Striker (49 page)

‘What’s he gonna do now you’re back at work, then?’

‘What do you mean, what’s he gonna do?’

Kevin shrugged. ‘Well, once training’s over and he’s got all that free time to kill…’

Amber stared at her producer. ‘I trust him, okay? I think he’s learnt his lesson now.’ More than any of them would ever know.

Kevin shrugged again. ‘Okay, well, I hope it works out for you both. I suppose he’s got
you
to keep him in line now so we shouldn’t be seeing that talent going to waste. Red Star need him on top form if they have any chance of winning that league title this season.’ He slid down from her desk, shoving his hands in his pockets. ‘Oh, and Ronnie called for you earlier. He’s on his way up to the North East. He’s one of the pundits for Red Star’s televised match on Saturday evening.’

Amber sighed, closing her eyes for a second. Ronnie. She hadn’t seen him since before Christmas because he and Anna had spent the festive season over in Gran Canaria. But that didn’t mean to say that he didn’t know everything that was going on. And anyway, if he hadn’t before, he’d know now, after talking to Kevin.

Her phone ringing pulled her back to reality and she looked at the caller ID, a smile instantly spreading across her face as she saw who was calling her.

‘Hey, handsome,’ she said, leaning back in her chair, looking out of the window at the traffic streaming past the News North East building. ‘You not at training?’

‘Sneaked off for a few minutes. No-one’ll notice. There’s a story about Rob in the papers today – he’s managed to get himself photographed with a married soap star so the headlines are his, for a change.’

Amber smiled, absentmindedly turning her pen round and round between her fingers as she spoke. ‘Is it good to have a day off, then?’

He laughed – that gorgeous, sexy, low laugh that made her stomach flip over and over, turning her into a giggling, teenage fan-girl. ‘Yeah. You could say that. Things alright with you? And the press, I mean.’

Amber looked out of the window again, straining her eyes to see if she could see Red Star’s training ground from where she was. You could see Tynebridge, but she’d never actually tried to see if the training ground was visible from her office window. ‘Ryan, baby, I
am
the press. Nothing bothers me anymore.’ Since her return to Ryan’s side, media interest in their relationship had grown all over again, but Amber had learnt to deal with it. She’d had to learn fast, but she could handle just about anything they threw at her now, even if it was still a part of the package she could do without.

‘That photo they had of you in the Herald the other week…’

‘What photo?’ Amber asked, her search for Red Star’s training ground now over. You couldn’t really see it from where she was, even though it wasn’t all that far away from Tynebridge, which was clearly visible from her window, looming large on the horizon with its ominous, imposing, edge-of-city-centre presence.

‘The one of you looking hot as hell in nothing but a bed sheet and a smile, because that was no holiday snap, babe, I’m telling you.’

She smiled to herself, remembering the photograph he was talking about. It had been printed alongside a story concerning her relationship with Ryan, and even though they’d had her down as a bit of a cougar, making a reference to the eleven-year age gap between them, Amber had just been flattered they’d used a picture that made her look good. Yes, even
she
let vanity get the better of her sometimes. ‘That was from last year’s News North East charity calendar. I was July.’

‘Were you now. How come
I
never knew about this?’

‘Because we didn’t meet until August. Anyway, I’m sure you didn’t call me in the middle of the morning to talk about calendar shoots.’

‘Why not? Have you seen this year’s Red Star calendar? There’s something rather sexy in April you might be interested in.’

‘Oh yeah? Would that have anything to do with a particularly hot, tattooed footballer showing us his considerable talent?’

‘You’ve seen it, then.’

‘
Tracy
’s got one hanging up in the communal kitchen. Tell
Gary
he’s cheering up January no end.’

‘Yeah. I’ll be sure to pass the message on. Listen, beautiful, do you fancy going out tonight? One of the lads is having a private birthday do in the nightclub at Tynebridge and…’

‘Is that wise, Ryan? I mean, thing have been going so well…’

‘Amber, baby, I’m not suddenly going to set foot inside a club and fall off the wagon, am I? If that was going to happen then I had more than enough opportunities when I was away over Christmas. But I was a good boy, wasn’t I?’

She couldn’t help smiling. ‘Yeah. I suppose you were. You were only bad when I wanted you to be.’

He laughed that low, sexy laugh again and it was all Amber could do not to grab her coat and head off to the training ground, find him, and give him some training techniques of her own. ‘Why don’t we
both
misbehave a little bit tonight, huh? I mean, you’ll be there to keep an eye on me, won’t you?’

‘Ryan, please, I’m not your mother. I don’t need to “keep an eye” on you. I trust you.’

‘Yeah,’ he said quietly. ‘I know you do. So, you up for this, then? Come on, babe. Let me be a stereotypical footballer for a night, huh?’

‘Yeah, okay,’ she laughed, crossing her legs and resting her chin in her hand. ‘Just don’t expect me to be a stereotypical WAG. I’ll see you later, handsome.’

‘Talking dirty in the middle of a work day, are we?’

She swung her chair round and smiled as Ronnie pulled a chair over and sat down at her desk. ‘Happy New Year to you, too. Kevin said you were on your way. I didn’t expect you to be here quite so soon, though.’

‘Traffic’s quiet. And anyway, I was only coming from Hexham. I came up from
London
yesterday.’

‘You look good. I take it the holiday was a success?’

‘Yeah. I suppose so.’

Amber frowned slightly. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Oh, I dunno, Amber,’ Ronnie sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. ‘Anyway, what about you?’

She looked at him. ‘Are you sure you’re alright?’

‘You’re back with Ryan, then?’ he asked, ignoring her question.

‘I think you already know the answer to that one.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I love him.’

‘As simple as that.’

‘Yep. As simple as that.’

‘I thought you loved Jim.’

She looked at him again. ‘I will
always
love Jim, Ronnie. In some misguided, pointless kind of way. But I need to be with Ryan.’

‘Do you?’

‘Look, what is this? It’s my first day back at work, okay, and I really don’t need you turning up here with your interrogation techniques and a lecture.’

‘So, your dad narrowly avoided learning about your relationship with his close friend. That was handy.’

She continued to stare at him. ‘It could never really work, me and Jim. Too many memories. Too much history to get past. With Ryan it’s… it’s a new start. It’s a brand new start.’

‘And you think he’s capable of that, do you? Of leaving all that shit behind and settling down?’

‘Look, Ronnie, do you want to tell me what’s bothering you? Because you’re beginning to give me a headache I could really do without.’

‘Nothing’s wrong, okay?’

Amber arched an eyebrow. She didn’t believe
that
for a second. ‘Come on. We’re going to the pub across the road.’

‘Drinking? On your first day back?’

‘It’s lunchtime, Ronnie. And they serve soft drinks over there, too, y’know. Get up, come on. You’re not leaving my sight until you tell me what’s on your mind. Then maybe you can stop taking your bad mood out on me.’

*

Ryan jumped to reach the ball, heading it into the back of the net with more ease than any striker should be allowed to have. Jesus, he loved this game. Now Amber was back in his life that renewed energy she’d given him was back with a vengeance, despite the strained relationship he now had with Jim Allen. But, hey, in the fight for Amber’s affections, guess who’d won? Jim would just have to deal with it.

‘You coming tonight?’
Gary
asked, kicking the ball back to Ryan, squinting slightly as the winter sun shone low in the bright January sky.

‘Yeah. I called Amber. She’s coming, too.’

‘She’s still on baby-sitting duty, then?’

‘Fuck off,
Gary
. You more than anyone should know how much I need her right now. She trusts me, and I want her to see that I’m trying, okay?’

Gary
shrugged, running along the touchline as Ryan kicked the ball out to him. ‘What’s with you and the boss, anyway? One minute everything’s fine with you two and the next you could cut the atmosphere with a knife.’

‘He’s just pissed off at what happened, that’s all.’

‘Still?’
Gary
stopped running, bending over slightly,
his
hands on his hips as he tried to get his breath back. ‘All that shit happened before Christmas. And, yeah, I mean, everyone expected him to be pissed off at us for a while, but that was weeks ago. You’d have thought he’d have calmed down by now. He’s fine with me, so what’ve
you
done?’

‘Leave it,
Gary
, will you? How should
I
know what’s bugging Jim Allen.’

Gary
stood up straight, a smirk spreading over his face. ‘Hang on… no, it couldn’t… Amber and Jim Allen…?
 
I know he’s a friend of her dad’s, but… were they having some sort of relationship? Y’know, I always thought there was something strange about the way he was around her, the way he looked at her, I mean, we
all
look at her like that because she’s pretty hot, y’know, for an older woman, but…’ He looked at Ryan’s expression. ‘Jesus Christ, I’m right, aren’t I? Jim Allen was fucking Amber! Then you go and get all messed-up, she comes running, and leaves him to come back to you! I
knew
there was more to it. I
knew
it.’

‘Will you keep your fucking voice down,
Gary
?’ Ryan hissed, coming over to him, shoving the ball at him so hard it almost winded the defender. ‘Nobody knows about that, alright? Nobody knows, and that’s the way it’s gonna stay because I do
not
want her hurt, do you hear me?’

Gary
threw the ball down and held up his hands in mock-surrender. ‘Hey, okay. Chill out. Her secret’s safe with me.’

‘Yeah. I wish I could believe that,’ Ryan said, bending down to pick up the ball before throwing it back at another team-mate. ‘Seriously,
Gary
. I mean it. I don’t want anything to mess up what I’ve got with Amber. I managed that all by myself once and I’m trying really hard not to repeat that mistake. So, any outside interference could really fuck things up.’

Gary
folded his arms, looking straight at his best friend. ‘You’re serious about her, aren’t you?’

Ryan nodded, pushing a hand through his dark hair. ‘I love her,
Gary
. I frigging love her so much it scares me. And knowing the history she and Jim Allen have…’

‘History?’
Gary
gasped, his face brightening at the prospect of more unexpected gossip. ‘You mean, it wasn’t something that just happened?’

‘Jesus…’ Ryan sighed, throwing his head back. ‘Look,
Gary
, it’s complicated, okay? Just keep your mouth shut because you tell
any
one about Amber and Jim and I will fucking kill you…’

‘Not literally,’
Gary
smirked, watching as Rob was sent flying in the wrong direction by a glorious shot from Joey Gardner, Ryan’s striking partner.

‘Try me,’ Ryan said, fixing
Gary
with what he hoped was a warning look. ‘Ruin this for me, Gary, and I will never forgive you. You may not feel much like settling down, but I do, okay? After tonight, Ryan Fisher’s partying days are over.’

*

‘I’ve left Anna,’ Ronnie said, looking down into his pint.

Amber was speechless for a few seconds, trying to take in what her best friend had just told her. She’d thought everything was going so well, that Anna and Ronnie were made for each other. This was the last thing she’d expected to hear.

‘Ronnie, I… Shit! What… why? What happened? I thought everything was good, that you two were getting on so well…’

‘We were, Amber. Anna is such a great girl; she’s a fantastic, funny, beautiful woman and, yeah, the holiday was good, but…’

‘But, what?’ Amber asked, reaching out to take his hand as his eyes looked up into hers.
 

‘It just wasn’t going to work, Amber.’