Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 119005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Both Beth and I snorted.
A male voice, American by the sounds of it, interrupted, “I’d like to say that the screensaver is not mine and I have no idea how to change it.”
“And to whom are we speaking?” Lily asked with a bite in her tone.
“Fill me in?” I asked Beth.
She explained about this group of blokes who’d started a rival podcast at the university and were always taking shots at Lily’s podcast.
“Really?” I grimaced. “Who has time for that shit?”
“I wish I had time for it. I know it sounds immature,” Beth continued, “but the podcast helped a lot of people when I started it, and Lily is one of them. She is so shy and body conscious, but she was brave enough to put herself out there on the podcast. And people relate to her. Not everyone is cocky and confident like you and me, Captain. She tells people what it’s like to be on the dating scene when it’s difficult to be social, to be sexy, to be outgoing. She’s helped way more girls than I ever did. I’m proud of her.”
I got it and reached out to squeeze her knee.
“Is it me, or is your voice familiar?” Lily asked her guest, sounding suspicious and peeved. She certainly didn’t seem shy behind that microphone.
“No,” the guy answered. “We’ve never met.”
“He answered that a little too fast,” one of her cohosts said in a northern accent.
“I did not. Look, did you bring me on to interrogate me, or can we talk about putting this daft competitiveness to rest?”
“Daft?” a female with an American accent said. “I knew it! I thought I could hear a British accent coming through. He’s putting on a fake American accent!”
“Aha!” Lily said, like that meant something.
I shared a look with Beth, and her lips trembled with laughter.
“I am not,” the bloke doubled down on the accent.
“Oh, really? Where in America are you from?”
“California.”
“Where?”
“Santa Barbara.”
“How long did you live there?”
“Jesus, are we really doing this?”
“Definitely a fake accent,” the American girl insisted. “So fake! He’s a fake.”
“I’m not listening to this childish rubbish.”
“Rubbish? Daft? Only the Brits say rubbish and daft.”
“Uh, guys, he hung up.”
“See? Totally faking it!”
“Okay, can we lower the volume, please?” Lily sighed, the sound hitting off her mic. “Well, there you have it, folks. Elijah from Potterrow Blokes is not only a thief, he’s a coward and maybe even an impostor.”
Beth switched off the show. “That wasn’t the best example of an episode. I need to talk to her. This rivalry with these guys is throwing the podcast off course, and they have ad companies to answer to. Their growth has been so exponential, I was even considering offering to take them on as a client, but they have to cut this shit out. I’ll talk to her,” she repeated.
“You have your own stuff to deal with,” I reminded her. “What did I just say? Not everything is your responsibility. I’m sure your cousin can handle it.”
She was silent for a few seconds. “If you’re worried about my anxiety, I’m getting better. Talking it out with you helped, and I’m planning to talk to my parents soon.”
“Good.” I reached out to thread my fingers through hers. “But what about the panic attacks? Amanda?” I asked because she’d woken up from a nightmare a week ago and thankfully, her jerking awake woke me. This time instead of running off to be alone, she came into my arms and let me hold her through it.
“Maybe talking to my parents is the last piece of the puzzle. Maybe I’ll stop dreaming about her once I do.”
“And if you don’t?”
Beth sighed heavily. “I’ll think about talking to someone. I promise.”
I tightened my grip on her hand. “Good. And you know I’m always here.”
“I know.” She raised our joined hands to press a kiss to my knuckles.
Time to compartmentalize.
I was glad we were facing our opponent on our own turf. Jogging onto the pitch, I searched the stands where I knew Beth would be with Ainsley. Thankfully, Baird’s sister was here to cheer on her brother, so I felt good about leaving Beth at the game. We’d hooked them both up with prime seats in the main stands, front row. She and Ainsley waved at us as we passed. I took in my girlfriend’s gorgeous face, expression brimming with pride and excitement, and I let it fuel me.
But then I had to filter out everything else. The fear of caring so much about her? Shoved deep down inside a dark pit where I could forget about it for a while. The fact that this was her first game supporting me? Kicked to the back of the net to stay there until the match was over.
That pride on her face, though … I kept that with me. It fired my blood and accelerated me as we faced one of our greatest opponents. The reigning champs.