The Greyhounds | Jamie Tartt

Chapter 8

The training ground buzzed with excitement as the women's team wrapped up their practice session on their brand new training ground. It had been a week since they stopped training with the men, and some space from the men's team to find their own rhythm as a team was much needed. Their skills were to be shown in two weekends in a Friendly match versus the VfL Wolfsburg Women's team from the German Frauen-Bundesliga. The camaraderie among the players had grown stronger, and Ashley found herself enjoying the company of her teammates more than ever. After practice on Saturday, they decided to have a team dinner, hosted by Allegra and Natalia. Ashley drove to their apartment, eager to share a meal with her teammates. They were having such a good time and enjoying each others company. They discussed their hopes for this season, their childhoods, and the fact that Pippa hooked up with someone from the men's team, although she wouldn't say who. Everyone took turns guessing who it could be. 

"Sam?" Eloise asked.

"Nope!" Pippa responded.

"Isaac?" Paula inquired. 

"Nuh-uh."

"Jan Maas?" Ketase questioned.

"No!" Pippa assured. 

They went through basically the whole roster, leaving the speculation down to a few. 

"It has to be Jamie. There's no else it could be!" Gracia averred.

No, it couldn't have been Jamie, Ashley thought. He said he wasn't seeing anyone. 

"It's not Jamie, you guys." Ashley said. 

"Oh?" Mara said, surprised.

"And how would you know?" Adelaide queried.

"Because...he said he wasn't seeing anyone when I asked him."

"YOU ASKED HIM?" Chick exclaimed.

"Yeah, we were just chatting and it came up. Stop looking at me like that! Grayson and I are very happy together."

The team backed off, sending a wave of intermittent silence throughout the room. Sensing Ashley's slight embarrassment, Pippa confessed: "It was Dani."

The room erupted in amusement. The rest of the night was spent having fun and singing karaoke. Ashley, Jordana, Shannon, Rosalind, and Shani sang a pretty convincing rendition of the Spice Girls' "Wannabe". Unfortunately, Ashley had to leave the fun early because she had a flight to catch the next day. 

On her way home, Ashley had time to think. Why did she care to clear his name at dinner? Because they were friends, and thats what friends do. But why was she annoyed at the thought of him with another girl? Ashley couldn't quite justify that one yet. 

***

After touching down in Los Angeles, Grayson took Ashley's hand as they were bombarded outside LAX with photographers and people screaming their names. Although Grayson was found innocent and the allegations were found to be baseless, paparazzi in Los Angeles capitalized on any shot they could get of the couple. This was something Ashley was used to, although it had only happened a couple times since she moved to London. They got into a black car and sped off to Graysons house in the Hills. Ashley loved Los Angeles. It was bright and full of energy, just like her. She fell in love with the city every time she went there. This time, she was here for the annual ESPY awards, an awards show honoring those in athletics. She was nominated for Best Female Footballer and Best Female Athlete this year. She had no idea if she was going to win this year though, although she had won Best Female Footballer every year minus one since she was 17. She was now 24. Still, she enjoyed the thrill of the awards show, and how different athletes from different sports would come together and celebrate each others achievements. She was excited to see who she would meet this year. The awards were on Wednesday night, and it was still Sunday, so she would have time to sleep off her jetlag. She climbed into bed and fell asleep. 

Back in Richmond, Jamie wandered around the facility looking for his buddy. Since the new training grounds had been built, they hadn't been able to spend much time together. Jamie missed training with Ashley. Whether he had a crush on her or not, she made him a better player and was the on the level he wanted to train with. He had a proposition for her. If only he could find her. Where was she, he wondered. Turning a corner, he ran into Coach Amy. 

"Hey, Coach Abbott, would you happen to know where Ash-leigh is?" 

"It's a Sunday. Ashley's never here on Sundays. Her contract permitted her one day off per week."

"Ohhhhh. Sorry to bother you then."

"Anytime Tartt!" She hummed as she walked away. 

Taking out his phone, Jamie decided to text Ashley for the first time ever. 

-Hey Ashley! This is Jamie Tartt. From Richmond. I have an question for you. Text me when you get the chance!

Text me when you get the chance? Why was he texting her so formally? Who was he? An administrative assistant? He waited. Three dots appeared in a bubble. 

-Who is this?

Shit. She gave him the wrong number back when she hated him. Another notification popped up on his screen.

-Hiiii Jamie! I know its you, silly! What's up?

-I miss hanging out with you...

He typed it then deleted it.

-Would you be down for a little extra training session sometime today?

He took a deep breath as he sent the message. He hated putting himself in situations like these. Usually people begged him to hang out with them. 

-Aw man, I would love to, but I'm in LA right now. 

-LA?

-Yeah, for the ESPY awards.

-Ohhhhh. No worries then haha! 

Damn, Jamie thought. Now who knows when they would hang out again. 

-We could do it next Sunday? I get back from LA on Thursday

-Next Sunday works for me! See you then. Good luck at the awards show.

-Thanks, Tartt. See ya!

Jamie had been nominated for the ESPYs before. In fact, he was nominated this year for Best Male Footballer. He had just never gone to them because they were in America and he always had better things to do. But suddenly this year, he could probably make it. His fingers started dialing Keeley's number. It rung three times and she greeted Jamie. 

"Hey Keeley, do you think you could get me to the ESPYs this year?"