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‘A couple over the years,’ he replies. ‘I’ve been playing for a long time.’

‘What happens when you have one?’

‘You stop playing, get checked and go through a return-to-play process. You don’t train properly again until the medical staff are happy with you.’

He says it so calmly, like he’s describing an inconvenient dental appointment rather than an injury to one of his vital organs.

‘I would be worried sick if my boyfriend did this for a living,’ I tell him. ‘I’m even worried about my fake boyfriend doing it all of a sudden.’

Eddy glances across at me before returning his attention to the road.

‘I’m always careful,’ he tells me.

‘Can you be careful while another man is running towards you at full speed and planning to introduce his shoulder to your face?’

‘You learn how to protect yourself. You work on technique, body position and how you go into contact, and you trust the people around you to do the same. That doesn’t mean nothing will happen, but I’m not throwing myself around without thinking.’

My phone starts ringing in my bag, so I take it out, then immediately turn it face down on my lap.

‘I’ll call back later,’ I say.

Eddy’s eyes flick towards the phone.

‘Everything all right?’ he asks, picking up on my weird vibe.

I don’t want to lie, because I have no reason to lie, so I tell the truth.

‘Yes, it’s only Jamie.’

I say ‘only Jamie’ as though there is nothing remotely complicated about him calling me on Saturday evening while his biggest rival drives me to a party with my oldest friends – the people who think I’ve made up a boyfriend which, okay, I hadn’t at the time, but now I have. Messy doesn’t quite cover it.

Eddy’s expression doesn’t change much, but his grip on the steering wheel shifts.

‘Does he call you a lot?’ he asks curiously.

‘Not really,’ I reply. ‘Just bits and bobs about work stuff.’

The phone stops ringing. Almost immediately, a message appears.

Jamie

Ignoring me already? Fame’s changed you.

I lock the screen.

‘He seems to like you,’ Eddy points out.

There is nothing openly accusatory in his tone, which somehow makes me even more terrified to reply.

‘We’re working together, and I think he likes irritating me, but he likes irritating everyone,’ I joke.

‘I don’t think that’s all it is,’ he replies.

‘No?’

Eddy takes a moment to answer, slowing as we reach a junction.

‘I think Jamie likes attention, and he likes being the star,’ he replies. ‘And maybe, seeing as though he thinks you’re with me, he thinks he can get one over on me by spending time with you. He turns everything into a competition, so if he thinks there’s something he can take, he’ll want to prove he can.’