It's Coming Home

Chapter 9

Amy woke up gently. Without even opening her eyes, she her legs had become entangled with his during the course of the night. He was still asleep, but facing her. She studied his sleeping face. He was absolutely gorgeous, but not only that, Brad was definitely a nice guy, and her type on paper. The night before he'd told her how much he liked her, and she'd told him that she liked him too,  but what she didn't tell him was that something was holding her back. Someone called Jack.

It was quite a chilled day in the villa, and they spent most of their day beside the pool. Amy was wearing a pale blue bikini, which to be blunt barely covered her nipples. It wasn't her usual style but Brads complements were really bringing her out of her shell.

'Hey beautiful' he greeted her on the sun beds. 'You're looking a bit pink from the sun. Why don't I put some cream on your back for you ?'he asked, the twinkle in his eye undeniable.

He squeezed the cream into her back and began to massage it in. She sighed with pleasure. Not only did it feel good in general, his touch was turning her on a lot. She felt him undo the back of her bikini and continue to massage her, but the last thing she wanted was for him to stop.

That night when they got into bed, Brad asked if he could cuddle her. Butterflies began in her stomach. He wanted to cuddle her. 'Okay' she nodded. She lay down and felt his body behind her, spooning her, his arm fell around her waist and he pulled her in closer. She allowed herself a smile as he whispered 'I really like you' to her as she drifted off to sleep. Maybe this was starting to prove itself to be a good idea after all.

*****

The press surrounding Love Island was massive as always. The tabloids were full of stories about the contestants. There were kiss and tell stories, tales of one night stands and love rats, but nothing bad appeared about Amy, much to her friends relief. Although they'd shared a flat for going on 3 years and all of that time she'd been impeccably behaved, they didn't really know a lot about her life before she arrived a week late to start her course. All they knew was she'd had her heart broken by her ex and as a result she'd had a last minute changed from Birmingham to Stirling Uni. The press were determined though and with Amy's clue of her having slept with a celebrity, they had doubled down their efforts to work out who. For the time being however, the stories in the press about Amy were all positive though. They liked how she was unpretentious and natural. She wore far less make up than the others and was probably the only one in there that wasn't at least vaguely surgically enhanced.

Jack had been on too much of a high after the game to catch up on the show even if he wanted to, so when he saw the stories online the next day about Brad and Amy cuddling and it shook him. In fact it rocked him far more than he had anticipated. That was obviously why she had went on the show in the first place but seeing her touching another man like that hurt.

'You okay mate?' Asked Phil, immediately sensing the tension from Jack as they made their way down to the hotel restaurant.

'Yeah fine' Jack snapped, in a tone that showed that he was anything but. It didn't go unnoticed amongst the other players who were all sat down for breakfast.

'S'up mate?' asked Harry.

'It doesn't matter' said Jack, hoping they'd lose interest, but they could see how flustered he was and wouldn't let it go.

'Alright, Amy off Love Island is my ex girlfriend. Okay? Can we move on now?' He said sharply.

'I dunno Jack, it doesn't look like you've managed to move on yourself' Tyrone, Jacks team mate from Villa, pointed out.

'I don't want to talk about it alright. I just don't want any drama' Jack sighed.

'I think we need a chat after breakfast Jack' said Gareth firmly.

*****
Jack walked into the room which Gareth was using as his office and sat down across the desk from his worried looking manager.

'Jack, this is just a quick informal chat. I just want to work out where your heads at'

'I'm fine' Jack said firmly.

'Except you're not, and if I don't think you are, then I can't take the risk to play you. So either we talk about this honestly or you spend the rest of the tournament on the bench' Gareth asserted, equally as firmly.

He watched on, almost in disbelief as Jack broke down in tears right there in front of him. He explained their whole story to him and how she still made him feel.

'So you see, she's the love of my life and I just can't move on. It's breaking my heart to see her with another guy, when I can't stop wishing it was me' Jack explained.

Gareth nodded along until Jack stopped talking.

'Here's how I see it. This tournament lasts until the 11th July. Either you give me your all until then, or you leave the camp. If you love her as much as you say you do, then you can wait just a few more weeks to tell her'

'I know, my heads just scrambled with it all' Jack conceded.

'As a mate and not a coach, if it's meant to be then it will be' Gareth reassured him, rubbing his shoulder. Finally he knew what had been eating what he had hoped would be his magical impact player.

*****

'It's England vs Scotland today, do you think you's are going to win?' asked Brad, tucking Amy's hair behind her ear tenderly.

'Not sure actually. I mean technically England have the best players on paper, but Scotland always have passion, especially against you lot' she joked, poking him in the shoulder.

'You have a good point there' he nodded. It was nice to find a girl who enjoyed and understood his beloved football as much as he did. She had something about her that he really liked, really liked. As the day wore on he slipped off to the diary room.

'I think I might be catching feels for Amy and I don't even want to fight it. I just worry that maybe she's not as into me as I am her' he explained.

That night when they shared a kiss before bedtime he felt like he was about to burst.

*****

'How the hell did we draw with them Scots' huffed Chilly on the coach back to the hotel from Wembley.

'Did you see McTominay? Wait til I get back to old Trafford and see him for that foul' complained Rashford.

'That O'Donnell kept telling me I had nice calfs, that dick McGinn told him to' laughed Jack. He was delighted to have been subbed on, but at the same time frustrated he hadn't done more; an assistant or a goal would have sealed his place in a starting 11 surely. He'd worked hard to put Amy behind him that day, even with all the Scottish accents around which wasn't easy.

Jack remembered the oversized Scotland t-shirt she used to wear to bed. Her perky little butt just poking out from under it, just teasing him. Her pyjamas, like his tight white boxers never lasted long before they were both naked. He'd found that t shirt after they'd split and she was long gone. It had somehow found its way into his drawer and he'd told himself so many times to get rid of if, he just couldn't.