Diving Deep (UK Crush #2)

Chapter 29

"Oh, look here comes the other team," I exclaimed. "Warm ups, right?"

"Yeah," said Matty, who was next to me. He started talking to Janelle, who was on the other side of him, about some famous player or other, whose name meant nothing to me. And they were gigantic. I'd never seen an NFL game in person, but they looked of a size with those players to my eye.

We sat and watched them, and they were amazing. They looked part acrobat, the way they could manipulate the ball without their hands. And the strength in their legs was amazing. Like in water polo, they lined up for drills, taking turns kicking, sprinting, doing god knew what, it was mesmerizing.

"Wow, look at their thighs," I breathed. "They're like the size of my waist. Jesus."

Teddy turned to look at me. "You little minx, are you getting turned on by all these huge men and their massive muscles?" He nudged my shoulder, smiling.

"Huh? What?" I turned to him. "Are you out of your mind? They look deformed." I linked my arm through his. "I spent my formative years looking at swimmers. That's my standard, that's what looks normal to me: Broad shoulders, tapered waist, long, legs, flat stomach, six pack, and thin, thin, thin." I smiled. "Oh, and tan. And looks totally comfortable soaking wet in a Speedo."

I looked back at the men on the pitch. "Honestly, these guys look like gorillas in clothes. Kind of under-evolved, to be honest. Like cavemen."

Matty had turned and caught the tail end of our conversation. "Don't say that too loudly, Tinker Bell, you could get strung up for words like that around here. Feelings run high in stadium on game days."

I looked around. The stadium had been filling up around us while warm ups continued, and quite a huge cluster of Crushies had gathered behind our VIP section. They had obviously only come to see the boys, and to see Gethin play. They were in full UKC regalia, soccer be damned. I could hear all three boys' names being called, and, incredibly, Janelle's and mine as well.

I turned toward them and the pitch of their voices went up, with the girls waving desperately in our direction. "Tinker Bell," they screamed.

"Just ignore them." Teddy turned me back around. "If you acknowledge them, they'll never stop."

"But what could they possibly want from me?" I asked. "It's not like I'm you."

"No, but you know me, for them that's enough," he responded. "Sometimes they want to give you something to give to one of us, sometimes they want to be your friend, hoping that will lead to a friendship with us, who knows?" He looked at me. "What?"

"Don't you think it would be very nice and UKC like if you guys went over there for just a minute?" I asked.

He looked at me. "You think so? That would make you happy?"

"Well, it's something you guys would normally do anyway, isn't it?" I responded.

He considered. "I suppose you're right."

As he turned to the other boys, Ronan spoke from the far end. "Lads? How about we take a few minutes before things get too crazy and go say hello to the fans? There aren't too many yet, shouldn't take too long, what do you say?"

I smiled at Teddy and turned to include Matty and Ronan too. "Go," I encouraged. The three of them turned and climbed up the stairs, causing the screaming to reach fever pitch. Janelle and I turned to watch.

"Too bad for Gethin's fans," I said to Janelle.

"No, they'll get to watch him play football, which almost never happens," she responded. "He really loves it, and it shows, so that'll be really special for them.