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‘Thanks for dinner,’ he says.

‘Thank you,’ I reply. ‘You paid.’

‘Then thanks for the company.’

‘Thank you for that too,’ I say with a smile.

He walks to the door, then pauses with his hand on the handle.

‘They gave me your number, for work, so I’ll send you the details for Saturday.’

‘Okay. Great.’

‘Unless Hood doesn’t want you going…’

I laugh.

‘Eddy doesn’t decide where I go,’ I remind him. ‘Plus, you’re work – hard work.’

‘Fair enough,’ he replies. ‘Sweet dreams, Brooke.’

‘Goodnight, Jamie.’

He leaves. The door clicks shut behind him and I feel as if I can finally exhale. It’s not that I didn’t feel relaxed around him, but it’s not that I didn’t feel tense, because something about it just felt… I don’t know, forbidden? I’m making it sound sexier than it needs to be, aren’t I? But I can’t believe that just happened – but nothing happened. I need to remind myself that.

I shared food with someone I’ll be working with tomorrow. We discussed rugby – the job. He invited me to a match. There was some harmless flirting, sure, but that’s just, like, his natural method of communication. It doesn’t mean anything.

Although he did clock that Eddy and I don’t seem like a real couple, and we’re not, so that could be an issue. I’ll have to figure that one out. But work comes first, and tomorrow I’ve got one hell of a challenge – making Eddy Hood and Jamie Royle play nice.

Wish me luck…

13

Taking two professional rugby league players to an arcade feels, surprisingly, more like taking your two naughty kids to the arcade – kids who are acting up because they know their dad is away.

The arcade is in the centre of Leeds, hidden beneath a bowling alley, and it’s got everything – from video games to more sportsy things like shooting hoops. Perfect for two overly competitive blokes looking for an outlet to show off.

Jamie arrives first, which surprises me.

‘You’re early,’ I say.

He holds out his arms with pride.

‘That’s because I slept at your place,’ he jokes. ‘We could have carpooled.’

That’s exactly why I got here earlier than I needed to, because I didn’t want to seem like we were arriving ‘together’, because how would that look to Eddy?

Obviously we’re not together in any way but, I don’t know, now that we’ve hung out, that we’ve eaten dinner together, we feel closer. Familiar in a way I probably should have avoided, given that he plays for a rival team.

‘Where’s Hood?’ he asks, looking around.

‘On his way,’ I reply – at least he should be.

‘Late,’ he says with a tut.

‘Not yet.’

‘Later than me.’