"Sooo... what did you think of the match?" My brother asked and I rolled my eyes, already anticipating that question. We had just arrived home from the game and I couldn't be more happier to see my beautiful apartment. I needed a break from all that cheering..
"It was... interesting in a way.." I said thinking back to when I saw Mason Mount for the first time in a very long time. We both took a seat on my couch and I watched him raise an eyebrow.
"Wait, so you'd actually go again?" I gave him an 'are you serious' look and he just nodded, "worth a try I guess.. anyway what did you find interesting?"
I rolled my eyes, "you won't let this go will you?" He nodded his head vigorously, "ugh, fine." I sigh, "your friends were really funny towards the end, they kept clowning one of the players and when Jackson fell over? That was hilarious. And I guess watching every get so excited when the other team almost scored .. but I still don't understand how thrilling they can find it though." I decided to keep the Mason thing to myself, knowing that my brother would freak out if he knew I used to know him.
"Oh man, Jackson was hilarious." My brother and I both started laughing, "hey if you want, you can join us at the pub tonight?"
I thought about it for a moment. My brother's friends can be fun to hang around with but sometimes I feel a little uncomfortable by their constant attempts to flirt with me. Especially when they're drunk.. "Is it the one you always go to because a lot of footballers have been seen there?" I raised one eyebrow. If you haven't noticed already, my brother is obsessed with football.
"Maybe..."
I sigh, "I'm not busy tonight so.. yeah I can tag along."
"Cool. And if you want you can invite your friends.. like Willow?"
"Yeah, I'll text her to see if she can come."
————
"Right. How do I look?" I exited out of the bathroom giving Willow a quick twirl. I was wearing a forest green satin crop top with some skinny jeans and a bit of jewellery. We're only going to a pub so I didn't see the point in dressing up too fancy.
"Absolutely. Yes. 100% yes!" I began to blush from the shower of compliments she was giving me. After high school I drifted off from all off my friends except for Willow. I get an occasional text from Kirstie every now and then but the conversation never goes far enough for us to want to meet up or anything.. but Willow stuck by me through everything. To be honest, if she never put in the extra effort to stay in touch with me, I'd probably have no friends. I'm not great with social interactions, especially meeting new people. That's only because to most people, I come off as I guess... bitchy. But I can't help it. My sarcastic nature somehow always breaks through the barriers. And don't even get me started on the eye rolls..
I let out a sudden huff of laughter.
"What?" Willow asked. She ran to the mirror to check her appearance, "do I look funny? You gotta be honest because I need to find my future hubby! My boyfriend fever is skyrocketing at the moment!"
"No! No!" I began to laugh. "I was just thinking about where my eye rolling habit came from." I shook my head with a humorous smile on my face. I looked at my phone and saw a notification saying our Uber was here.
"Wait you finally remember? I thought you said you forgot."
"Do you remember that annoying football player that I used to complain about?" I said locking up the apartment.
"The one who'd always talk to you whenever you'd walk past him training?"
"Yeah! Mason Mount. Well he's the reason I started it." We both approached the Uber and hopped in the car, giving the driver the address.
"Oh my god, I knew it was around that time! Out of anything in the world, of course it was him." We sat in the car in a comfortable silence until we arrived. The pub wasn't too far from my place so we were only sat in the car for a few minutes.
We entered the pub and scanned the room for my brother and his friends, "Nora! Hey!" My brother shouted. I internally cringe at how loud his voice was. I'm on the opposite side of the pub and I can hear him as though he was next to me.
"Please, scream my name louder so the bloody Queen can hear you." I said approaching the group, avoiding all of the sudden eyes on me.
"Willow!" My brother walked straight past me with open arms, "you came." His tone came out more shocked than welcoming which caused me to furrow my eyebrows at his sudden change in behaviour.
"Couldn't leave my girl alone tonight. It's nice to see you again." They both embraced each other into a friendly hug. We soon greeted everyone else and sat in one of the booths.
"Right, Scan the room for hotties. We both need new hubbies." This was a usual thing me and Willow did whenever we went out. The only difference is that she's looking for an actual relationship whereas I'm just looking for a simple hookup or something. I never really bothered to date after the incident back in high school. Relationships always end in heartbreak and I couldn't risk showing such vulnerability again, but your girl still has her needs.
"Have you ever hooked up with your brothers friends? Some of them are quite good looking."
"I've never been interested I guess.." I shrugged.
"What about Jack? He definitely has a six pack. Just look at that body."
"The name 'Jack' itself, is a red flag." I scrunched my nose at the sight of him. I mean sure, he's good looking I guess.. but the gym fanatic personality plus the name.. Big fat no.
"It's not like you're looking for a relationship anyway?"
"Still, I have standards." There was a long pause and I turned my head to see Willow giving me a knowing look. "For the one hundredth time, Willow. I'm not interested in dating anybody."
"Oh come on! Do you not know how great it is to be in a relationship! To be cuddled and kissed by your loved on—"
"And do you not know how shit it is to feel heartbroken?" I said interrupting her. I was beginning to get pissed off so I let out an exasperated sigh, "I-I need a drink. I'll be right back." I took a deep breath and stormed off to the bar. As much as I love her, I don't think she'll ever understand my distaste for relationships. I never want to go through such pain again and will never take the risk for it.
The bar was really crowded. People pushing and shoving in hopes to get their drinks next and some slipping on the large spillage around the bar. Thanks to my petite figure, I managed to squeeze through the crowd and sat on one of the bar stood. Unfortunately that won't help me get my drink anytime soon as the crowd seemed to grow larger and larger by the minute. I enjoyed it though, gave me some time to cool down and it's a great source of entertainment.
I hope I didn't ruin the night with my sudden outburst, but I couldn't help it this time. Willow always nags me about trying to get me to actually date someone and I guess I just finally snapped.. She used to show up at my place with some random guy or plan some spontaneous night out that always turns out to be a "blind date".
"Hey Carl! She needs a drink!" I saw someone on the corner of my eye sit down on the bar stood next to me causing myself to roll my eyes. I was not in the mood for his attempted flirting. "Fancy seeing you here." I perked my head up at the familiar voice but I couldn't put my head around who it belonged too. I turned my head and was met with someone I didn't think I'd ever see again after today.
My mouth parted a little as I got a better look at him. He looked more cleaner than he did at the match. His hair was styled neatly instead of all over the place and there wasn't sweat drenching his face. I also noticed how more mature he looked as oppose to 6 years ago and he's gotten a way more defined body. "Your voice has gotten deeper..." I blurted out, instantly feeling my cheeks burn up.
He snickered, "all these years and that's the first thing you say? I thought seeing me at the match today was a wake up call for you..." I watched as his face gleamed with mischief, "perhaps that's why you're here?" He leans a few inches forward. "Are you stalking me?" He smirked. How the fuck have I forgotten how egotistical this guy is.
"You haven't changed a bit." I deadpanned and faced the bar, already done with his bullshit.
"And neither have you I see. Just need an eye roll and it will be just like the old times." His words caused me to subconsciously roll my eyes and I scolded myself after realising what I've just done. "Wow. That quick?" He began to laugh. The bartender approached us shortly after and asked for my drink and before I could reach for my wallet, a hand full of cash was placed in front of me.
"Can you not? I can pay for myself." I glared at him. I took some cash out of my wallet and slid the notes towards him to pay him back.
"Can't I be a gentlemen to a lovely lady?" He slid the cash back towards me and I glared back at him.
"I can buy my own drinks."
"Ok so use this money to buy one. Trust me, I have enough money to buy one myself" I clenched my fist as I saw him slide the cash towards me again. I was about to repeat his actions until we were interrupted by the bartender handing over my drink. Thank god, I thought. I desperately needed a drink after talking to him. How did I manage to tolerate him without alcohol in the past?
I took the straw out, too impatient for the effects to kick in and took a large swig, "listen, I don't want your stupid football money, heck, I didn't even want a drink, heck— I didn't even want to see you! You're still that arrogant, egotistical bastard from all those years ago and your brain is too small to process that I can do shit on my own!" My chest was heaving up and down from how riled up I have gotten. I gripped the glass tighter in my hands to restrain myself from punching his stupid face.
W-wait.. his face—
"Why are you—?" I asked him, baffled by his reaction. Usually people found me really intimidating and know they should stay away from me when I'm angry. History has shown I can be a very violent person so seeing him unfazed and finding my anger humorous caught me a little off guard.
"You just— you got a little.." he gestured his index figure by circling around the top part of his lip. I blush a little at how stupid I probably looked and licked the top of my lips. "No— you—" I huffed and licked my lips again.
This would be a lot less embarrassing if I had a mirror...
"No— uh– lemme just.." he stood up from his seat and stood in front of me. Our faces were levelled with each other, the bar stool I'm sat on giving me a lot more height and I didn't process how little the gap was between us until his thumb made contact on the top part of my lip.
My breathing hitched when he grazed his thumb across and my heart raced a little quicker in my chest. It shouldn't have though. I shouldn't be having a reaction to this at all. Yet I felt an electric buzz on my lips and my heart began to pound like crazy. I fixed my gaze to his eyes and a sense of nostalgia washed through my body..
Autumn..
His eyes were darker than I remember, more chocolatey I suppose. They were deep and catastrophic and as golden as caramel melting in the sunshine. This close, I could see the flex of amber in his eyes and the harder I looked the more familiar they seemed. They had a brighter glint to it as well, was it because of this moment right now or a general shimmer? I don't know, but it captured me in a daze and I don't think I've ever admired something so much. His right hand brushed against me as he moved some of my hair behind my ears. An unfamiliar feeling invaded my body and I wasn't sure what to do. There was warmth in my chest, but shivers down my spines. My heart was racing but everything seemed to be in slow motion. I was taking slow breaths but if felt like all the air was sucked out of my lungs. Any normal thing I felt in my body before is somehow being contradicted by this feeling. I couldn't decide whether I liked it or not, but I didn't give myself enough time to as my first instinct was to push him away. He stumbled back a little but was fortunately saved by the stood behind him. We both cleared our throats simultaneously which only increased the awkward tension and I took another swig of my drink, avoiding any type of eye contact with him.
"Holy shit, Mason Mount. How you doing man!" A voice thankfully cut the string.
But I wasn't so thankful anymore when I saw that the voice was in fact my brother.
———————
THIS TOOK A WHILE FOR ME TO WRITE BECAUSE I HAD A LITTLE BIT OF WRITERS BLOCK AND IM KIND OF LAZY
Also I didn't think this would get as much reads as it did in only a week. I know 600 doesn't seem like a lot to other people but seeing this is my first book and I have no experience in publishing on wattpad I'm really happy to see the increase in popularity.
I will try to update ASAP but I'm starting to receive a few assignments so there might be less updates for a bit.
ALSO IM GUTTED WE LOST THE FA CUP FINALS AGAIN!!!
MOUNT REALLY DOESNT DESERVE THE HATE HES GETTING ATM
PENALTIES ARE A LOTTERY😭😭😭