𝙏𝙐𝙍𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙁𝙍𝙊𝙒𝙉 𝙐𝙋𝙎𝙄𝘿𝙀-𝘿𝙊𝙒𝙉, 𝙎𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙐𝙎 𝙎𝙉𝘼𝙋𝙀.
"HEY, I almost forgot. You know how we're playin' Everton tomorrow?" Ted asked as he talked to Henry on the computer.
Lottie, Ted, and Beard were sitting in the office while Nate went out to check on the team bus outside for the upcoming weekend's match. Lottie would be riding on the bus with everyone, but she was actually joining Rebecca and Keeley on a little girls' weekend. Normally, she would be rooming with her father, but this time she would be sharing a suite with Keeley and Rebecca.
Her pink duffle bag matched her sweatpants – it was a travel day, so she was opting for a more comfortable look – which was sitting on the floor beside Beard's desk. Lottie had on a white sweater and her leather jacket – it was hers now, she decided.
"Yeah," Henry replied at Ted's question.
"Well, that's not a town. It's actually a team in Liverpool!" Ted told him.
"Like the Beatles!" Henry exclaimed excitedly. "If you see John, Paul, George, or Ringo, will you take a picture, please?"
Lottie didn't have the heart to tell him that only Paul and Ringo were still alive, so she smiled and nodded. "Hey, you got it, big guy." Lottie checked the time and tapped her wrist, alerting her father to wrap the call up.
"Ok, hey, I better get a roll on here, all right?" Ted told him.
"Ok. And Mom wants to talk to you. Hold on," Henry waved to the camera before getting up to grab Michelle.
"I love you, buddy," Ted said.
"Love you, Henry!" Lottie called as she left the screen so she could grab her duffel.
"Love you too!" Henry said as Michelle walked over.
"Still haven't told him John and George are dead?" Beard asked once Henry was out of reach of the speaker.
"They're what?" Ted exclaimed in alarm while Lottie shushed her uncle.
Beard nodded and whispered, "It was Keith Richards," making Lottie and Ted chuckle.
"Hey, Ted. Hey, baby," Michelle greeted, smiling softly at them.
"Hi, Mama," Lottie waved. "I'm sorry, but I gotta go meet up with Keeley and Rebecca, then put my bag in the bus. But I'll talk to you soon."
"All right, baby. I miss and love you incredibly much."
"Love ya!" Lottie blew a kiss at her before leaving for Rebecca's office. She got there right as Keeley did with her roller luggage and found Rebecca looking at something on her laptop with furrowed brows.
"Woo-hoo! Girl's trip!" Keeley exclaimed as they walked in.
"Liverpool, here we come!" Lottie joined, pumping her fist excitedly. Rebecca slammed her laptop shut, telling the girls that whatever she had been viewing was unpleasing.
"I just want to say upfront that I'm really flattered you asked me to come this weekend," Keeley said gratefully.
"Oh, come on, now," Rebecca waved her off, not wanting her to feel indebted in any way. This was a girls trip and she had invited her girls.
"But, hey, we're all single – well, Lottie is for now. I think you're super hot. If I'm gonna dip my toe back into the lady pool, I can't think of a finer body of water to do it with than you," Keeley told her.
Lottie bit her lip to suppress her smile at Rebecca's alarmed expression, thinking Keeley was being serious and had misread her intentions. "No, Keeley, I think you're confused," Rebecca stammered, trying to be polite.
"I was at first. Then I was like, 'Come on, Keeley. Blow of some steam and have some wicked sex with your new friend!'" Lottie let out a giggle as Rebecca's jaw dropped in horror. Taking mercy on her, Keeley let up. "I'm fucking with you."
Lottie and Keeley busted into cackles as Rebecca let out a gasp of relief. "I thought you were being serious. I mean, can you imagine?"
"Oh, I have," Keeley nodded, unembarrassed by the fact. Rebecca was left flabbergasted once again. Lottie understood. Rebecca was a goddess. Keeley then turned to Lottie. "And with you too, love."
"Oh," Lottie blinked, flattered. "Thank you, Keeley. If I was into muffins, I would take you up on that offer."
Higgins then walked wearing shades in singing a happy tune. "Do-da do-da do do do do doo. Looks like we have a new passenger on today's flight," he lifted his sunnies up and glanced at Keeley.
"Actually, Keeley will be taking your seat on the jet, Higgins," Rebecca informed him.
"Oh," Higgins frowned with disappointment.
"Sorry," Keeley grimaced apologetically. "I'm gonna go spend a penny before we take off. Yeah. See you downstairs, Rebecca!"
Lottie felt bad for Higgins, but she sure as heck didn't want to stay around for the awkward interaction, so she excused herself as quickly as possible. "I'm gonna go join my daddy, Uncle Beard, and the team. See y'all in Liverpool!" She then rushed out as fast as she could – which was fairly speedy as she was wearing slippers instead of her usual stilettos today. She dropped off her bag at the bus outside before heading back to the locker room. She walked in to find Beard writing plays on the whiteboard and Ted addressing the team.
"All right, gentlemen. Who's ready to go show Everton what we got?" Ted asked the guys. Dani and Lottie were the only ones who cheered, everyone else with solemn expressions on their faces. "Thank you, Dani, sunshine." Ted then turned to Beard, pulling Lottie with him. "Jeez, Louise. Why's everybody so down in the dumps? What happened? Did Beyonce dump Jay-Z or somethin'?"
"No. Nothing like that," Beard assured them.
"Thank goodness," Ted sighed. "Just sayin' it out loud made me immediately sad." Lottie personally would have been thrilled by the news, but she kept that to herself. They did get "Lemonade" out of it, after all. "Let me see what's goin' on here." Ted turned back to the team. "Hey, guys. Seriously, come on. Talk to me. What's up?"
Sam was the one to answer after glancing at Dani and Colin, who were standing beside him. "Well, we're fine," he said. Lottie narrowed her eyes at him accusingly, to which Colin and Sam took a step back, sensing they weren't being truthful.
"Yeah, I'm all right," Isaac added unconvincingly. Even if his tone was convincing - which it was not – his body language, which consisted of a pout and a sagged shoulders while sitting on the bench, was not.
Lottie rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips like a mother, looking at all the guys with an unimpressed expression. "Anyone want to tell the truth, now?"
Roy punched his cubby and turned around to face her. "We're in a shit fucking mood because we never fucking win at Everton and it sucks fucking shit!"
Lottie was used to Roy's cussing and general attitude towards certain things, so she wasn't startled by his outburst like some of the other members were. "Thank you for bein' honest, Roy. I appreciate it," she told him gratefully.
Roy nodded, "You're welcome."
Colin then mumbled "whipped" beside Sam, to which he laughed and Roy promptly gave him a withering glare, making him shut up. Luckily, Lottie hadn't caught it as she was too distracted by the attractive glare-thing Roy had going on. Something about the way his brows furrowed. It sent tingles through her.
Roy was on edge more so than usual. Part of it was the troubling match coming up, but the other part was something else. Something about Colin's comment. "Whipped." Roy Kent was not fucking "whipped." He could not be controlled by anyone... except Lottie Lasso.
Coming to terms with the realization, Roy was filled with... anger. Angry that Lottie had such control over him. Angry that the rest of the boys gave him shit for it. Angry that he enjoyed it.
"Ah, come on, fellas. How long has it been since y'all won up at Everton?" Ted asked.
"Sixty years ago," Colin answered.
"Jesus Christ," Beard mumbled, not helping at all.
Lottie reaction was considerably worse, her eyes widening like saucers and her jaw dropping in shock as she exclaimed, "Are you serious?" When she realized that her outburst was definitely not boosting morale in the slightest, she shut her mouth and suddenly became fascinated with her cuticle situation.
Ted blew out a long whistle, surprised by the length of the losing streak. "Wow. That is a heck of a long time. Ok, so we got that goin' on. And obviously, we're bummed out that O'Brien tore his butt."
"It's my upper hamstring, Coach." "It's not his butt, it's his hamstring." Lottie and Tom corrected him quickly.
But Ted didn't care for the actual terminology. Not when his version was way more amusing. "You tore your butt, son. There's nothin' to be ashamed of, ok? It happens." The rest of the guys laughed, helping the energy of the room. "People tear their butts all the time in athletics. You're not alone, man." Beard crossed out his injury on the board and wrote "butt" below "hamstring," not helping at all.
Lottie decided not to take pity on the man either and turned to Beard. "Hey, Uncle Beard, you've torn your butt a few times, right?" Tom looked up at Lottie with betrayal, which she responded with a shit-eating grin that made him roll his eyes and crack a smile. No one could be mad at Lottie Lasso. She was too adorable and pure.
"Three times," Beard answered shamelessly.
Ted held up three fingers towards the group. "Three times. Butt's an amazin' muscle. God as my witness, your butt will heal." Tom shook his head at Ted's antics as everyone laughed some more. "The silver linin' here, with O'Brien's tore butt, is that my man from Montreal is gonna be fillin' in as goalie. Give it up for Zorro!"
Thierry Zoreaux, one of the only players that Lottie had nothing negative to say about his running during training, looked up at Ted from where he was sitting. "Oh, it's pronounced, um, 'Zoreaux,'" he corrected him, emphasizing the last "O" syllable rather than the first to display its frenchness.
"I'm sorry. Zorro."
"Zoreaux," Lottie repeated him, pronouncing it correctly.
It was difficult with his southern accent, Lottie having picked it up more easily after taking French in high school and listening to their mother's northern accent all her life, so Ted sighed with a confused frown. "You – I don't know what I'm doin' wrong here."
"It's all right, Daddy. We'll work on it," Lottie assured him.
Ted nodded at her thankfully and moved on. "Point is, gentlemen, unless one of y'all's got a crystal ball, we don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. That's why we play the game. So let me hear it. Richmond on three. One, two, three!"
Yet again, it was only Lottie and Dani who shouted "Richmond" with enthusiasm. Everyone else just grumbled.
Lottie frowned at Roy's unimpressed, flat look as he watched Ted try to rally everyone up. To him, it was pointless. There was nothing exciting about the upcoming weekend and match for him. It would just be another miserable weekend full of losses and disappointments.
"Right. come on. Let's go," Roy grunted as he left the locker room for the bus, eager to just get on with it. The rest of the team followed him out, Beard and the Lassos the last to leave.
When they reached outside, Ted was ambushed by two reporters that he recognized from his press conferences. Lottie excused herself to grab a seat on the bus, having no desire to interact with the press.
Lottie scanned the seats on the bus and found only two empty rows. One was beside Beard, who Lottie had no doubt he was saving for her father and Nate, wherever the heck he was. She could sit with her uncle and her father and listen to them strategize about the upcoming match while falling asleep on her father. Or...
She could take the empty row beside the brooding football player with an affinity for leather jackets and cursing like a sailor caught in a whirlpool.
Lottie decided on the latter and sat her butt on the plush seat with a friendly smile, which Roy responded with a grunt. "Howdy, Roy."
"Lottie," he greeted with a small nod. "You don't want to sit with your father and uncle?"
Lottie shook her head and smiled. "Nope. I'd rather sit with MY BEST FRIEND ROY KENT." She made sure to direct her voice at Sam and Isaac, who were sitting rows ahead. Both boys rolled their eyes at her playfully, having known they had lost the best weeks ago.
Roy raised his brow questioningly, an emotion in his eyes that Lottie deciphered as insecurity, which she promptly shut down because it made no sense to her why Roy would feel such a way. "You don't really think we're best friends, do you?"
Lottie nodded very seriously. "Um, yes we are. I don't know where that denial came from, but I'm pretty sure you don't give picky back rides to any of the other guys."
Roy scoffed. "They're not my friends."
"Hey!" All the guys shouted in outrage, making Roy roll his eyes. He could admit that he liked all the guys, but calling them his friends was a stretch.
"Well, I'm your friend. And you're mine," Lottie said definitively. "And no arguin' or any of that denyin' you got goin' on with everybody else."
Though Lottie could admit it to herself, she would never admit to Roy that she wanted far more than just friendship with him. But she figured that if she confessed that, he would go running for the hills. So she kept her crush quiet, only indulging in her daydreams and fantasies.
Roy wasn't going to argue with her anyway, what with the fear that she would be sad or hurt if he refused. Though he refused to admit it to himself, much less aloud, friendship was far too platonic for what Roy wanted with Lottie Lasso.
He could admit that he was attracted to her – he would be a fool not to considering every time she was near his brain went haywire and the blood travelled south. But anytime the thought of slamming his lips against hers and claiming her sweet sighs and desperate moans, he refused to acknowledge where it came from or why he had it in the first place. According to Isaac and Sam's WRONG opinion that he was going through "the five stages of acceptance," he was deeply planted in the "denial" stage.
And he was further in denial that he had moved on from denial to anger – one step closer to finally acceptance.
So all Roy did was grunt in response. Lottie smiled with amusement at that, and Roy felt his heart seize in his chest. He never wanted her smile to ever fall away. If someone dared to do so, he would happily watch the world burn to ashes if it meant putting that smile back on her face.
"All right, fellas! Let's go beat Liverpool!" Ted shouted cheerfully, to which no one but Lottie and Dani, once again, cheered.
The bus began to pull out of the parking lot when there was a sudden banging coming from beneath their feet. It wasn't the floor itself, but something underneath it. The thought popped into Lottie's head, and she froze. "Um, Daddy?"
"Yeah, sunshine?"
"Where's Nate?"
Ted looked around the rows, but Nate was nowhere to be found. "Huh. Coach, you seen him?" Beard shook his head. "Well, where is our guy?"
Lottie winced and pointed to the floor. "I might have an idea."
Ted jumped from his seat and sprinted to the front of the bus, ordering the driver to stop. Once the bus had, the door opened and he rushed outside and yanked the bus's lower luggage compartment.
"Hey, there he is!" Isaac exclaimed as they all watched Nate emerge as they peered out of the windows. Ted shut the luggage compartment as Beard helped Nate onto the bus.
Lottie tried not to laugh at Nate's rustled up state as he took a seat beside Ted. He was squinting his eyes at the bright sunlight. Lottie wondered how long he had actually been under there, and how he got trapped in the first place.
She glanced back over at Roy and saw he was once again sporting his staple frown. "Turn that frown upside-down, Severus Snape."
"I am not Snape."
"Sure. And I'm not Luna Lovegood."
"You are quite loony."
"By that logic, you're quite the half-blood prince."
"Fucking kill me."
"Avada kadavera!"
⚽︎
Lottie was trying to keep her eyes open as she leaned back against Roy's chest, who was standing behind her like a solid wall of muscle, as Nate recited the hotel rules for the players to follow like a fifth-grade field trip chaperone.
"So, just to remind you, the hotel furniture stays in the rooms, not the hallway or the pool. Nor are you allowed to ship it to your homes or other hotels, ok?" He handed everyone their keys to the rooms they were staying in. Since Lottie was rooming with Rebecca and Keeley, Nate didn't hand her a card. She was still waking up from her bus nap, so it was for the best that she didn't get one. She would have lost it in seconds.
"All right, fellas," Ted called for everyone's attention. "We got a meal in one hour. After that, it's either gonna be movie night or a pillow fight. What's it gonna be this time around?"
"Movie night," everyone answered in unison.
"All right. But I tell you what, y'all say 'pillow fight' one time, and we'll never watch another movie together again," Ted said as the boys began making their way towards the elevators, desperate to wind down after the bus ride.
Roy leaned down so his lips were against Lottie's delicate ear. "As much as I love being your personal resting wall, I need to get to my room."
The sensation of his warm breath against her ear woke Lottie up, making her feel all kinds of tingles. She never knew her ear could be so sensitive. "Oh. Sorry." She stepped away so he could leave with the rest of the team. "I should go find Rebecca and Keeley anyway."
Roy nodded and left to go to his room. Lottie pulled out her phone and texted Keeley, and she responded telling her to meet them on the eighth floor. She took the elevator and found them in the hallway waiting for her with a man who appeared to work for the hotel.
"Hey, babe," Keeley greeted with a smile. "We were just about to go in."
The three girls followed the hotel concierge. "Here we go. It's the presidential suite. Hope it's to your satisfaction," he told them politely. "Would you like me to show you the various room amenities?"
"No, thank you," Keeley replied with a smile and a tone that Lottie recognized to slip whenever she was about to pull something. "My ladies and I wanna have a quick shag and a shower before we hit the town tonight."
Lottie had to cover her mouth with her palm to stop her from laughing as the poor man blushed fiercely and deflected his gaze to his feet. "Welcome to Liverpool," he stammered quickly before rushing out as quickly as he could.
Rebecca seemed unimpressed at Keeley's joke. "What? He would've spent a cash tip in, like, a minute," she said, trying to rationalize her little prank. "Come on. The image I just gave him is gonna last for a lifetime."
"No, it's – it's not you. It's... oh, fuck," she stammered. Sorrow flashed on her face, making the girls pause.
"Rebecca?" Lottie asked gently. "Are you all right? What's goin' on?" Rebecca only ever got this sad and small about one thing – the slimy little cockroach that was her ex-husband.
"This is Rupert's and my anniversary weekend," she confessed, confirming Lottie's suspicion. "And... it's the first one I've spent by myself..." Her voice was trembling and her eyes began to glisten from unshed tears.
Keeley and Lottie grabbed Rebecca and pulled her into a group hug. "Hey, it's ok," Keeley cooed as Lottie gently stroked her back.
Rebecca immediately relaxed into their embrace, savoring the comfort after the mental and emotional toll the significance of the day did on her. She ignored her nagging guilt, which grew with every smile Lottie Lasso sent her way, and snuggled her face into her soft hair. "Thank you," she whispered to the girls, so grateful to have friends like them in her life. After a few more moments with neither girl loosening their grip, she mumbled, "Oh. That's a long hug."
"But you love it," Lottie hummed, tightening her grip.
And though Rebecca was most definitely not a hugger, she didn't mind being held for a little bit longer.
⚽︎
Lottie was texting her father while lying down in her bed about how his and Beard's rooms were right next to each other while Rebecca called room service from the vanity.
"Yes, hello. We still haven't received the champagne I ordered. Thank you," she told them. "Ah. Good question. One second." She lowered the phone and turned to Lottie. Keeley was in the other room, so Rebecca raised her voice so she could hear. "Should I get the concierge to make us a reservation somewhere tonight?"
Before Lottie could answer, Keeley's said, "Shipley's steak house is unmatched in its cuisine and ambience."
"Is it now? Cool. I can do steak," Rebecca hummed. Lottie was unfamiliar with the restaurant, much less Liverpool itself, so she nodded in agreement. She trusted Keeley's judgement. Rebecca brought the phone back to her ear, "Uh, yes. The steak house for three, please." After a second, Rebecca shouted, "Does 8:00 pm work for you?"
"Sounds great to me," Lottie nodded.
"The business center is open 24 hours a day," Keeley replied, puzzling the two women. After Rebecca confirmed their dinner reservation, the two women sought out Keeley.
They found her in front of the suite's living room television, gaping at whatever was playing on the screen. "What was that about a business center?" Lottie inquired as she took a seat beside her on the couch.
"Guests also have access to our state-of-the-art gym filled with the latest in workout technology. Like kettlebells!" Lottie and Rebecca quickly realized that it had not been Keeley who was answering Rebecca's questions, but rather the program that was airing that starred her with crimped hair and a pink top that wasn't the most flattering on her.
"Oh, my god," Rebecca gasped as the video continued.
"Liverpool has much to offer when it comes to nightlife. From pubs and clubs, to the great Asian pastime of karaoke!"
"I don't even remember doing this," Keeley mumbled as she gaped at the video in horror.
"And, if you're the artsy type-"
"Right, enough," Rebecca snatched the remote from her and shut the program off. "This weekend is moving forward. When that champagne arrives, we are going to get drunk, have a nice meal, and leave the past in the past. Sound good?"
"I'm always up for champagne," Lottie smiled. "Keeley, how about you?"
She agreed, "Sounds fucking great."
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Oh, speak of the devil." Rebecca went over to the door to grab the champagne. The girls peered over when a voice that was definitely not room service said once the door opened.
"Hello, Stinky." A beautiful woman with brown hair, a leather jacket, red polka dot dress, and an abundance of energy, walked into the room. She whistled impressively, "Still giving you the big room even without old gray walnuts footing the bill. Good. Fuck Rupert!"
"Heck yeah!" Lottie cheered. "Fudge the blobfish!"
"Oh, I like you," the woman eyed Lottie with a friendly smile. She then turned to Rebecca. "Who are they, then? That's a lot of concubines. Someone's ambitious. Is one of them Russian? Are any of you Russian?" She asked her and Keeley.
"American, actually," Lotte waved, finding her comments amusing.
Keeley jumped up and rushed over to the woman. "A, I love you. B, who are you?"
It was Rebecca who answered, the shock from the unexpected guest slowly wearing off and morphing into a thrilled smile. "Let me introduce you to Flo Collins, my best mate since we were little. Brilliant child psychologist and proud, newly single mother to the most amazing twelve-year-old little girl called Nora, my goddaughter."
"Wow," Keeley smiled.
"Both of whom I've completely neglected to speak to in the last six years."
Lottie blinked in surprise at the new information. "Oh. Uh... ok."
"Oh, Jesus, Stinky. Remind me to bury you in the set list for speeches at my funeral," Flo quipped. She then turned to the girls and shook their hands. "Hi, I'm Flo. Or you can call me 'Sassy.' I don't care which."
"Nice to meet you," Lottie said friendlily. "I'm Lottie. My daddy's the team's coach."
"Oh, southern? I love it." After shaking Keeley's hand, Sassy turned back to Rebecca. "So, you heard about the divorce?"
"Yeah. I bumped into Derren at a party," Rebecca admitted. "He told me right after he hit on me."
"What a pig," Lottie grimaced.
Sassy seemed unsurprised by the news. Probably one of the reasons she divorced him in the first place. "Hey, what's new? Still, weird order to him to roll out that information. Right, what's in the plan for tonight, then?" She looked between the three women. "Shall I call down? Get myself a robe?" She grabbed her purse and pulled out a bottle of champagne. "Oh! Look what I've got. Ta-da! Stole it off a room service trolley outside."
Lottie figured it was probably the bottle meant for them anyway, so she happily took the bottle and went to search for a corkscrew to pop it open. Keeley, already loving everything about the woman, pulled Sassy into a hug. "You're amazing! I'm Keeley, by the way. Hi!"
"Oh, I know who you are, honey," Sassy told her. "My ex used to masturbate to you like a maniac, so..."
Lottie grimaced with disgust at the fact. Not because masturbation was gross or anything. As a medical professional, she knew that it was a very normal and healthy thing to do. She just didn't like how everyone objectified Keeley so often as a model. Luckily, Keeley was unbothered by the comment.
Lottie found a corkscrew and began to peel the wrapping off the top of the bottle to open it. "From what it seems, Keeley has that effect on many men, I reckon."
Keeley pouted, taking her statement as a compliment. "Awe. Thank you, babe. That's mighty sweet of you."
Lottie squealed when the cork popped and the champagne foamed out of the bottle onto hands and the floor. "Cheers!" She handed the bottle to Rebecca, who took a long swing. Sassy and Keeley cheered her on as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and passed it to Keeley.
"Drink up, babe!" Keeley took a gulp then passed the bottle to Sassy.
Sassy didn't even attempt a toast, taking the bottle and bringing it to her lips. She sighed as the chilled bubbly drink travelled down her throat. "God, I love being friends with a millionaire." She turned her sights to Lottie and watched her with an inquisitive expression. "I know that Keeley and Jamie broke up online. I'm sure you've got a partner, yeah? You're cute as a button, you."
"Why, thank you" Lottie preened at the compliment. "I am a singular sunflower in a field of daisies."
"Fucking adorable," Sassy smiled at Lottie, thinking she was just a delight.
"Actually," Keeley peeped, "I believe Lottie's got some lucky love coming her way." Sassy's eyes flared with intrigue as she glanced between the frowning Lottie and grinning Keeley. "Roy Kent fancies her."
"Fuck off!" Sassy exclaimed in surprise and thrill. "He's a mighty fine bloke. I could balance a coin on that plush of an arse." Lottie blushed fiercely at Sassy's comment, though she internally agreed. Roy Kent had a nice arse. "Do you fancy him as well?"
Rebecca answered for her, "Oh, yes, she does. Very much so."
Lottie gasped and shoved Rebecca's arm, though to the strong woman the force felt like a light breeze. "Rebecca!"
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "It's true. Don't bother denying it."
Sassy's and Keeley's beady stares broke her. She sighed dramatically and took the bottle of champagne from Sassy. "Fine. Yes, I fancy him." The women all cheered as Lottie took a big swing of champagne. At the rate they were chugging it, they would be very tipsy by dinner.
"And she admits it!" Keeley clapped and cackled gleefully. "Fucking finally! I'm so glad we're done beating around the bush."
Lottie's jaw dropped when Rebecca nodded in agreement. Rebecca noticed her expression and simple shrugged. "I'm not blind. Plus, Sam mentioned it to me." Lottie shut her eyes and groaned. The saving grace that kept her from allowing the ground to swallow her whole was that Isaac and Sam were going to dance around the pitch in a few months.
"Roy Kent fancies you?" Sassy reiterated. "And you fancy him? Well, why the fuck have you not climbed him like a tree and fucked his brains out yet?"
"That's a great question," Keeley hummed. The women turned to Lottie and stared at her with questioning looks.
Lottie sighed and took another swing before answering. "As confident as y'all are that Roy likes me, I regret to inform you that he does not see me in that way, sadly."
Rebecca scoffed and Keeley raised her brow, neither convinced. Sassy glanced between Lottie's sad expression and the other women's disbelief and put the two together. "I've never met the man, I just met you, and I've never seen you both interact, but I gather that you are living in the sunshine state of denial."
"Right on," Rebecca nodded, to which Lottie frowned. "If everyone but you picked up on it, then you're fucking blind, hun. I mean, he gave you his jacket and his kit."
Sassy's brows rose at the news, and she looked to Lottie expectantly. "His kit? Yeah, that man is madly in love."
As much as Lottie wished what they were saying was true, she believed the devastating alternative that Roy saw her as nothing more than a friend. It annoyed the other women how someone so intelligent couldn't see the truth five feet ahead of her. Rebecca, Sassy, and Keeley shared knowing looks as Lottie took another swing.
"It'll hit her in the face at some point," Rebecca said, deciding to drop the topic. It seemed to stress Lottie out, and they didn't want any more negativity on their girls' weekend. "All right, pass the champagne or you're going to be losing a war with gravity all night."
⚽︎
While the team of adult male football players was crying at the hotel while watching The Iron Giant, the girls were sharing stories and laughs at the steak house after feeling a bit buzzed from the bottle of champagne they had downed before heading over.
The girls had changed, Rebecca into a fitted midi silver dress, Keeley into an off-the-shoulder white flowy blouse and black jeans, and Lottie into a knit black mini dress that showed off her slim waist. She, of course, paired her dress with tall silver rhinestone heels, which made Sassy love her all the more.
Sassy was currently telling the girls an embarrassing story about a little incident that occurred at hers and Rupert's wedding during her maid of honor speech. "Right, so I hadn't prepared anything. Not the brightest idea for a maid of honor, especially with an open bar."
"Yeah, she was the star of the weekend," Rebecca said, taking a sip of red wine.
"Yeah, I gave Elton John a boner," Sassy said proudly.
"You did what?" Keeley squawked.
"You met Elton John?" Lottie gasped in awe.
"No, you didn't!" Rebecca laughed.
"Yes, I did," Sassy insisted.
"He had repeatedly denied that," Rebecca told the girls.
"Ah. Classic 'she said, she said,' innit?" Sassy scoffed playfully, to which Lottie and Keeley laughed.
They're waiter then approached their table – a very fine young man who looked like he would grace the cover of GQ. "Would you ladies like another bottle? A little dessert perhaps?"
Sassy, getting an idea, smirked at the gorgeous man while Lottie stared at him with wide eyes. Yes, Roy Kent was where her heart lied, but she couldn't help herself from staring at beautiful things. And the man was quite beautiful. "My sexy and extremely single friend here actually prefers her desserts on the larger side," she told the man as she motioned to Rebecca. Rebecca was embarrassed by her friend's forwardness at putting her on the spot. "If that's something you could possibly accommodate." The innuendo flew over Lottie's head, but she was able to gather that Sassy was acting as Rebecca's wing woman, so she didn't ask her to clarify.
Rebecca smiled apologetically at the waiter, her cheeks fiercely flushed. He just smiled back at her gorgeously. "I'll give you a few minutes."
"Thank you. Sorry," she told him. The waiter left the table walking backwards so he could stare at Rebecca a bit longer. Once he was gone, she turned to Sassy and glared at her playfully. "I can't believe you just did that."
"Oh, shut up. You love it," Sassy cackled as she reached for her purse on the floor. "Right. I'm going for a smoke. Stinky?"
"No. I don't smoke anymore," Rebecca declined.
"And yet, you're still on fire." She pointed to the waiter across the room at the host stand whose eyes had not strayed from Rebecca since he left the table. In fact, the entire meal, he seemed to only have eyes for her. That, or it was fairly obvious that it was her footing the bill and leading the charge. It was a hybrid of both, really.
After Sassy left, Rebecca excused herself from the table, leaving Lottie and Keeley alone to chat about her latest work projects for the team. Sassy returned a few minutes later. "Ok, I just met the fucking Marlboro Man in the-" She cut herself off from talking about her interaction with who she would later learn to be Lottie's father when she noticed Rebecca was no longer with them. "Where's Stinky gone? She abandoned you?"
"No. She just went to pee," Keeley assured her.
"Ah," Sassy hummed as she sat back down.
"Where does 'Stinky' come from?" Lottie inquired. Out of all the names that could resemble Rebecca, that was one of the last ones she would have ever considered. Rebecca smelt of ridiculously expensive perfume that was both subtle yet nose-grabbing. Men literally followed her with their noses when she walked past.
"I remember the day she moved into our town," Sassy recollected. "She was already taller than me, had bigger boobs, family was rich. So the first day of year seven, I told everyone her nickname was 'Stinky.'"
"That's awful," Lottie grimaced at the same time Keeley laughed, "That's genius."
Sassy then raised her glass of wine. "To the ties that bind us."
Lottie and Keeley joined in raising their glasses. "To Rebecca," Keeley toasted as they clinked their glasses.
Sassy then frowned. "Yeah, that's not Rebecca."
"What do you mean?" Lottie asked, surprised by her comment.
Sassy elaborated with a wistful smile, "No, the real Rebecca is silly. Strong, yeah, but not cold. Have you ever heard her sing?"
"No," Lottie replied softly, having never seen any side like that come out of Rebecca since she met her.
"Ah. Beautiful voice. Her and Nora would sing around the door for hours," Sassy told them. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"
"Adorable," Lottie smiled at the thought.
"Who's Nora?" Keeley asked.
"My daughter," Sassy replied. "Yeah, if you like that woman, you are gonna love Rebecca."
"I'm sure," Lottie agreed. Her new mission was now to get the majestic Rebecca Welton to sing her heart out. She knew Rupert had done a number on her, but she didn't fully realize how much. She hoped that Rebecca would find her true self once again now that the dead weight was gone.
Rebecca returned to the table a moment later. "Ready?"
"What about the bill?" Keeley asked. Lottie reached for her purse for her wallet. She knew that Rebecca was a millionaire and all, but she would never assume that she would ever not pay for her portion. Rebecca had already taken care of the room, after all – although she assured Lottie it was being written down as a business expense.
Before Rebecca could reply, the handsome waiter came over and handed Rebecca a receipt and her credit card. "Thank you, Ms. Welton," he told her while shamelessly dragging his eyes over her full figure.
Lottie was too excited about the interaction to worry about Rebecca's sneaky bill trick. "Oh, my," she fanned herself while Sassy and Keeley whistled at his departure. "If you don't hit that, well, you gotta hit that, Rebecca."
Rebecca ignored Lottie and turned to Sassy, who was putting her credit card back in her wallet. "Do you wanna do that thing where you pretend to pay?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah," Sassy nodded. She looked over at Keeley and Lottie. "This is really good fun, Join in." Then, with very dramatic and horrible acting skills, Sassy groaned dramatically. "Oh, you absolute piece of shit! I was about to do that!"
Keeley joined in. "I was just about to get my card out."
"I can't believe you've done this," Lottie pouted.
"We were gonna split. That was so nice."
"I swear, I was just about to get my card out."
"Six years I've waited for this. Honestly, Rebecca!"
⚽︎
Lottie couldn't sleep. Keeley was snoring softly on the queen bed beside hers, and even the white noise couldn't lull her. She had tried everything. Warm tea, soft music, stretching, relaxing yoga, ASMR, and nothing had worked.
Sassy and Rebecca were asleep in the other bedroom, and she didn't want to disturb them. She had searched through her bag for melatonin, but remembered when she couldn't find it that it was packed in her father's bag. It was 1:30 AM, but Lottie decided to test her luck and see if her father was awake. She grabbed her purse and quietly snuck out of the suite, making sure the door's lock clicked softly behind her.
When she reached her father's room, she knocked softly. When he didn't respond, she knocked harder. After a couple more tries, she gathered that he was passed out. Usually he was a light sleeper, but considering everything going on with Michelle, she figured he was more tired as of late, so she didn't want to keep on trying to wake him.
She tried Beard's door, which was next door, but he didn't answer either. She groaned and unzipped her bag to locate her room key so she could go back. She would just have to wait for nature to do its thing, she supposed.
She checked every pocket of her purse, and huffed with frustration when she realized that Sassy had taken her key earlier, meaning she had no way to enter the suite. Even if she punched the door, the girls wouldn't hear the sound through the thick doors of the bedrooms. It looked like she would be sleeping on the floor in the hallway that night. At least until a poor maid stumbled upon her during late night runs.
She turned to leave a familiar face peered out from one of the room's she had passed further down the hall. "You're up late."
"So are you," Roy noted. "Why are you down here? Aren't you in the fancy millionaire suite with your girlfriends?" Roy thought she looked incredibly adorable in her pink polka dot pajama set with pants and a button down top. But the tired discoloration underneath her eyes wasn't.
Lottie walked over to Roy, who was dressed in grey sweats, and grey sweats only, showing off his bare, hairy, muscular chest that Lottie had to purposefully avoid staring at – which was proving to be very difficult. "Couldn't sleep. Needed melatonin from my daddy. Got locked out."
"Ah." Lottie moved to go back to her hallway when Roy's next words made her pause. "You could stay with me tonight." God, he was "whipped," as Colin so eloquently put it. He found himself internally bargaining with himself as soon as the offer left his lips. She would have had to sleep on the floor of the hotel, and someone could have murdered her or some shit. This is the safest option. There was nothing else he could do. The rationales did nothing to ease the fucking nervousness brewing in his chest as Lottie contemplated the offer. Please, god – if you do exist – don't let me fuck this up.
As intriguing as the offer was, Lottie didn't want to intrude on his personal space. Yet again, it was an appealing alternative to sleeping on the hallway floor. "Oh, I wouldn't want to impose-"
"Get in," Roy cut her off, opening the door wider so she could. His tone was final, and Lottie knew better than to argue – not that she wanted to – so she smiled gratefully and entered his room.
The door clicked shut behind her and she followed Roy past the bathroom and closet into the main room. His duffel was on the floor against the far wall and his uniform for the next day's match was laid out on the desk chair. The bed was only lightly tussled, telling her that he had been awake for quite some time, probably just sitting and doing... whatever Roy Kent does when he's alone. He was a very private person – very Rosa Diaz of him.
"You take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor." He moved past her, ignoring the bed, and grabbing a spare pillow so he could rest on the empty carpet beside it.
"Wha-no! Roy, I'll take the floor. It's your room," Lottie refused, snatching the pillow away from him.
"No. You're taking the bed. And that's fucking final." Roy took the pillow back.
Very maturely and not at all childishly, Lottie snatched the pillow back and hid it behind her back. "Look, neither of us has to sleep on the floor," Lottie said, deciding on a compromise. "It's a queen bed. It's surely big enough for both of us, right?"
Roy glanced at the bed before nodding. "Yeah. 'Cause you're a fucking munchkin."
"Ok, first of all, I'm 5'3", which is... I don't know how much in meters, but it's sure as heck not munchkin-tiny," Lottie glared adorably. "Second, we can put a pillow between us like a wall that way we each have our personal space. Clearly marked borders, defensive walls, and no way one can ambush another's territory with the clearly stated boundaries. Sound fair?"
After a moment of contemplation, Roy nodded. "Fine. But if you have cold feet and touch me in any way with them, I will shove you off and take the bed for myself."
"Such a gentleman." Lottie went to the left side while Roy stayed on the right. Roy sacrificed the pillow he was holding to make the wall, and they both organized themselves under the covers on their respective sides. "Don't go demolishin' our wall overnight. I don't need to be wakin' up to your sasquatch legs all over my side."
"Same goes for you. I don't need to wake up choking on your straw hair."
"Again, such a gentleman."