How on earth could you sell it? He was just galavanting around on TV bragging about his sexual escapades, no one will believe this is some romantic love match.”
The longer the conversation went on, the more questions Lia had about the man sitting beside her, but before she could question what exactly Rebecca was referring to, Jamie had a solution to the problem she’d brought up.
“Could say that we were on a break,” he shrugged. “But she forgave me when I got home. I’ll even admit to running back with me tail between me legs, say that I only went on the show because I was so heartbroken.”
To Lia’s horror, it seemed that Jamie’s plan eased Rebecca’s doubts as her face shifted from disgust into something that seemed much more understanding.
“Okay, wait,” she spoke up, finally finding her voice. “I have a few questions about all this. Like, first of all, why were you bragging about your sexual escapades on TV?”
“I was on that island dating show a few months ago.”
She knew the one he was talking about and she cringed, knowing the type of people who went on that kind of show and the type of antics they got up to.
“And now you’re trying to rebrand yourself to change the public's perception of you?”
“I’m trying to be a better person,” he clarified. “And it would be nice if everyone didn’t assume that I’m still a prick.”
Roy scoffed, earning a quick ‘shh’ from Keeley, but Lia had to admit that she was leaning more towards sharing his skepticism. She liked to give people the benefit of the doubt and was a firm believer that even good people sometimes made bad decisions and were deserving of a second chance, but if it had only been a few months since he was on some trashy reality TV show then she was unsure of how much he could have changed in such a short amount of time.
“That’s admirable,” she relented. “But why do you want me to help you make that happen?”
“Because there’s already pictures of the two of you together all over the papers,” Keeley reminded her. “It would be an easier sell than if we found someone else to help out.”
“But none of you know anything about me. I could be a serial killer for all you know.”
“Are you?”
The question came from Jamie and the genuine concern on his face would have been amusing under different circumstances.
“No, but if I was then I probably wouldn’t admit it,” she pointed out. “It just seems crazy to me that you’re so willing to jump into some kind of arrangement with me when all you know about me is that sometimes I get drunk and make incredibly irresponsible decisions like getting ‘married’ to a handsome stranger.”
She saw a smirk sliding onto Jamie’s face that only had her annoyance growing, but she was quickly distracted by Keeley sheepishly waving her phone in the air.
“I’ve been creeping your social media while we’ve been sat here,” she admitted. “Obviously you could have some deep dark secrets that no one knows, but from what I can tell you seem like quite a sweetheart and you’re really fucking adorable.”
The compliment had Lia’s cheeks heating up, but the insanity of what was being suggested still weighed on her. Maybe in the world of celebrities - even minor ones as many people would class professional footballers to be - it was a normal thing to fake a relationship to sway public opinion, but in Lia’s world that wasn’t something that happened every day and she felt like any moment everyone would burst out laughing and shout ‘gotcha!’ like she was on some kind of prank show.
“You don’t have to agree to anything if you’re not comfortable,” Rebecca assured her, picking up on her hesitation. “This is a completely insane request and everyone will completely understand if it’s too much to ask.”
Lia got the feeling that her words were just as much a reminder for the people waiting for her response as they were to reassure her, but as ridiculous as the situation was, she had to admit that she was intrigued. There was nothing else going on in her romantic life and despite the red flag of Jamie’s reputation apparently being in dire need of fixing, he seemed like a nice guy and they’d had fun the night before from what she could remember. Plus, she’d be lying if she said he wasn’t attractive and there were worse things in life than pretending some hot, rich footballer was your husband.
“Well, what would be in it for me?” she asked after a moment of thought. “You get the benefit of having your reputation boosted, but what do I get out of this?”
“I can make it worth your while.” Jamie’s offer was said with a wink and smirk, but despite the flush of heat that washed over Lia at the thought of what he was alluding to, she rolled her eyes and waited for him to make what he clearly thought was a more enticing offer. “Alright, I’ll pay ya.”
“Like I’m some kind of escort?”
“No! I just meant that I’ll take care of you!”
“Oh, like a sugar daddy?”
“No! That’s not what I mean. You’re twisting my words!”
Lia was about to protest and argue that she was simply trying to understand what he was offering and insist that she was not comfortable with any kind of money being exchanged as if he was hiring her to be his wife, but Rebecca - who Lia was finding to be an ever present voice of wisdom - stepped in to help them find a more productive way to resolve the issue.
“Lia, is there anything in particular that you would like to get out of the arrangement?”
It was a much more direct way to figure it out instead of Jamie offering her things she was going to turn down, but it was such a big question that she wasn’t really sure how to answer. She shrugged as she racked her brain for some way to make the situation mutually beneficial until eventually an idea popped into her head.
“My dad owns a bookstore,” she informed them, a flash of excitement running through her as she realized that there might actually be a positive side to the mess she’d gotten herself into. “It’s just a small local one, but he’s had it for years - since before I was born - and now with all the big chains he’s finding it harder to compete. Maybe if there was some way for Jamie to subtly promote it and get a few extra customers in the door then that could be really helpful.”
“There’s one big problem with that,” Roy informed her, a smirk sliding onto his face. “No one’s ever gonna believe that Jamie Tartt knows how to read.”
“Oh, piss off,” Jamie spat as Keeley warned him to be quiet and keep any unhelpful opinions to himself. “I can so read and I’m always happy to support local businesses.”
It was clear from the strain on his face that Roy had more thoughts he was dying to share, but a stern look from Keeley had him keeping quiet as Lia sat up a little straighter and tried to control her newfound enthusiasm for their plan.
“That would really help me out. So, if you’re willing to do that then I am willing to pretend that I am Mrs. Tartt,” she agreed. “But we’ll have to set up some ground rules.”
It was Jamie’s turn to look hesitant and suspicious as he cautiously nodded his head.
“Okay, let’s hear it.”
“You won’t be able to sleep with anyone,” she informed him. “People talk and if you’re already going to let them all think I was stupid enough to take you back after you ditched me to go be a whore on TV then I won’t do if it you’re going to let them think I was stupid enough to marry you even though you’re cheating on me.”
“I didn’t ditch you to be a whore on TV, I ditched you and then I was a whore on TV.”
“Semantics,” Lia rolled her eyes. “That’s my number one rule so if you’re not okay with being celibate then I can’t do this.”
Jamie looked almost physically pained by the idea, but after a moment of internal debate, he reluctantly agreed.
“Fine,” he sighed. “Anything else?”
They spent the next half an hour debating the logistics of their arrangement. Neither side had too many demands other than Lia’s request for him to stop seeing other people and Jamie requesting for her to move in with him in case photographers were sniffing around, but they also had to figure out what their official story would be. In the end, they came up with two versions. For the general public, they would confirm that their late night drunken wedding was simply a joke and a bit of fun, but admit that they’d been together for a while and had a small, private wedding a few weeks before. For close friends and family who would have been in attendance at said wedding and would therefore know it wasn’t true and for Jamie’s teammates - some of whom were present at for their drunken nuptials according to the pictures in the paper - they would admit that they were just pretending to be married to brighten up Jamie’s reputation, but would tell everyone that they’d been dating since Jamie returned from his excursion into reality TV.
Lia was still struggling to wrap her mind around the situation, but everyone had assured her that she could bail at any point if it became too much so she was willing to give it a shot - especially if it meant helping out her dad’s business. By the time they were done discussing all the ins and outs, she was very much ready for a nap and not at all ready to face the millions of texts that she knew were waiting for her from the near constant buzzing of her phone. Jamie and Roy had to get ready for training, but Lia was very grateful that Jamie took a little detour to walk her back out to his car.
“I can take the bus,” she assured him as he tried to hand her his keys. “Or how will you get home?”
“Someone will give me a ride,” he insisted, jangling the keys until she tentatively took them from his hand. She mumbled out a ‘thanks’ so softly that she wasn’t even sure he would have heard until he replied. “It’s the least I can do after what you’re doing for me. I promise I’m not as bad as you’re probably imagining. Or, I’m tryin’ not to be.”
There was something about the vulnerability in his voice that tugged on Lia’s heartstrings. He was basically a stranger to her and she didn’t know his story, but it was clear to her that he truly was trying to be a better person despite whatever he’d done in his past. She was fully intending to Google him as soon as she got home just to make sure that the sins he was trying to atone for weren’t anything as extreme as murder or any kind of violence, but there was something about him that made her want to give him the benefit of the doubt and there was obviously something that she’d seen in him the night before that made her like him enough to marry him.
“I believe you,” she smiled. “But we can talk about it later. Good luck with your training, I hope your hangover doesn’t hold you back too much.”
Jamie scoffed out a laugh as they both knew that he wouldn’t be in top form that afternoon, but then he surprised her as he leaned in to press a kiss on her cheek. She stood stunned even after he’d pulled away, shocked by the comforting familiarity of the gesture, but as Jamie opened the door of his car for her, she spotted a few of his teammates watching them from the pitch and realized why he’d done it.
“Oh, I don’t know your address,” she reminded him as she climbed into the car. “Can you text it to me?”
“I don’t have your number.”
Lia laughed at the absurdity of the situation - they were supposed to be married yet they barely knew any basic information about each other - and rattled off her phone number as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Once everything was sorted and Lia knew where she was heading after she went home to pick up her things, she said goodbye and headed out of the parking lot, but paused to blow a kiss out the window and laughed as Jamie dramatically caught it.
They had a relationship to sell after all - as he’d just reminded her - and she was relieved to see that they might be able to have a little fun along the way.
A wild night out leaves the lives of Jamie Tartt and Ophelia Adams more intertwined than they ever would have imagined.
Will their decision to try and use the situation to their advantage work out in their favour or will they realize that they should have cut their losses when they had the chance?
———-
note: This one is a little shorter than normal, but I have a feeling that the next one will be extra long so that should make up for it!
Thanks again to everyone who left a comment! I love to hear everyone's thoughts!
———-
previous chapter
———-
“Good morning!” The sound of her dad’s overly cheerful greeting as Lia walked into the back office of the bookstore had her immediately regretting her decision not to stop for coffee on her way to work. “How’s my favourite newlywed?”
“Tired,” Lia admitted, thinking back to the night before. She’d slept soundly until Jamie joined her in bed almost two hours after she went to sleep, but she’d become incredibly restless once he was lying beside her. She wasn’t used to feeling someone next to her in bed and she was hyper aware of how much she moved or how close she got to him as she wanted to respect his space and not make him uncomfortable. “It’s been kind of a hectic weekend.”
“Ah, well, weddings are known to be rather exhausting.” The comment was said with an air of teasing and Lia rolled her eyes despite the smile on her face as her dad pushed for more information. “So, do you care to elaborate?”
Lia nodded slowly as she hung her things on the coat rack in the corner, buying herself some time to think about where to start as she pulled her sweater over her head.
Despite the many hours she spent lying awake the night before with nothing to do but think of how to spin the situation, she hadn’t come up with any way to explain it that made it sound less crazy than it really was and she didn’t want her dad to worry. She’d started to finally wrap her mind around things - she’d determined that Jamie seemed like someone who was mostly just misunderstood and simply needed a little love and support to reach his full potential and she was starting to feel more intrigued about how things would play out instead of just being stricken by anxiety at the endless possibilities - but she knew that convincing people that it was at all sensible to pretend to be married to a football star to change his reputation would be a hard sell. It was hard to make it seem like it was mutually advantageous instead of just her being taken advantage of - especially when she was talking to her father because if he knew what she’d asked for in the arrangement he would be racked with guilt and assume she was sacrificing herself for his business.
And while in some ways that was true, she was happy to do it. It had been just the two of them her whole life. Her mum had died from complications related to her birth and instead of crumbling in his grief or harbouring any resentment, he’d worked hard and made plenty of sacrifices to keep her happy and fed with a roof over her head. If her little scheme with Jamie could help him out even a little bit then she felt it was worth it.
“Jamie is my boyfriend,” she informed him after gathering her thoughts. “We’ve been together for a few months now, but we decided to keep it quiet because he’s a footballer and people are nosy.”
“That’s understandable,” her dad agreed. “But why do I have to tell people that you’re married if they ask?”
“Because AFC Richmond’s marketing team thought that it would be a good idea. The pictures in that article you saw were just us being silly after a few drinks, but they thought leaning into the image of being a happily married man might help people see that there’s more to Jamie than some people think.”
She’d left out the part about it being Jamie’s idea in an effort to prevent her father from wrongly assuming that he was manipulating her, but her father was smart and knew her well enough for his suspicions to be rising nonetheless.
“And why does your boyfriend need his reputation saved so badly?”
“Because he made some questionable choices in his life, but he’s not a bad person,” she assured him. “He’s trying to make amends and he’s working on himself.”
“Well, I guess that’s all we can ask of anyone,” her father mused. “He treats you well?”
“Very well. He’s respectful and kind and he makes me laugh,” Lia smiled, realizing that so far nothing she’d said was a lie before she added a slight exaggeration for effect. “I really care about him.”
Her father watched her closely - as if scanning her face for any hint of a reason to be concerned - but she was relieved when he eventually relaxed.
“Then I’m happy for you,” he decided. “And I’d love to meet my new son-in-law at the earliest convenient time.”
“I’m sure he’d like to meet you too,” Lia lied, knowing that spending an evening pretending to be her boyfriend to win over her dad was probably low on the list of things Jamie would find exciting. “I know he’s busy with training and matches at the moment, but we can try to find a time soon.”
“Great!”
Her father flashed her a smile, but there was something in his expression that had her own suspicions rising. He knew her better than anyone and the cheeky twinkle in his eye had her doubting just how convincing she had been so she made a mental note to put off organizing a dinner with him and Jamie for as long as possible. He would find far too much joy in watching them squirm if he had any kind of a hunch about the game they were playing.
“Did the order come in last night?” She asked, changing the subject and waiting for him to nod before she continued. “Do you mind if I stay in the back today and sort it all out? I don’t know how nosy football fans can be, but I’d rather lay low for a few days in case anyone starts snooping around.”
It wasn’t an unusual request as they usually took turns checking over the inventory and restocking the shelves and Lia was glad when her dad agreed without any fuss before taking the cash tray out of the office to set up the till and unlock the door for the day.
——
It was almost twelve hours later when Lia finally found herself walking back up the driveway towards the house she now shared with Jamie.
To her relief, her father had assured her that there had been no one poking around or asking questions about her, but the order that she’d volunteered to put away was larger than she’d anticipated and took longer to organize. Her father had offered to stay after closing to help her, but he looked exhausted from handling things alone while she’d had the weekend off so she’d sent him home and finished up by herself.
The lateness of the hour meant that Jamie’s car was already parked beside the front door and she was surprised by the twinge of excitement that she felt knowing that he was already home. But she was even more surprised by the silence she was met with when she opened the front door.
“Jamie!” She called out, briefly wondering if he’d simply parked his car before going out with his friends. “Are you home?”
“Up here!”
The reply came from upstairs and Lia hesitated as she weighed up her options. She didn’t want to intrude on whatever he was doing as his simple reply hadn’t really been an invitation to join him, but there was something pulling her to investigate and see what he was up to.
And when she walked into their bedroom to see him digging through her suitcase, she was very glad that she’d followed her gut.
“What are you doing?”
She could hear the shock and dread in her voice as she froze in the doorway, but there was no trace of guilt on Jamie’s face as he lifted his head to look at her.
“Why do you have so many cardigans? I’ve never seen anyone who isn’t ninety years old own this many cardigans.”
To emphasize his claim he lifted up an armful of her things before letting the many cardigans he’d been holding fall one by one back into her suitcase. She had to admit that she’d acquired quite a collection, but her cheeks heated up at the critique of her sense of style.
“They’re cozy,” she protested. “And they’re coming back in style!”
“Not ones like this though, are they?”
She wanted to argue and offer more defense of her choices, but the teasing hint to his voice told her that she would be fighting a losing battle.
“Why are you going through my stuff?”
“I cleared out some space in the closet for you,” he explained. “So I thought I’d do the gentlemanly thing and help you unpack.”
“You thought it would be gentlemanly to go through my stuff?” Lia questioned, her tone portraying just how skeptical that claim made her. “Thanks, but no thanks. I appreciate the effort, but I can do it myself.”
“Why? You got stuff in here you’d be embarrassed for me to see?” The smirk and the wink that accompanied his words had her blushing even deeper. She’d been single for quite a while so she had brought a few particularly personal items with her, but she felt slightly more at ease when she recalled that she hadn’t packed them in the suitcase that Jamie was currently rifling through. However, her humiliation quickly returned as he held up one of her bras with a look of horror on his face. “What the fuck is this supposed to be?”
“It’s a bra!” Lia informed him, stating the obvious as she stormed across the room to snatch it out of his hand. “I would’ve thought with all your sexual accomplishments that you’d know what they look like.”
“Whatever that is, it’s not a bra,” Jamie insisted, pointing at the beige garment in her hand with his eyebrows raised as if Lia had lost her mind. “Bras are supposed to be black or red or sexy colours with lace and fancy shit on them.”
“Not all bras,” she argued, wondering why she felt the need to justify her underwear choices to him. “Bras like that aren’t particularly comfortable, bras like this are better for normal everyday life.”
“That’s the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard.” The way Jamie managed to keep his face straight had her rolling her eyes at his dramatics, but he was undeterred. “Were you wearing this the other night? Is that why I never even got my pants off?”
“No! I was wearing one of my nicer ones,” Lia informed her, her indignance clear as her annoyance grew. “I would think it’s safe to assume that the reason your pants stayed on was because I came to my senses and remembered that I’m far too smart to sleep with someone I just met.”
“Ah, but not smart enough not to get married to someone you just met?”
His very valid counterpoint had Lia falling into a stunned silence until a scoff fell from her lips.
“Piss off, Jamie.”
It was a mumbled and weak comeback, but when it earned a bark of laughter from her tormentor, she couldn’t help but crack a smile.
“I’m just sayin’,” Jamie continued his teasing. “You never know when someone’s gonna be seeing your underwear, it pays to be prepared.”
“Actually, I usually do know when someone will be seeing my underwear,” Lia insisted. “Because it’s not very often that I find men just rummaging through my things.”
“Yeah, but we’re married,” Jamie smirked. “I’m allowed.”
He tried to swipe the bra back out of Lia’s hands, but she quickly moved it out of his reach.
“No, you’re not, but nice try.”
With a chuckle, Jamie flopped on the bed and Lia let the bra she was holding fall back into the suitcase before taking over the job that Jamie had been doing. Catching him going through her things had broken the ice when she’d first arrived, but she felt the edge of uncertainty creep back in as he quietly watched her hanging up her clothes in his closet. It felt strange - taking up so much space and encroaching on his territory - but she was grateful that he’d taken the initiative to make her room for her without her having to ask as she was starting to wonder if she’d be living out of a suitcase for the foreseeable future.
“So, how was training today?”
Assuming that it was a fairly harmless question, Lia had simply hoped to break the silence that had settled between them, but as her words pulled a huff from Jamie, she realized she might have misjudged.
“Pretty shit if I’m being honest,” Jamie admitted, picking at a thread on the cover of his duvet. “Frustraing as fuck.”
“Oh,” Lia frowned. “Why’s that?”
“Roy Kent won’t train me,” he grumbled. “He’s got plenty to say to the other lads, but he refuses to give me any advice.”
Another ‘oh’ fell from Lia’s lips as she tried to think of a way to phrase the question she wanted to ask that wouldn’t get Jamie’s back up. After Katie’s parting shot when she was leaving their flat, she’d done her own research and had been looking for a way to bring up the information that she’d found, but she was worried that doing it now would be a bit like kicking him when he was down. Her suspicion seemed like a good hunch though so in the end she found the courage to voice it.
“Does it have anything to do with the fact that he’s dating your ex-girlfriend?”
Jamie’s eyes snapped up to meet hers.
“You know about that?”
“Yeah,” Lia nodded. “Katie told me when I left our flat yesterday.”
“Oh, well, no. I don’t think that has anything to do with it,” he informed her. “If anyone should be mad about that it’s me. I genuinely don’t know what his problem is, but I think he’s just a grumpy old prick.”
Despite the disdain in his voice, Lia bit back a smile as the pouty look on Jamie’s face reminded her of a little boy sulking about being picked on by a teacher that he didn’t like.
“Well, maybe he’d be a little nicer to you if you stopped calling him old all the time.”
“He is old,” Jamie insisted. “I’m just stating a fact. He’s well past his prime, but he thinks that everyone should bow down to him just because he used to be great.”
“Have you tried talking to him about it?”
She tried to keep the suggestion as gentle as possible, but it only earned a scoff from Jamie.
“He won’t listen to me,” he dismissed her. “He’s never liked me. He thinks I’m selfish and arrogant and he refuses to believe that I’m trying to be better.”
“That’s frustrating,” Lia sympathized. “Do you have other coaches? Could they help you?”
Her lack of football knowledge shined through in the potentially silly question, but Jamie didn’t call her out on it.
“We have three other coaches,” he informed her. “But I don’t know if they’d be willing to stick their necks out to help me anymore than they already have by letting me back on the team.”
“You never know unless you ask,” Lia shrugged. “Or you’ll just have to win Roy over slowly and hope that he grows to love your boyish charm.”
As she’d hoped, her teasing comment had a smirk sliding back onto his face despite his sour mood.
“You think I’m charming, do you?”
“Oh, please,” Lia smiled as she rolled her eyes. “I think you know that you are.”
“Yeah, but it’s always nice to hear it from a fan.”
“A fan?” Lia barked out a laugh. “That’s a big assumption. I’m just tolerating you because of our arrangement.”
“I don’t buy it,” Jamie insisted, his smirk still firmly in place. “I think you like me, that’s why you agreed to it so fast. I thought it would take days to convince you, but you jumped at the chance.”
“Because it’s mutually beneficial,” she reminded him. “It’s just business.”
“Or,” Jamie countered. “You think I’m sexy and couldn’t wait to get back into my bed.”
Another laugh fell from Lia’s lips as she shook her head at his arrogance.
“You really are a cocky prick,” she told him, even though they could both hear the way the words were meant to be more affectionate than they were derogatory. “If you think back to last night you’ll remember that I actually really didn’t want to get back into your bed and was hoping to have one of my own.”
“It was all an act, I bet,” Jamie mused. “I saw right through it, you just didn’t want to admit how bad you want me.”
“It sounds like you’ve had a rough day so if you need to believe that to soothe your bruised ego then you can go right ahead, but I think we both know the truth.”
“Yeah, truth is that you’re pretty much in love with me.” It was such a clear exaggeration that Lia didn’t even bother to comment as she reflected on how little awkwardness there was between them. Another silence settled in the room as she continued putting away her clothes, but considering they’d only known each other for about forty-eight hours, it was amazing how easily their conversation flowed and how natural their teasing banter felt. There was something about Jamie that helped her shake off her usually shy nature and she was starting to think she might gain more from their arrangement than she originally thought. She was lost in her contemplations when Jamie spoke again. “So, have you heard from your friend today? The one who’s mad at you?”
Just the thought of the current messy situation with Katie had Lia’s heart sinking and she shook her head.
“No,” she sighed. “And I probably won’t until I reach out to her. I doubt that she thinks she’s at all to blame for our disagreement so it’ll be up to me to make amends.”
“And are you going to?”
“Not right now.” It had been something that Lia had been mulling over all day, but that was the decision she’d finally come to. “I’m still hurt about how she handled things yesterday and that she didn’t believe what I told her about Daniel. I have no reason to make it up and I’m not the kind of person who would lie about something like that. If she doesn’t know that then that makes me rethink our friendship.”
It was a heavy thing to accept and Lia wasn’t quite ready to write Katie off completely, but she wasn’t going to run straight back to her either. She wanted friends she could rely on and friends she could trust and it hurt that her best friend no longer seemed to meet that criteria.
“I don’t blame you, she sounds like a right nightmare,” Jamie scoffed and while Lia’s instinct was to defend her friend, she was currently inclined to agree and simply shrugged as Jamie’s eyes lit up with an idea. “We have a match in a few days, you should come. Keeley can show you the ropes and keep you company, she’s always making friends.”
Going to a football match had never really been Lia’s idea of a good time, but she figured that as Jamie Tartt’s wife her presence would probably be expected and she was touched that he seemed eager to help her with her troubled social life.
“That would be really fun,” she smiled before another thought hit her. “Can you get me one of your shirts? As your wife, I should probably make sure I’m showing my support.”
Jamie seemed slightly taken aback by her request before a smile of his own slid onto his face as he assured her that he would take care of it and Lia realized that for the first time in her life, she was feeling rather excited about something to do with sports.
——
The first thing Lia noticed when she woke up the next morning was how hard her pillow felt.
She’d been amazed by the plush, luxurious comfort that Jamie’s pillows had offered so the contrast of the stiffness under her cheek was particularly notable.
The more alert she became as she shook off the sleepiness clouding her mind, the more confused she was as she realized her arm and her leg were draped over something as well. She lazily nuzzled closer in an attempt to puzzle out exactly what she was cuddling, but it wasn’t until she noticed the increasingly familiar scent of Jamie Tartt that she realized what was happening.
Her eyes snapped open and she froze as she confirmed her fear: she was laying on her side, wrapped around Jamie’s body with her head resting on his chest.
He was still and quiet and Lia silently hoped that he was still asleep so she’d be able to slip away before he noticed how she was clinging to him, but his raspy morning voice crushed that dream as quickly as it had appeared.
“I guess it’s not ‘just business’ after all.”
The amusement was clear in his voice and Lia pulled herself away from him.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” she insisted, despite the way her cheeks heated up. “I must’ve just been cold.”
“It’s May, it was eighteen degrees yesterday.”
“Well, it still gets cold at night.”
“And I’m just so hot that you couldn’t resist sneaking in a little cuddle.”
“That is not what happened,” she argued, climbing out of bed to put as much distance between them as she could. “I can’t control what I do when I’m asleep.”
“Sounds like the perfect excuse to get your hands all over my body.”
Lia’s jaw dropped at that accusation, but she figured that any further protests would just result in more teasing. So, with an indignant scoff, she hurried off to the bathroom with the sounds of Jamie’s amused chuckles echoing around her as she tried to forget about how nice it felt to be pressed up against him.
A wild night out leaves the lives of Jamie Tartt and Ophelia Adams more intertwined than they ever would have imagined.
Will their decision to try and use the situation to their advantage work out in their favour or will they realize that they should have cut their losses when they had the chance?
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previous chapter
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Note: I know I said I wouldn't be updating every week and that still stands, but I was inspired and had a little extra time this week so I finished this chapter faster than I expected and I'm so bad at waiting to post!
Still no guarantees on any kind of posting schedule, but please enjoy and let me know what you think!
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It was amazing to Lia how different she felt after taking her relationship with Jamie to the next level.
Once the line had been crossed, Jamie was more than happy to embrace the shift in their relationship and he made sure that she was constantly and consistently satisfied. His level of enthusiasm and commitment to the cause left her feeling giddy, refreshed and like she was glowing all the time. Similarly to the way she felt after she lost her virginity, she was sure that her sexual gratification was written all over her face and she was amazed that it wasn’t entirely obvious to everyone that she was getting regularly and thoroughly well fucked.
But life kept going with the world mostly oblivious to the change in her mood and demeanour. Lia found herself watching the clock more - as she was much more eager for time to pass quickly so she could get home to Jamie - but for the most part the days went by as they normally did.
Until one day an unexpected customer caught Lia completely off guard.
She was standing at the till, printing off a few receipts for returns they’d had earlier that morning when she heard the bell above the door ring. She called out a greeting without even looking up, but the voice that answered her immediately drew her attention.
“Hi, Lia,” Katie waved sheepishly. “How are you?”
It took Lia a moment to process the sight of her estranged best friend, but when she finally found her voice, her response was curt.
“I’m fine. What are you doing here?”
“I think I owe you an apology…”
Lia had been wanting to hear those words from Katie ever since she’d last seen her, but after all the time that had passed she just found the statement irritating.
“Yes, you absolutely do,” Lia informed her. “But it might be too little too late.”
The way Katie’s face fell had Lia feeling surprisingly conflicted. She felt the immediate flicker of smug satisfaction that she’d expected, but it was followed by a pang of guilt for being responsible for the sad look on her face. She had to admit that she looked rough. She was pale with dark circles under her eyes and the stringy, flat look of her hair told her that it hadn’t been washed for a few days. Considering Katie usually took great pride in her appearance, her dishevelled state made it clear that she was going through some kind of turmoil.
“I really hope it’s not,” she murmured, nervously biting her lip before turning her pleading eyes up to meet Lia’s. “Can I please just have a few minutes to explain? I want to make this right.”
All the many things that Katie had done to hurt Lia flashed through her mind. The way she never took her concerns about Daniel seriously and ignored her requests to be around him as little as possible, her unwarranted dislike of Jamie and rude assumptions about him, and the way she’d agreed with Mike and Daniel when they insisted that Lia had asked for all of the unwanted attention that Daniel had given her. The sting of hurt was still fresh and had an ache clenching her heart as she knew that there really wasn’t much that Katie could say to make amends for what she’d done.
But even with Jamie’s harsh criticism of her being a people pleaser giving her some doubts, Lia was still a firm believer in giving people a second chance.
“You can have fifteen minutes,” she decided after letting Katie sweat for a moment as she mulled it over. “My dad should be back soon and then I can take my break.”
“Perfect, thank you, Lia,” Katie said with a noticeable sigh of relief. “I’ll just, uh, browse while I wait.”
Lia nodded and Katie scurried off as if she wanted to get away before Lia could change her mind and when her dad came back from the errands he’d been running a few minutes later, the feeling was bittersweet. While Lia was admittedly curious about what Katie had to say and what had sparked her sudden epiphany that she needed to apologize, she knew it wasn’t going to be an easy conversation and the thought of any further conflict made her stomach twist with anxiety.
“Everything okay?” Her dad asked as he walked up to the counter. “You don’t look very well. Actually, you look like you’re about to be sick.”
“Katie’s here,” she informed him, knowing that he knew enough about what had happened between them to recognize how stressful that news would be. “She wants to talk, do you mind if I take my break early today?”
“No, not at all,” he assured her before pausing for a moment and adding, “Unless the right answer to that question is ‘no, absolutely not, we’re far too busy for you to have a break at all today’?”
His offer to be her scapegoat had a smile sliding onto his face, but she quickly shook her head.
“No, I think it’ll be okay,” Lia said with a cautious optimism in her voice. “I’d like to hear what she has to say and if worst comes to worst then at least I’ll get some closure out of it.”
“You’re wise beyond your years,” her dad teased as he walked around the counter to relieve her of her duties. “But good luck, I hope it all goes well.”
Lia murmured her thanks before slipping away and heading to the office to grab her things. She would absolutely need coffee to handle the conversation she was about to have and was planning on dragging Katie to the café next door, but as she grabbed her bag and picked her phone up off the desk, she paused to shoot off a quick text.
Hi Jamie. I’ll have to bail on our lunch date today, Katie just showed up and wants to chat. She says she owes me an apology, but I’m not optimistic that she’s truly come to her senses.
She was barely out of the office when her phone pinged with a response.
If you need me to come and teach anyone a lesson then you just let me know xx
His immediate readiness to leap to her defense had Lia biting back a smile and gave her confidence the lift that she needed as she ventured out to find Katie. It took her a minute to track her down, but the section of the bookstore that she found her in had Lia unable to resist making a snarky comment.
“Interesting that you’re in the self-help section,” she mused, catching Katie’s attention. “I’m not sure we have anything for people looking for advice on how to cope with the fact that their boyfriend’s best friend is a massive pervert.”
To her surprise, there was no eye roll or defensive comeback and Katie simply flashed her a sad smile.
“I was hoping for something more along the lines of ‘how to make a good apology’,” she admitted. “But if you do know of any books to help me with that problem too then I would be happy to read them.”
“I don’t, but I could probably give you a few tips about where you’ve gone wrong so far.” Lia hesitated as Katie cringed, but she continued before she could reply. “Can we pause this conversation for a minute though? I don’t have long and I need to run next door to grab a coffee, but we can talk there if you want to come with me.”
Again, Katie eagerly agreed as if she was worried that at any moment she would say something that would make Lia kick her straight to the curb, but an awkwardness crept in as they walked out of the store to the coffee shop next door with neither of them really knowing what to say to each other. Lia had a million questions and she was sure that Katie did too, but diving into any kind of small talk before they’d addressed the bigger issues seemed pointless. So, they waited quietly until they had their drinks in their hands and Lia had led them to a quiet table at the back of the small café.
“Is it okay for us to talk here?” Katie asked once they’d sat down. “Aren’t you worried about being recognized or that someone might overhear?”
“I never get recognized unless I’m with Jamie and even then he’s the one who draws the attention,” Lia shrugged. “Football fans aren’t super into the gossip of who the players are dating and people who are into the gossip don’t care enough about me to memorize my face.”
“Oh, well, that’s good,” Katie smiled. “I was worried about you and how being so well-known would affect your life.”
“Oh, really?” Lia questioned, her incredulity clear in her voice. She hadn’t planned to dive straight into things, but Katie’s supposed concern was too ridiculous to go unchallenged. “You didn’t seem very worried about me when you invited Daniel out for drinks with us the night you met Jamie just so he could continue to harass me.”
“I didn’t know he was going to do that,” Katie protested. “I genuinely thought he wanted to apologize and make peace!”
“Okay, but when he started making comments, you didn’t speak up, did you?” Lia pressed. “Do you have any idea how humiliating that was for me? You sat in front of my boyfriend and let Daniel and Mike act like I’d practically been trying to cheat on him. Telling him that I was flirting and playing hard to get all the time, trying to seduce Daniel. If Jamie didn’t trust me as much as he does then that could have completely ruined our relationship!”
“I know, it was awful. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for the conversation to go that way, I promise.”
Katie had the decency to look ashamed, but Lia’s anger was still bubbling up inside her as she finally had the chance to say everything that she wanted to say.
“But what about the fact that you agreed with them? You knew how uncomfortable Daniel made me, you knew that I genuinely didn’t like being around him and had no interest in him romantically, but you agreed with everything that they said and made me look like an absolute idiot.”
“I just panicked,” Katie tried to explain with a frantic edge growing in her voice. “I know it’s completely unforgivable, but I was so torn between you and Mike and I just wanted it all to go away.”
Katie’s words stung Lia as if she’d been slapped in the face. She knew that Katie was trying to own up to her mistakes, but hearing her admit that she prioritized keeping the peace over protecting Lia hurt more than she’d expected. She’d known all along that that was exactly what had happened, but there was something hard to swallow about hearing her admit it and a scoff fell from her lips.
“Well, I guess you got what you wanted then. With me out of your life, there’s no conflict.”
“Having you out of my life was not what I wanted,” Katie’s voice was firm, but there was a sheepishness to it when she continued. “And it hasn’t stopped the conflict either.”
“I can’t say that I’m surprised,” Lia said with a roll of her eyes, but her curiosity had her asking, “What’s happened now?”
“He scared off my new flatmate,” Katie admitted. “She was so sweet and lovely, we got along so well and I thought it was going to be a great fit, but we all went out for drinks one night and Daniel wouldn’t leave her alone. Then he started showing up at the flat all the time, pretending like he thought Mike was supposed to be there, but it was obviously just an excuse to get close to Lily. It freaked her right out and now she’s moving out by the end of the week.”
“And now you believe that I was right when I said that he was the problem.”
“I do,” she nodded. “But I don’t know what to do. Mike can’t see that Daniel is doing anything wrong, he thinks everyone is just overreacting and misunderstanding him because he sees such a different side of him.”
Again, Lia felt a sting of hurt. Mike had been like a brother to her and it felt like a huge betrayal that he still thought she was being dramatic even after another woman had proved that Daniel’s behaviour was a pattern and not an isolated incident. But then another thought hit her and had the simmering anger boiling up again.
“Wait, is that why you’re here? Did you just come to get advice because you’ve landed yourself in a shit situation?”
“No! I came here to apologize!” Katie insisted. “I realized how awful I’d been to you and how right you were about him being dangerous, if you had any insight to offer then that would just be a bonus.”
“I have no insight for you,” Lia scowled. “You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out.”
“I know, but I don’t know how,” she practically whispered with a wounded look on her face that had Lia battling a flicker of guilt despite her pride at her uncharacteristic ability to stay strong. “I messed up, Lia. I want to make it right, but Mike will never cut ties with Daniel which means he’ll always be a part of my life.”
It took Lia a moment to process her admission and Katie watched her closely for any sign of a reaction, but Lia knew exactly what Daniel’s presence would mean for their friendship.
“Then I won’t be.” The words came out less confidently than she would have liked, but the impact was all the same and Katie deflated completely. It tugged at her heart, but she knew for her own mental health, it was the only answer. “I’m not going to put myself in a position where I’m constantly forced to be around someone who makes me feel unsafe and acts like I’m some sort of lying slut who was trying to cheat on my boyfriend and only got mad when I got caught. I don’t deserve that.”
“You don’t,” Lia agreed. “But I can’t convince Mike that he’s wrong and I can’t lose Mike so I don’t know what I can do to fix this.”
“I don’t have an answer for you, but there’s no point in us even trying to fix our friendship if he’s still around.”
At first, Katie opened her mouth like she was about to argue, but all that came out was a sigh.
“Alright, I can understand that,” she relented. “It makes me very sad, but I understand where you’re coming from.”
The fact that Katie felt she had a reason to be sad did nothing to earn her any sympathy or ease any of Lia’s frustration. She was the victim in the Daniel situation and Katie was the only one who could fix it. She was the powerless one who was stuck between losing her best friend or being subject to constant sexual harassment, Katie had no right to be upset by her decision if she was going to do nothing to change the situation.
“Yes, it makes me sad too, but I guess sometimes that’s just life,” Lia snapped as she rose from her seat. “I need to get back to work, but thanks for stopping by, Katie. It was…enlightening.”
Without waiting for Katie to respond, Lia walked out of the café. It took more willpower than she cared to admit not to look back and see what Katie’s reaction was to her bold exit, but she needed some time to wrap her mind around the conversation they’d just had. She’d accepted the fact that their friendship would not be a quick fix - if they even managed to fix it at all - but she had to admit that she’d let her hopes rise a bit when Katie first walked into the bookshop waving the proverbial white flag. Knowing that she still wasn’t ready to make the changes in her life that would be necessary for them to start building bridges was disappointing to say the least and Lia almost wished she hadn’t bothered to stop by at all.
——
The rest of the day passed by as Lia floated around in a fog. She was distracted as she replayed her conversation with Katie over and over again in her head, but by the end of the day she’d found no more clarity than she’d had when she left the café. Her dad had watched her worriedly and even offered to stay late and tidy up the shop for her so she could go home early, but she half-heartedly and unconvincingly assured him she was fine and she did enjoy the solitude she had when he left, flipping over the open sign and locking the door behind him.
However, her time alone with her thoughts was quickly interrupted by the sound of someone tapping on the window, but the sight of Jamie waving when she turned around had a weak smile sliding onto her face as she hurried to open the door.
“Hi,” he greeted her, his hands in his pocket as he anxiously rocked on his heels. “Is it alright if I come in?”
“Of course,” Lia nodded, furrowing her brow as she stepped aside. Jamie stopped by almost every night to help clean and drive her home and he’d never seemed so hesitant before. “Are you okay?”
“Depends,” he shrugged. “Are we okay?”
The question only deepened her confusion.
“As far as I know,” she nodded. “Why wouldn’t we be?”
The tension visibly drained from Jamie and Lia was relieved that she didn’t have to wait much longer for some insight into his strange behaviour as he quickly explained.
“Dunno, just got nervous when you didn’t answer my text earlier. Thought maybe Katie turned you against me.”
“Oh, Jamie, I’m sorry,” she frowned, feeling a genuine pang of guilt at leaving him waiting in suspense all afternoon. He’d messaged her shortly after she’d returned to work and while she’d seen the text, her racing thoughts seemed too wild to condense into any kind of summary short enough to fit into a text message. She’d intended to reply and assure him that she’d fill him in later, but it had slipped her mind. “I meant to answer you, but I’ve been a little distracted. She could never turn me against you though, no matter what she said.”
Leaning the broom she’d been sweeping with against the wall, Lia quickly closed the space between them to wrap her arms around Jamie’s waist and as he pulled her in close against the muscles of his chest and his scent surrounded her, she felt clear headed for the first time all afternoon. None of her problems had disappeared and it didn’t erase the pain of how their conversation had unfolded, but Lia felt grounded, safe, and reassured that she still had someone in her corner.
“I’m glad to hear that,” he murmured, pressing a kiss against the top of her head. “But how did it go? Are you friends again?”
“No, not even close,” Lia scoffed, slipping out of his grasp. “She basically just told me that I was right about Daniel because he harassed her new flatmate until she decided to move out just to get away from him and then whined about being unable to do anything about the situation because Mike still doesn’t believe any of it.”
“What a prick. Both of them. All three of them, actually.” Jamie shook his head in disgust and the blunt - but accurate - conclusion he’d drawn had a smile sliding onto Lia’s face. However, when he continued, her brief amusement subsided and she felt her heart growing heavy again. “It’s also pretty shit that she only decided that you were right after someone else told her the same thing. If she’s supposed to be your friend then your word should be enough.”
“Exactly,” Lia nodded. “And I don’t know what Mike’s problem is. I know that he’s close to Daniel and he’s known him forever, but he was like a brother to me and he should know that this isn’t something I would lie about. Besides, what have I gained from the situation? I lost someone who I thought would always have my back, I lost my best friend.”
She could feel her eyes filling with tears no matter how hard she blinked them back and as her voice cracked when the finality of the admission left her mouth, she worried that she wouldn’t be able to hold back the flood much longer. Sensing her rising emotions, Jamie quickly pulled her back into his arms and soothingly rubbed her back.
“I’m sorry, babe,” he murmured. “It’s a shit situation and you don’t deserve to be treated like that.”
“I know,” Lia sniffled. “That’s why I stayed firm and refused to talk about fixing our friendship until she sorted out the mess on her end, but it’s all just made me feel so alone.”
“You’re not alone, you have me.”
There was a twinge of hurt to Jamie’s voice and Lia rushed to explain, leaning back to look up at him.
“I know and I’m so grateful that I found you,” she told him sincerely as she wiped her eyes. “But I don’t really have any friends. It sounds completely pathetic, but I’ve lost touch with all of my school friends and working here with my dad isn’t a great way to meet people. It’s always just been me and Katie so now it’s just me.”
It was humiliating to admit and she knew it sounded incredibly pitiful, but it was true. She’d never been a particularly social person and her introverted nature had always paired well with Katie’s extroverted need for constant company. Whenever Lia felt like socializing, Katie was more than happy to oblige and the closeness that they’d shared left her with little need for other friends, but now she could see the benefit to having a wider social circle.
“You have Keeley, and Rebecca.”
“Yeah, but that’s a bit complicated. Keeley’s your ex,” she pointed out. “And Rebecca’s your boss. They’ve been so kind and welcoming and I love spending time with them, but there’s some elements of ‘girl talk’ that I’d find a little strange to discuss with them.”
“What, like when you want to slag me off?” He questioned before flashing her a smirk and adding, “Or when you wanna brag about how amazing I am in bed?”
“Both.” Lia managed to crack a smile. “It’s just nice to have someone that you can tell everything to, you know?”
“Well, if I’m bein’ honest, I don’t think neither of them would mind if you wanted to talk a little shit about me. They’d probably be happy to join in.”
“But what about when I do want to brag about how incredible you are in bed? Might be a little awkward when Keeley starts comparing notes.”
“I guess so,” Jamie shrugged. “But that’s a conversation I wouldn’t mind hearing.”
“That’s the last thing your ego needs.” Lia rolled her eyes despite the giggle that slipped from her lips, but it was quickly followed by a sigh. “Sorry for dumping all of this on you. I know that I’ll be fine and I’m so lucky to have a lot of great people in my life, like you . It’s just…I loved Katie like a sister and it’s hard to accept that she’s willing to toss me aside the way she has, I need to wallow for a while.”
“No need to be sorry. I’m your boyfriend, it’s my job to listen to you complain.” The teasing edge to his voice had Lia biting back another smile and feeling grateful that he so effortlessly managed to lift her spirits. “And I don’t mind letting you wallow, but I did have another idea you might be interested in.”
The suggestion and the somewhat shy delivery had Lia’s intrigue rising and she raised an eyebrow as she prompted him to continue with a gentle, “Go on…”
“Your dad’s still closing the shop next week, yeah?” She nodded in confirmation as they closed every summer for a few days and while her dad used that time to do some extra cleaning and organizing, he was always adamant that Lia take the days off. “I was thinking that maybe we could go away somewhere? You work so much, you could use a decent holiday and maybe a change of scenery could help get your mind off things.”
Lia felt a flicker of excitement twist in her stomach as the idea sounded incredibly appealing.
“That would be amazing,” she quickly agreed. “Where were you thinking? Down to the coast, maybe? Or if we went up to the Lake District we could visit your mum on the way.”
“Uh, I was thinking something a little further away than that.”
“You were? Like where?”
“Italy,” he confessed. “How do you feel about Capri?”
She’d heard of it, but it had the excitement she’d been feeling fading to disappointment almost as quickly as it had appeared. As far as she knew it was a luxurious place where celebrities and wealthy people liked to holiday and while Jamie might have fit that description, she did not.
“I feel like it’s a beautiful place that I’d never be able to afford,” she reluctantly admitted, regretting that her lack of financial stability would be holding him back from the five star holiday that he was used to. “I can’t afford flights to anywhere so last minute and I definitely can’t afford to visit somewhere so fancy.”
“Good thing you won’t be paying then.” There was a proud grin on Jamie’s face and when Lia opened her mouth to protest, he continued before she had the chance. “C’mon, babe. I’m not being funny, but one holiday is nothing to me and you deserve it. It can be an early birthday present if that makes you feel better.”
“Do you even know when my birthday is?”
She was trying to buy some time as she mulled over his offer, but it was a valid question as she realized that she didn’t actually know when Jamie’s was.
“No,” he admitted without even bothering to guess or pretend. “But if it’s already happened then it can be a Christmas gift instead.”
“It’s in September.”
“Then that’s perfect, only a couple months away. Mine’s in October, but football will be back by then so this will be a good time to celebrate them both.”
It was tempting and after her emotional day it was even more enticing. The last few months had been a whirlwind of change and having a few days away from all the problems and responsibilities of day to day life with nothing to do but enjoy a little time with Jamie was practically impossible to say no to.
“Are you sure?” She questioned, feeling her resistance starting to weaken. “It’s a lot of money to spend for just a few days.”
“Absolutely."
His assurance was said so sincerely that Lia had no choice but to relent and accept his generous offer.
“Alright, then you can go ahead and book it.”
“Already did,” he admitted with a cheeky smile that had a laugh falling from Lia’s lips. “Knew I’d be able to convince you eventually.”
“Well, aren’t you sneaky,” Lia teased before stretching up to press a kiss against his lips. “But thank you, Jamie. That’s very generous and very thoughtful of you.”
“It’s fine. It’s a gift for me too, be nice to get you all to myself for a few days.” Jamie’s words had her heart fluttering with affection, but then he smirked and tightened his grip on her hips as he added, “But if you really wanna thank me, you can take my card this weekend and go buy yourself some sexy little bikinis for me to peel off of you.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure how spending more of your money would be a good way to thank you for booking us an extravagant holiday.”
“Alright then, guess we’ll just have to finish up here quickly so we can get home and you can thank me another way.”
“What way would that be?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Jamie informed her, dipping his head to steal a quick kiss before he moved his body away from hers. “But it will definitely involve you being very naked.”
Lia laughed and shook her head as she retrieved the broom from where she’d set it down.
“Well, I look forward to whatever creative idea you come up with,” she assured him as she held the broom out for him to take. “But if you want us to get out of here anytime soon, you better make yourself useful and finish sweeping while I cash up the till.”
Jamie gave a little mock salute before hurrying off to do his task with an eagerness that had another giggle slipping from Lia’s lips as she took a moment to appreciate how grateful she was to have him. It was strange to think how fast things had progressed between them. A few short months earlier she didn’t even know he existed then suddenly he was her fake husband and now he was someone whose mere presence lifted her spirits. The ache of abandonment she felt from her conversation with Katie still lingered in her mind, but knowing she had Jamie to support her did soften the blow as her heart filled with hope for the life that they were slowly building together.
A wild night out leaves the lives of Jamie Tartt and Ophelia Adams more intertwined than they ever would have imagined.
Will their decision to try and use the situation to their advantage work out in their favour or will they realize that they should have cut their losses when they had the chance?
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previous chapter
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Note: All the comments on the last chapter had me feeling super motivated so this chapter came together a lot faster than normal and I thought I'd post it a couple of days early as a thank you for all the support! It really means so much to hear that people are enjoying the story, I love reading all your thoughts!
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Lia was truly gripped by fear that she’d ruined everything after the private kiss she’d shared with Jamie and the rejection that had followed - however reluctant her refusal may have been.
She knew Jamie well enough to know that he wasn’t used to being turned down and she’d assumed that he probably wouldn’t take very kindly to it, but it seemed his acting skills extended beyond just being a pretend boyfriend because by the time she’d followed him downstairs, there was no hint of obvious upset. For days, she waited with baited breath for his indignance to rear its head. For a petty comment, a cruel jab, any sign of retaliation. But nothing ever came.
And that led Lia to the only possible conclusion: she’d been right about Jamie’s intentions.
He wanted to forget. He wanted a distraction. He wanted the comfort of being wanted. He wanted the pride of impressing her with his skills and the reminder that he was talented despite the blow his ego had taken. But he didn’t want her. She would have just been a warm womanly body that he’d chosen because their agreement prevented him from going out to find someone more suited to his tastes and lifestyle.
He wasn’t bothered by her rejection because he wasn’t particularly bothered about her and the sting of that realization was bad enough to have her feeling grateful for the decision that she’d made to stop things going any further. She was in way too deep and clearly more invested than Jamie and she needed to start being a little more guarded if she wanted to get out of their mess unscathed.
She always wore her heart on her sleeve though and it was a constant struggle for her to keep her feelings hidden away. It was easier if she spent less time with Jamie so she found herself choosing to work late more often than not in an attempt to limit their time together. It hurt her to do so even if she felt it was for the best, but it only took him a few days to seemingly catch onto her plan.
“Ophelia!” Her dad called as he swung open the door of the office where she was sorting out the books that customers had placed a special order for. “There is a handsome, rich man here to see you!”
“There is? Who?”
“Well, that’s an interesting question,” her dad mused with an eyebrow raised in suspicion. “Do you have a lot of wealthy men pursuing you at the moment?”
“I hope not,” a familiar voice chimed in as Jamie poked his head around the door frame. “Not sure I wanna have any competition, babe.”
For a moment, Lia was a little surprised by his use of the pet name, but she quickly clued in that it was probably for her father’s benefit and flashed him a smile.
“Oh, hi, Jamie,” she greeted him. “No competition, I promise. Why would I need anyone else when I have you?”
“Wow,” her dad scoffed with a roll of his eyes. “That was impressively cheesy. We should get you writing romance novels instead of just selling them.”
“It’s easy to be cheesy when you’re in love.”
Jamie looked a little stunned by such a claim, but he managed to recover and shoot her a wink as her dad shook his head and turned back towards the door.
“Well, I’ll leave you lovebirds to it, just remember that those orders need to be sorted before you leave tonight,” he reminded her before looking back over his shoulder to flash Jamie a stern look. “And there are cameras in here so don’t get any wild ideas.”
“Dad!” Lia protested, feeling her cheeks heat up as he chuckled and hurried out the door. “Sorry about him, he just likes to stir the pot.”
“I noticed that. He gave me a bit of a hard time when I walked in, wanted to make sure I was taking good care of you and all that. And he made me agree to having dinner with him on Sunday so I guess we’ll be doing that.”
“Of course he did,” Lia rolled her eyes. “But whatever threats he made, I promise you he can’t follow through. He’s incredibly non-confrontational and I doubt he’s ever thrown a punch in his life.”
“It’s nice that he’s protective over you though, but I do have one question,” he paused and waited for Lia to look up from the pile of books in front of her before he asked, “Who the fuck is Ophelia?”
“I am,” Lia informed him, surprised by his confusion. “Ophe-lia. I just always go by Lia.”
“Fuckin’ hell, I don’t even know my wife’s name,” Jamie groaned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Didn’t I? I guess I just assumed I told you the night we met,” she shrugged. “But even my dad rarely calls me Ophelia so it’s not a huge issue.”
“Isn’t it from that old book?”
His description of such a classic piece of literature had a laugh slipping from her lips as she nodded her head.
“Hamlet? Yeah, it is. But Ophelia’s the one who goes mad and kills herself after her dad dies so I always thought it was an odd choice. My dad swears they picked the name before I was born, but I think he went rogue after my mum died because he’s a huge Shakespere dork.”
“It’s pretty, it suits you.”
“Thanks,” she smiled. “I could have ended up as Rosencrantz or Guildenstern so I don’t think it’s too bad as far as names from Hamlet goes.”
“Rosencrantz,” Jamie scoffed out a laugh. “Fuckin’ hell, that would have been tragic.”
Despite their easy conversation, there was an air of distractedness around Jamie that seemed more noticeable with every passing minute. His hand drifted down to fiddle with a pen resting on the desk while his other picked at a loose thread on the bag strapped across his chest and Lia suddenly realized how strange it was for him to track her down at work.
“It would have been,” she agreed before broaching the subject. “But what brings you to our humble little bookshop this evening, Mr. Tartt?”
“I need your help,” he admitted. “I need a suit.”
“You don’t already have one?”
“Apparently not one that’s appropriate for a funeral…”
“Oh,” Lia frowned. “You’re going to a funeral?”
“Yeah, well, we are, if you don’t mind coming. The whole team will be there - including Keeley - so I think it would be good for you to come too. You know, to keep up appearances.”
“Of course, I’ll come with you,” Lia assured him, but there was a knot in her stomach as she asked, “Whose funeral is it?”
“Rebecca’s dad. We’re all going to support her, but I need help finding something to wear. Thought you might know, you know, with your experience.”
“My experience?” Lia raised an eyebrow until she realized what he meant. “Oh, you mean from when my mom died? I was literally a week old - if that - for her funeral so I have no memory of it at all, but I’m sure we can figure it out together.”
“Great, thanks, that would be great.”
His voice was soft and he seemed to be struggling to make eye contact, two very out of character things for Jamie that had Lia’s concern growing.
“Jamie, are you okay?”
Her gentle question caught his attention as he lifted his head to look at her.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” he assured her. “It’s just weird, isn’t it? The whole death thing.”
“It is, it’s kinda scary to think about,” she agreed. “Did you know Rebecca’s dad well?”
“Didn’t know him at all really,” he admitted. “I think I met him once at a match, but I’m not even sure about that. It just got me thinking, hearing everyone talking about the funeral.”
“That’s understandable. It’s a hard thing to process, but it’s part of being human. It’s what makes it so important to appreciate the time you have because you never know when it will be over.”
Jamie took a moment to think over what she’d said before slowly nodding his head.
“I guess you’re right,” he accepted her answer. “So, you’ll help me find a suit?”
“Sure,” Lia nodded. “We can go tomorrow before you have training if you’d like to.”
“Yeah, that would be great,” Jamie agreed before changing the subject. “So, what’s all this you’re doing?”
“Sorting out the custom orders,” Lia explained. “When people ask us specifically to order something that we didn’t have in stock. I’m almost done though, if you wanna help then maybe we could get some dinner after?”
It was counterproductive to her plan of creating some distance between them, but it seemed like whatever existential dread was plaguing Jamie had him in need of a friend as he flashed her a warm smile and eagerly agreed to her offer and Lia was powerless to resist the temptation of helping him through it.
——
The damage of Lia’s resistance to Jamie’s seduction became more obvious in the days leading up to the funeral. As something was clearly weighing on his mind, she’d expected him to turn to her - especially after they’d crawled into bed together - for the comfort that they’d so readily given each other in the past, but he made sure to keep his distance as if there was a physical wall between them. She couldn’t blame him after she’d laid down her boundaries and then avoided him, but she found it hard not to coax him into opening up to her.
She was starting to think that her plan to keep her feelings out of the situation was only making things more complicated.
And attending the funeral together only seemed to make things worse.
The moment they arrived at Richmond to meet the rest of the team, Jamie slipped back into his role as doting boyfriend. They had some time to socialize while they waited for the bus, but Jamie stayed by Lia’s side for every moment. At first, she was just grateful for the support - they’d been welcoming every time she met them, but being alone in a group of people she didn’t really know was always something that gave Lia anxiety - but as the time progressed, she found the edge of protectiveness in the gesture to be stirring up other feelings.
The way his hand never left her waist as she commiserated with Dani about the pain of their formal footwear. How he draped his arm around her shoulder as she asked Coach Beard about the novel on his desk. The nuzzle of his nose into her hair as she was asked to play mediator in a fierce debate about what happens when you die between Colin and Isaac. She knew that despite any past animosity, no one on the team would be disrespectful enough to make any kind of pass at her while she was with Jamie and she knew that he knew that too, but his need to make it clear at all times exactly who she was there with sent a tingle down her spine.
She was used to being independent and prided herself on that fact, but there was something about being so wanted - so openly claimed - that she was finding very irresistible.
By the time they arrived at the funeral and she managed to escape with Keeley, she was beginning to wonder how she’d ever had the willpower to turn Jamie down as she cursed him for being such a damn good actor. But as Lia was quickly finding to be a common occurrence, Keeley Jones was a perfect distraction. She’d led her to a separate area of the church where Rebecca was hiding out in search of a bit of peace, but it didn’t take long for her quiet moment of solace to be destroyed as Keeley had them howling with laughter as she regaled them with stories from her times attending church when she was younger.
But the distraction was somewhat short lived when Rebecca’s friend - Sassy - snuck through the door.
“I have been told to come in to ask you to lower your voices,” she warned them, forcing the trio to stifle their giggles. “But…I also brought this. Stole it from a little boy in a white robe.”
She pulled a bottle of wine out from behind her back earning more laughter from Lia and Keeley as Rebecca smiled with a shake of her head.
“No, Sass…”
Undeterred, Sassy simply shrugged and cracked it open, but Keeley was quick to come to her defense.
“No, this is good because we have some gossip to discuss and we might need something to loosen up some lips,” she smirked. “Shall we start with Lia?”
“Me?” Lia questioned, her shock clear in her voice. “What gossip do I have to share?”
“Well, Jamie came to talk to me yesterday,” Keeley informed the group. “And he told me that he kissed you!”
Lia felt a wave of dread wash over her, but Sassy raised her eyebrows in exaggerated surprise.
“She was kissed by her husband? What a scandal.”
“Ah, but he’s not her husband,” Keeley clarified with a twinkle of excitement in her eyes. “He’s not even her boyfriend, it’s just a PR stunt. Or that’s how it started.”
The look on Sassy’s face shifted into something more like intrigue than confusion, but as a dramatic ‘interesting’ slipped from her lips, Rebecca wasn’t so convinced.
“Yes, but he does kiss her all the time,” she pointed out. “That boy lays more affection on her than an overly excited puppy.”
“Only in public though,” Keeley insisted. “But this happened when they were alone.”
That seemed to sell Sassy and Rebecca on the fact that there was gossip to be had as they nodded their heads and looked at Lia expectantly.
“He did kiss me when we were alone,” she admitted. “But it wasn’t a big deal. It was after they lost that match and his dad was giving him a hard time. He was emotional and wanted comfort, but I reminded him that our arrangement is just business and nothing happened.”
Sassy seemed to accept her explanation, but the look on Rebecca’s face could only be described as skeptical and Keeley was absolutely not convinced.
“He told me that you’d said that, but I thought he was lying because I couldn’t possibly imagine why you would say such a thing!”
“Because it’s true,” Lia insisted. “He was just upset, it wouldn’t have been right to take advantage of him!”
“But you wanted to?” Sassy asked. “Are you hoping for an arrangement that’s a little more frisky?”
The question alone was enough to make Lia blush in a way that she was sure must have undermined the shake of her head.
“I don’t want to make things between us any more complicated than they already are.”
“That wasn’t a no,” Rebecca smiled. “Sometimes taking a risk on something complicated can lead to something really great.”
“And Rebecca would know all about that,” Sassy chimed in. “She’s been secretly shagging someone for months now.”
Lia was relieved that the attention seemed to be off of her as Rebecca’s jaw dropped and she let out a startled, “What?”
Seemingly distracted enough to forget about Lia’s little drama, Keeley eagerly jumped in as Sassy handed the wine to Rebecca.
“Let’s skip the part where you pretend you’re not, yeah?”
“What are you even talking about?”
It was an even weaker deflection than Lia’s and Keeley was - once again - ready to back up her claim.
“How about the bullshit text after the date, the fact that I have not seen you outside of work for two weeks, and that even though today is your father’s funeral, you are glowing like a girl who just got properly plowed.”
Her blunt honesty had Sassy dissolving into giggles and no matter how hard Lia tried to resist, she couldn’t help but join her until Rebecca’s shock gave way to a smirk.
“Shit…”
Her tone made it clear the word was an admission of guilt and Keeley and Sassy shrieked with glee as Lia laughed at their dramatic antics until Rebecca’s mother - Deborah - and Sassy’s daughter - Nora - rushed into the room.
“I’ve been asked to come in and tell you to lower your voices!”
Deborah was just repeating what Sassy had told them earlier, but Nora smirked as she added, “The vicar looked like he wanted to swear. Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, of course,” Keeley assured her as Lia briefly wondered if they could be kicked out of a funeral. “We’re just trying to figure out who Rebecca’s shagging.”
Rebecca sighed and rolled her eyes, but to Lia’s surprise Deborah was just as eager to stir the pot as Keeley was.
“Oh, I know,” she informed them. “And it’s good.”
That claim caused another round of shrieks despite Rebecca’s weak protests until Sassy came up with a brilliant idea.
“Okay, hang on. Let’s play twenty questions!” Everyone eagerly agreed before Sassy got the ball rolling. “Is he tall?”
Rebecca reluctantly admitted that he was, but it seemed the game was entirely unnecessary after the next question that came out of Keeley’s mouth.
“Is it Sam?”
“How the fuck did you know that?”
Even Lia couldn’t resist letting out a squeal at that admission as it was such an unexpected and unbelievable answer, but the fun was shut down when the vicar stormed into the room.
“That’s it!” He snapped, getting everyone’s attention and immediately silencing the shrieks of laughter. “Everyone out except immediate family, please.”
“You are so bad,” Rebecca hissed to Keeley, but as Sassy pointed out that Keeley wasn’t the only one, Rebecca turned her attention to Lia. “Don’t breathe a word of that conversation to Jamie, please.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she smiled. “Your secret is safe with me.”
With that, she hurried out the door after Keeley and Sassy as they all took a minute to process the information they’d just been given.
“That is absolutely mental,” Sassy shook her head. “But good for her.”
“Seriously,” Nora nodded in agreement. “Boss-ass bitch.”
Sassy shot her daughter a warning look, but didn’t bother to scold her and Lia had almost forgotten how the entire conversation had started until Keeley circled back to it as they made their way back into the main part of the church.
“Okay, but we never got to the bottom of the Lia and Jamie situation!”
Immediately, Lia felt a knot in her stomach as Nora looked perplexedly between the women.
“What situation? We already know that she’s sleeping with him.”
Lia was caught off guard by how involved she was considering her age, but Sassy answered before she could organize her thoughts.
“Oh, you missed that part,” she smiled. “Turns out that Mr. and Mrs. Tartt are actually not a real couple.”
“What?” Nora’s eyes widened in shock. “I didn’t realize that one funeral could have so much juicy gossip.”
“We’re just friends,” Lia clarified. “I agreed to the whole thing to try and help salvage his reputation after he came back to Richmond.”
“But now they both have feelings for each other,” Keeley interjected. “And Lia won’t admit it.”
“I think Jamie is great,” Lia informed them, choosing her words carefully. “And I’ve grown very fond of him since we started our little arrangement, but he’s not interested in me romantically.”
“Well, then get that boy an Oscar,” Sassy demanded. “Because he had me completely fooled.”
“Me too,” Nora chimed in. “He looked smitten to me.”
“He is smitten,” Keeley eagerly agreed. “I know Jamie, I can tell. Plus, it says a lot that he respected your request for him not to sleep with anyone else. That boy has less restraint than a horny dog, but he’s hardly even glanced at another woman since he met you.”
The sincerity in her voice made it hard not to believe her, but the voice in the back of her head still warned her that it was all too good to be true and that indulging in the fantasy she’d created in her mind would just lead to her getting hurt.
“I’m not so sure,” she hesitated. “He is a good actor and it’s hard for me to know what’s real or if I’m just getting carried away with the charade.”
“Sounds like you need to have an honest conversation with him,” Sassy pointed out. “It’s no good living your life wondering ‘what if’. We’re at a funeral for christ’s sake, there’s no better reminder of the importance of seizing the moment before it’s too late.”
Lia’s eyes drifted over to where Jamie was standing across the room with his hand on Dani’s shoulder as he appeared to still be consoling him about the pain in his feet. It was sweet to see him be so supportive and it was even sweeter when he glanced over at her and shot her a wink when he caught her eye.
“You might be right,” Lia mused. “Maybe I’ll talk to him later.”
Even the weak promise was enough to earn another squeal from Keeley, but as the rest of the guests shot their little group some rather disparaging stares, she reigned it in as she whispered an apology and they headed to find somewhere to sit.
——
By the time the funeral was over, Lia was feeling very melancholic. Watching Rebecca be so overcome with emotion was tough and even though they’d all supported her through it with a little impromptu sing along of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, it seemed that everyone was feeling rather sombre by the time they went to the gathering at Deborah’s house afterwards.
But Lia was also feeling determined.
Sassy had been right. There was no point in spending the rest of her life wondering if giving Jamie a chance would result in her getting her heart broken and the reminder that no one ever knew when their end would come had her feeling inspired to live life with no regrets. If he turned her down or broke her heart then Keeley would just have to work her PR magic and dissolve their little arrangement, but the way that Jamie had held her hand so tightly throughout the entire eulogy had her feeling like that probably wouldn’t be necessary.
But Jamie was clearly distracted.
Lia put it down to the sobering reminder of their own mortality that the funeral had provided, but even as they mingled with the team and Rebecca’s family, it seemed like his mind was very much elsewhere. When she tried to broach the subject, he assured her that he was fine with a kiss to the top of her head, but they hadn’t been at the little gathering for long before he snuck away. Figuring that he just needed a moment alone with his thoughts, she wasn’t particularly worried, but when half an hour passed with no sign of him returning, she slipped away from her conversation with Higgins - the director of football operations at Richmond - to find him.
It took a few minutes considering the size of the house and the number of people, but she felt a wave of relief when she spotted the back of his head from across the room. As she walked closer she realized that he was deep in conversation with Keeley and from the look on her face over Jamie’s shoulder they were talking about something very serious. She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but when she moved a bit closer she couldn’t help but hear the end of what Jamie was saying.
“I know this is a mad shitty thing to do, but I love you, Keeley.”
Immediately, a flush of humiliation washed over Lia as the confession she’d been planning to make to Jamie rang in her mind and had her heart clenching in her chest. Despite her brain telling her to get away from the situation before anyone noticed her, she was frozen in place until Keeley caught sight of her over Jamie’s shoulder and her eyes widened in surprise. Clearly catching the look on her face, Jamie spun around to face her as well.
“Shit,” he groaned. “Did you hear that?”
Keeley was frozen like a deer in headlights, but Lia simply forced a smile and nodded her head.
“Yes, I did,” she admitted. “But it’s fine.”
The silence that followed her words could only be described as awkward. Every moment that Jamie stood frozen - staring at Lia like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar - had Lia’s emotions rising, but she swallowed the lump in her throat and kept the smile plastered on her face until Keeley broke the silence with a softly mumbled ‘sorry’ before waving apologetically and walking away.
Jamie turned to watch her go, but it seemed her departure snapped him out of his daze as he stuttered and stumbled through several unfinished sentences until a sigh fell from his lips.
“No, it’s not.”
“It is,” she assured him. “It’s none of my business who you love, Jamie.”
“No, but it’s not…” Jamie trailed off as his eyebrows furrowed with the effort it was taking to find the words he was looking for. “It’s not like that.”
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me,” she insisted. “It’s all just business between us, right?”
She thought that the reminder would bring Jamie some relief and absolve him of any perceived wrongdoing, but for a brief moment a look that almost seemed like sadness flickered across his face. It was fleeting and Lia assumed it had more to do with her interrupting his moment with Keeley than her overhearing what he’d said.
“Sure, yeah,” he nodded. “It’s just business.”
Slipping his arm around her shoulder for the benefit of anyone watching, Jamie led Lia back towards the group of his teammates that she’d been talking to, but she found herself feeling very preoccupied.
In some ways, she was lucky - if she hadn’t heard what he’d said and had poured her heart out to him like she’d planned then she would have looked like an absolute idiot - but that didn’t stop the disappointment from plaguing her mind.
Jamie still loved Keeley.
Whether Keeley reciprocated those feelings or not - and Lia was fairly certain that she didn’t based on her solid relationship with Roy and the many conversations they’d had about her situation with Jamie - it meant that Jamie was not currently emotionally available to have feelings for her. She’d been right about their kiss being nothing more to him than a search for comfort and she hadn’t realized how badly she didn’t want that to be true until she had absolute confirmation that it was.
She managed to put on a brave face for the duration of the funeral and for the rest of the afternoon, but when they crawled into bed that night, Lia made sure to leave plenty of space between them and the next morning she found that for the first time since their arrangement had begun, she didn’t wake up wrapped around Jamie.
A wild night out leaves the lives of Jamie Tartt and Ophelia Adams more intertwined than they ever would have imagined.
Will their decision to try and use the situation to their advantage work out in their favour or will they realize that they should have cut their losses when they had the chance?
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previous chapter
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Note: I know this chapter is a little bit late, but unfortunately that might be happening a bit more for the next little while…
I have a really busy couple of weeks ahead and then I'm going on vacation for two weeks where I'll have no access to my laptop to write or post anything. Then in September I'm starting a new job. I'm still hoping to update regularly, but the once a week schedule might not be possible. I hope you can all stick with me though because I do have lots more planned for this story!
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During their first few days as an official couple, Lia saw less of Jamie than she had every other week since they met. When he left early the morning after their date and didn’t come home until well after dinner, she couldn’t help but let her anxiety get the best of her as she worried that he’d changed his mind or decided that convincing her to agree to be his girlfriend was enough for him to claim victory and he no longer cared now that the chase was over. The hours she’d spent alone that evening after she got home from work gave her enough time to spiral into her own thoughts until she’d worked up the courage to confront him almost as soon as he walked through the door.
She’d immediately blurted out her concerns and while Jamie was shocked at first, a smile slid onto his face once he’d managed to process her words. That only annoyed Lia even further - as she assumed he was making a joke of the whole situation - but he’d quickly put her mind at ease. He apologized for the lack of contact through the day and he explained that their final match of the season was coming up that weekend. It was very important that they won if they wanted to be promoted which meant that the team would be spending the rest of the week training hard for long days. That information simultaneously had Lia feeling relieved and embarrassed as she mumbled out an apology for her reaction and suggested they work on their communication.
Despite the smug smile on his face, Jamie had agreed and spent the rest of the evening teasing her about being so clingy, but from then on he’d made more of an effort to check in throughout the day. She appreciated his willingness to listen to her concerns and by the end of the week she was feeling much more confident in her decision to give Jamie a chance. He really was working hard to prove his dedication to her and she was powerless to resist his charm.
However, when the day of Richmond’s final match of the season came around, Lia found herself feeling nervous again. Jamie had left mid-morning to get in a warm-up with the team before the match started as usual on game day which left Lia to show up at Nelson Road alone, wondering what kind of reception she would receive. She walked slowly through the hallways as if she could delay the inevitable rejection, but it still didn’t take her long to find herself standing outside the door to Rebecca’s office and she took a deep breath to steady herself before knocking on the door.
“Come in!”
It was Rebecca’s voice that called out to her and she accepted the invitation to poke her head around the door to see her sitting on the couch with Keeley as she’d expected.
“Hi,” Lia smiled, relaxing slightly when they didn’t immediately recoil at the sight of her. “I know it’s short notice, but I was hoping I could sit with you two at the match today.”
“Yeah, of course, babe,” Keeley nodded, her enthusiasm putting her even more at ease. “Do you want some champagne?”
She held up her glass as if to demonstrate and Lia accepted the offer as she moved to sit beside her. She was trying to think of a way to bring up the elephant in the room as Keeley poured her a drink, but Rebecca beat her to it.
“So,” she started. “How’re things with Jamie?”
Considering she hadn’t talked to Keeley at all since Jamie’s confession and wasn’t entirely sure how she was feeling, Lia answered somewhat trepidatiously.
“Things are actually really good,” she admitted. “We’ve decided to give it a shot and try being in an actual relationship, not just a pretend one.”
“Oh my god,” Keeley squealed as she handed Lia a glass of champagne. “That’s amazing! I was so worried that Jamie had messed it up all by saying what he said, but he really didn’t mean it. I know Jamie and I know he didn’t, he’s just more emotional than people think and the funeral got the best of him.”
“That’s what he said and it’s been kinda hard to blindly trust him, but we went on a date a few days ago and he really put in some effort. It was nice.”
“That’s so exciting,” Keeley gushed. “And I promise there’s nothing between us now. I was so worried you wouldn’t wanna be friends anymore after what he said so I’m really glad you showed up today!”
“Me too,” Lia smiled. “I didn’t want things to be awkward and I believe that things are over between you, but I just worry that Jamie’s just desperate for affection from anyone, not necessarily from me.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” Keeley rushed to assure her. “He’s different with you. He cares about you, I can see it.”
“It always seemed like more than just an act to me too,” Rebecca mused. “But tell us about this date? Where did you go?”
Lia felt her smile widen and she tried to control her enthusiasm as she launched into an explanation, grateful to finally get some womanly insight into the situation. She told them about the flowers, about the board game pub, the walk home and the little boy in the ice cream parlour. The way they ‘ooh’d and ‘awwe’d at all the right moments brought her some comfort as she still couldn’t help but feel like she’d maybe been won over a little too easily, but Keeley’s response when she was done telling her tale only strengthened her belief that giving Jamie a chance was the right choice.
“Wow, that is way more romantic than anything he ever did for me,” Keeley informed her. “He’s smitten, babe.”
“I didn’t think he had it in him,” Rebecca agreed. “But obviously he just needed to find the right person and it would seem that person is you.”
“You think so? I can’t shake the feeling that he’ll toss me aside once he’s had his fun.”
“Why on earth would you think that?”
The question came from Rebecca - her shock clear in her voice - but Lia simply shrugged.
“Because he’s Jamie Tartt and I’m just me, a dork who works in a bookstore. I don’t want him to get bored once the chase is over.”
“But you’re not boring,” Keeley assured her. “You’re fun and so sweet, Jamie is lucky to have you.”
“You think so?”
Lia cringed, knowing that low self-esteem wasn’t a particularly endearing thing, but she hoped that they would know it was a sincere question and not just a way for her to fish for compliments.
“Absolutely,” Rebecca nodded. “And from what I can see, you’re both good for each other. You definitely bring out the good in him.”
Lia felt practically giddy from their reassurance and hid her smile behind her glass of champagne as she mumbled out a ‘thank you’ before taking a sip and switching the conversation back onto Rebecca to get caught up on the gossip of her own slightly messy love life.
——
The match was a rollercoaster of emotions and Lia wondered if they always would be now that she found herself rather invested in one of the players. The first half had things looking pretty bleak and while Lia knew it wasn’t over until it was over, she was bracing herself to spend the rest of her evening trying to comfort Jamie and help him through the loss.
However, those worries vanished from her mind shortly after the second half of the match started.
It was like Richmond were a different team and they quickly picked up the slack from the first half. It was tense and exciting, but they pulled it together enough to force a tie which was all they needed to get promoted. The girls leapt to their feet the moment the match was officially over, squealing and hugging with an enthusiasm that Lia never imagined she would feel about a sporting event before she met Jamie. The team and coaches all flooded onto the pitch as they celebrated with the roaring cheers from the crowd reaching almost deafening levels and despite the newness and instability of their relationship, Lia felt a pull towards Jamie that truly surprised her.
It was like she physically needed to be near him. She could see him on the pitch being embraced by his teammates and she craved the opportunity to do the same. The pride she felt swelling in her chest took her breath away and when the boys all jumped and ran off the pitch and Keeley suggested they head down to the locker room, Lia practically bolted for the door of the box they were sitting in. She paused briefly enough to congratulate Rebecca on her team’s win, but then she darted out into the hallway with Keeley hot on her heels.
The sound of exuberant chants echoed down the halls as soon as they got down to the main floor and Lia let out a joyful giggle as Keeley swung open the door, calling out to the team as she did. Their presence seemed to heighten the already rampant celebrations as the team let out a cheer at their arrival, but Lia was more focused on her search through the crowd for Jamie.
When her eyes finally landed on him, she felt her heart swell.
He looked relieved. He looked joyous. He looked on top of the world. And combined with his dishevelled post-match appearance, the look of success was incredibly sexy on him.
She couldn’t resist winding her way through the group until she was by his side and finally able to wrap her arms around him, finding the feel of him just as intoxicating as the sight. His strong muscles, clinging to his shirt that was damp with sweat. The deep, manly scent of his body after such an intense workout. The way he squeezed her so tight she wondered if he was ever going to let her go. It all had such a strong wave of emotion washing over her that she couldn’t stop herself from stretching up to capture his lips in a kiss.
There was a shyness to it - a moment of hesitance before she found the courage to slide her hand to the back of his neck and encourage him to dip his head - but Lia knew it was unnecessary. As far as the rest of the team was concerned, their PDA was old news. They’d been showing affection in front of the group for weeks, but it felt different now that what they had was real. The moment felt more intimate now that it wasn’t simply for show and Lia felt her cheeks growing hot as she pulled away.
“Congratulations, Jamie, you were amazing.”
“Nah, wasn’t me really,” Jamie shrugged. “Dani’s goal really sealed the deal.”
“But you let him take the shot,” she pointed out. “It was a team effort and you’ve really become a team player.”
“Thanks, babe.”
A lazy smile slid onto Jamie’s face that was so endearing that Lia found herself once again drawn to stretch up and connect their lips, but she was relieved to find that Jamie seemed to be as desperate for connection with her as she was with him as when she tried to slip out of his grasp, he tightened his arm around her waist to stop her from moving too far away.
There was a tension between them that was undeniable. It simmered through the after party in the locker room and seemed to grow with every casual touch or lingering glance. Lia felt absolutely smitten with Jamie. Seeing him in his element, celebrating after a win, bonding with the team that he’d been working so hard to prove himself too. The atmosphere amongst the group was electric and Lia was grateful to be a part of it, even more so now that she wasn’t just pretending.
And as Jamie’s touches grew bolder, she felt it was safe to assume that he was feeling the same way about her. His hand drifting down to squeeze her bum when no one was looking, letting his thumb slip under her shirt to stroke at the skin of her lower back when his arm was settled around her waist, the way he kept leaning in close to whisper things in her ear even when such closeness wasn’t really necessary almost as if he was just looking for an excuse to let his breath wash over her skin. There was no way that Jamie couldn’t feel the spark crackling between them and crawling up his spine the way that she could.
And so - if Jamie was intent on driving her wild - she decided to return the favour.
Being seductive or flirtatiously teasing wasn’t her forte, but the beer that she was sipping on helped her find a little inspiration - both due to its contents and design. She was deep in conversation with Isaac - the team Captain - and Colin - one of his teammates - when the alcohol she’d been sipping and the burn of Jamie’s gaze on her helped the idea take shape in her mind. Nodding along to what Isaac was saying as he told her some in depth information about a play they’d been practicing, she glanced over at Jamie and made eye contact as she deliberately let the neck of the bottle rest between her lips for just a moment longer than necessary, sucking gently in a way that she hoped would be at least somewhat suggestive. She saw Jamie’s jaw clench as he watched her and she bit back a smile as she turned her attention back to the men she was talking to, but it didn’t take long for her to feel an arm slide around her waist and she didn’t even need to glance up to know that it was Jamie.
For the rest of the post-game celebration, Jamie didn’t let her out of his grasp and Lia was more than happy to stay cuddled up against his side. When the team started discussing where to move the party and which club to take the celebrations to, she was relieved when Jamie turned down the invitation and suggested that they just head home. She eagerly agreed, but was surprised that when they got into the taxi to go home, Jamie became more withdrawn. The affection that he’d been lavishing on her all night was gone as he sat on the far side of the car, focusing his gaze out the window. It was reminiscent of how they’d been when their relationship was just an act and it was a stark contrast to the way he’d been all evening.
She tried not to let her anxiety bubble to the surface and get the best of her - assuming instead that perhaps he was just tired as the adrenaline of the match started to fade away rather than that he wasn’t truly interested in her - but she was still buzzing from the way they’d been teasing each other all night. Desperate for some kind of physical touch, she reached out to take his hand and was relieved when he turned his head to flash her a smile before interlacing their fingers.
It was sometime during their drive home that Lia started formulating another idea - one that was only emboldened by the fact that Jamie announced that he was in dire need of a shower almost as soon as they walked through the door.
——
Jamie had barely been in the shower for five minutes when he heard a knock at the door before it slowly cracked open.
“Jamie? Can I come in?”
The question was tentative and only added to Jamie’s confusion. In all the time they’d lived together, neither of them had dared to enter the bathroom while the other one was showering. The glass door left nothing to the imagination and as soon as she entered the bathroom he would be fully exposed to her. It was a thought made his cock twitch despite his concern about her urgent need to talk to him.
“Course you can,” he called back. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she squeaked as she poked her head around the door. He noted with pride that her eyes widened at the sight of him, but the next words out of her mouth left him the one feeling stunned. “I was just wondering if I could join you?”
He stared in disbelief as she shrugged the bathrobe that she’d changed into off of her shoulders and stood before him completely naked.
“Fuckin’ hell,” he groaned. “How could I say no to that?”
After the weeks of self-restraint, he felt himself begin to stiffen just from letting his eyes roam over her body, admiring her pert breasts and soft curves that he’d been fantasizing about for so long as her cheeks flushed a deep red and she open the door that separated them. When she moved under the water to let her hands trace over his damp chest, he grew thick and heavy as his cock strained for some of her attention. He was almost scared to move or even breathe in case it snapped her out of whatever trance she’d fallen into, but as she bit her lip and mumbled out a soft yet appreciative ‘wow, Jamie’, he couldn’t help but question her.
“What’s all this about?” He asked softly, hoping he didn’t sound in any way ungrateful. “I thought you wanted to take things slow.”
“I do,” she admitted. “But I thought you deserved a little appreciation after your performance today. You were so good, Jamie. It was so amazing to watch you.”
Her words came out like a purr and the thick honey tone was all his cock needed to swell to its full potential, but he tried to stay focused as he made sure she was serious about the situation.
“S’just the job,” he choked out. “It’s nothing special.”
“It was special,” she insisted. “You were incredible. I was so proud to be wearing your jersey, for everyone in the crowd to be thinking that I’m your wife.”
The praise sent shivers down his spine as he flushed at her words, but the request that came next almost short-circuited his brain.
“Can I touch you?”
“Yes! Fuck, Lia, please.”
He answered immediately, feeling his desperation climbing quicker than he was used to. But then again, he wasn’t used to being celibate for as long as he had been and a release with someone other than his hand was very much needed. He knew that he was very close to sounding like he was begging - something he wasn’t particularly used to doing in bed - but in that moment he would have promised her anything to get her hands to slide down his stomach the way that they were. When she took him in her hand, he couldn’t hold back the moan that slid from his lips and he kept his eyes from fluttering shut just long enough to see her peering up at her from under her long eyelashes with wide eyes.
“You’re so big…” He knew he was at least a little bit above average, but the awe and delight in her voice had a wave of pride washing over him. She had an air of innocence about her despite the bold way she’d come onto him and he was finding it hard to hold himself back. However, he didn’t have to struggle with his restraint for long before she sank to her knees, staring at his cock with a hungry look in her eyes. “I can’t wait to taste you…”
She looked up at him, almost as if she was waiting for permission, but he didn’t trust his voice not to crack so he simply nodded. That was all the encouragement she needed as she eagerly took him into her mouth earning a hiss of pleasure from Jamie as his head tipped back into the warm stream of the shower. He’d had a few doubts about the level of experience that Lia had, but it was soon obvious that he had nothing to worry about because if she was unpracticed then she was a natural talent.
The warmth, the pressure, the pace that she set. It was like she knew exactly what he needed even before he did. She took him deep, gagging slightly in a way that was another little boost to his ego, but his chivalrous side came out as he let one hand slide to her the back of her head to help steady her movements and keep her comfortable. He was careful to keep his grip loose - more to guide than to control - as she clearly needed very little help from him.
He watched completely entranced as she hollowed her cheeks, sucking him so enthusiastically that it was like she was honoured to do it. As her hand drifted from his thigh to gently cup and tease his balls, an obscene sound left his mouth and he felt himself quickly heading towards a peak. He knew it hadn’t taken long and usually he would have been feeling a little more sheepish about his lack of control, but he was too wrapped up in his pleasure to care.
“Babe,” he choked out, knowing he needed to warn her before he was too far gone to form any words. “I’m close.”
The only indication that she’d heard was a slight increase of her tempo and as he felt her tongue drag pointedly along the vein on the underside of his cock, Jamie was lost in his pleasure to repeat himself. His fist clenched as his other hand tightened its grip on Lia’s hair and he resisted the urge to buck into her mouth, letting out a strangled cry as the rush of his release washed over him.
His knees felt weak as his heart raced in his chest, but even when Lia pulled away to swallow, she used her hand to gently stroke him until he came back down from his high. And once his mind began to clear, he reached down to offer her a hand and help her back to her feet.
“Fuckin’ hell, babe,” he murmured. “Where did that come from?”
“You deserved it,” she smiled. “Was it okay?”
“Okay? You were fucking amazing,” he assured her. “Didn’t expect you to be so bold.”
She blushed so hard that even her chest was flushed and a glimmer of the more trepidatious girl he was used to reappeared.
“I can be bold when I need to be.”
Based on what he’d seen so far, Jamie had no argument to that claim. There was obviously far more to Lia than he’d expected and he was excited to peel back even more of her layers.
“Yeah? Well, so can I,” he informed her. “How about we get out of this shower and I can return the favour?”
She bit her lip as his words made her shiver against him, but to his surprise she shook her head.
“No, it’s okay,” she assured him. “Tonight was about you.”
“You don’t want me to? It should be about both of us. You were just saying what a team player I am.”
His words were said with a smirk and he felt Lia giggle as she leaned her head against his chest.
“You are, but I didn’t expect any reciprocation. I just wanted to do something special for you.”
“Touching you would be pretty special too.” He slid his hand down to cup the cheek of her bum, revelling in the feel of her smooth skin and noting the way she turned her body slightly when he gave it a little squeeze, almost as if she was opening herself up to him. “But you didn’t answer my question. Do you want me to?”
She whimpered in response as Jamie let his hand drift over the curve of her hip, but he waited and simply rubbed his thumb against her skin until she gave him proper confirmation.
“Yes…”
It was a short response, but it was almost as desperate as Jamie's earlier plea and after her efforts to bring him pleasure, Jamie wasn’t going to make her ask twice.
Sliding his hand lower, he was somewhat surprised to find that the skin between her legs was bare. It was a detail that escaped his notice when she’d first dropped her robe, but now his mind had been cleared by his release, it caught his attention and he shelved the thought for another time to avoid embarrassing her or doing anything that might cause her to make him stop his exploration. Instead, he stayed quiet as his hand dipped lower until she parted her legs to grant him more access and the wetness he found between them had another groan falling from his lips.
“Fuck, babe, you’re soaked,” he informed her, as if she might be unaware. “Is this all for me?”
He stroked her gently, letting his fingers trail just beside the sensitive bud that he knew would be desperate for his attention as she murmured out a soft ‘mhmm’. He could feel her hand gripping his bicep as he watched her eyes drift shut and a moan slipped from her lips as he let a finger dip gently inside her. She was tight and the thought of the muscles that were gripping his finger being wrapped around his cock was almost enough to have him twitching back to life, but he kept his focus on her as he paid attention to the movements that earned him coos of pleasure or gasps of encouragement. It wasn’t long before he added another finger to his explorations, enjoying the way she stretched around him as his thumb came to settle finally on the bundle of nerves he’d been carefully avoiding. The sound she made at the contact was one of pure bliss and had Jamie feeling desperate to see her fall apart under his touch.
“You’re so fuckin’ pretty like this,” he groaned. “Let go for me, baby. Wanna see you cum, wanna feel it.”
His encouragement had her whimpering again, but he could tell from the quick rise and fall of her chest and the way her nails were digging into his skin that she was close. He kept his movements steady and it only took a few more moments for her to come undone, letting out a moan that sent shivers down his spine as he felt her clench around him. He coaxed her through it until she was quivering him against him when he slowly moved his hand away.
She clung to him, but as her breathing steadied and he felt her heartbeat slow in her chest, he realized the water washing over them was starting to get cold.
“Let’s get out of here.”
The words were murmured into her hair and he felt her nod as she stumbled away from him as if she was in a daze. He smirked, knowing that if she was shaken now she would be absolutely wrecked when he was able to really take his time with her, but he also knew that she seemed sincere when she insisted that she still wanted to take things slow. Considering she’d just given him far more than he’d expected to get anytime soon, he was more than happy to respect her wishes and he turned off the water before grabbing a towel and following her out of the bathroom, eager not to let her too far out of his sight.
