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‘Okay, fine, he’s off the hook,’ I tell him. ‘But you’ve played your “concussion card” now, okay?’

‘Fair enough,’ he replies. ‘But I do need one more favour from you, but it’s work, so it doesn’t count.’

‘What do you need?’ I ask.

‘I need you to set up a meeting.’

‘Okay…’

‘Just me, you and Jamie – as soon as I’m out of here,’ he insists.

‘I can do that,’ I reply. ‘But, for now, can I just hold your hand?’

‘Of course,’ he replies.

I entwine my fingers with his and rest my head on his stomach.

I don’t know if I nearly lost him or not, I don’t even want to think about it, but I definitely tried to push him away. I feel like I’ve been given a second chance, we both have, and I’m not about to squander it.

27

Hosting the meeting between Eddy and Jamie in my hotel room was supposed to be neutral ground – but now I’m worried that when they start tackling each other into the furniture, it’s going to be me who the hotel bills for the repairs.

Jamie is sitting in the chair beside the balcony doors, Eddy is on the edge of my bed and I’m right between them – the match official who needs to keep the peace.

‘Can I go first?’ Jamie asks, clearing his throat.

‘Sure,’ Eddy says.

Jamie looks at him, then immediately looks away again. His usual ease and confidence is nowhere to be seen today. No relaxed body language, no grin creeping at the edges of his mouth. He looks tired, like he didn’t get much sleep last night.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘Properly sorry. I totally fucked up.’

Jamie leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he briefly places his head in his hands.

‘I never meant to hurt you,’ he continues. ‘I know that doesn’t change what happened, and it doesn’t make the challenge less stupid, but I wasn’t trying to take you out. I was trying to get above you – to do what you did to me.’

‘Well, you definitely did that, and then some,’ Eddy tells him with a chuckle – so glad he’s seeing the funny side in all of this. Personally, I’m not there yet.

Jamie exhales.

‘I wanted to embarrass you, not hurt you,’ Jamie continues. ‘I thought if I got higher, took it clean and landed, everybody would talk about me doing it back to you, and the playing field would be level again.’

‘Well, everyone is talking about it,’ I can’t resist pointing out.

‘I know.’ His jaw tightens. ‘We’re teammates. I’m supposed to help you, not compete with you for every ball. I let all the other stuff get into my head, and it made me reckless. If you’d been seriously hurt…’

He stops, swallowing hard.

‘I’m all right, mate,’ Eddy assures him.

‘That doesn’t make what I did all right,’ Jamie insists.

The words hang in the air for a moment.

‘I owe you an apology too,’ Jamie says, turning to me. ‘At first, I flirted with you because it was fun. We were stuck in a lift, you were a laugh, you didn’t know who I was – I liked that. Then I realised you were Eddy’s girlfriend and, well… I ran with it. The cheek kiss at the arcade, the comments, inviting you to Manchester. I liked watching him pretend not to react. I could tell I was getting to him.’

‘I appreciate your honesty,’ I tell him. ‘But, I don’t know, it doesn’t feel good, knowing that you were just using me to get to Eddy.’