Ethan's POV (Bonus Book)

Chapter 57

Pacing anxiously around the locker room, I bent down and quickly undid my laces before tying them back up again, tighter than before. It was a stupid ritual I always seemed to do before every soccer match.

I was normally never nervous. In fact, I normally had a reputation for being an arrogant overly confident asshole when it came to winning(Lucas's words, not mine). But this time it was different. This time Mia was going to be watching.

Never in all our long years of knowing each other had she ever officially watched me play. It definitely wasn't for a lack of trying on my part to get her there. I'd tried embarrassing and sly tactics over the years to try and get her to come but she'd never did.

So, now that she was officially coming, it made me more determined than ever to win. And if not, oh well, at least I was going home with a hot girlfriend.

I could hear the screams and chants from outside as the cheerleaders likely performed, further driving forward my anticipation.

"Yo, Ethan come here real quick," Nick called out with a laugh.

I turned with a furrowed brow and slowly made my way around the corner to see what he wanted. It was only as I made my way around, did I realize how weird it was that I was the only one on my side of the locker room.

The moment I got round the corner, there was immediately a sharp burst of colour and noise and suddenly I was being blasted in the face with confetti. I blinked and found myself staring back into the eyes of my hooting and hollering teammates who were standing in front of a whiteboard with the words, 'Holy shit, six fucking years!" sprawled in aggressively bright colours in marker across the surface.

I smiled uncomfortably. "Erm...it's not my birthday!"

"Yeah, we fucking know, honey. This is your we can't believe you're finally dating Mia, party," Lucas announced bluntly.

A smile escaped my lips, and I rolled my eyes as I took in their over-the-top decoration. "Fuck you guys, it shouldn't be that much of a surprise."

"Says the guy who took six years to get a girl to like him," Roman snorted. "No offense, dude, but it's a surprise,"

"Dickhead," I snapped as I kicked a balloon on the floor and sent it flying towards his face.

Roman just caught it to my disappointment with a cackle.

"Here's to never having to hear, Ethan pine after Mia again, woo!" Simon one of my particularly piss-taking friends called out, as he raised what I think was a bottle of vodka in the air. "Don't worry, I'm not drinking it until after the game, Mr goody two shoes," he sighed when he noticed the particularly concerned way, I was eyeing the bottle.

The guys soon crowded around me and presented me with a card, that turned out to be a betting chart on when everyone on the team thought I'd eventually ask Mia out and how.

Embarrassingly most people had predicted dates from years ago and even more embarrassingly most people had successfully predicted I'd 'stupidly confess I loved her by slipping on my words like an idiot.' That's genuinely the way the fuckers had written it.

As everyone eased back, I took notice of Henry who was standing awkwardly in the corner in his soccer jersey, and stiffened the second we locked eyes. I instantly felt guilty remembering I might have taken things slightly too far when he'd attempted to come on to Mia.

With an awkward cough, I slowly trailed my way closer to him. Henry's eyes immediately widened, and he immediately pushed himself off the wall, clearly getting ready to run away from me.

"Wait, please don't go," I said quickly.

Henry slowly stopped, but continued to look at me with incredibly cautionate eyes.