The Athlete and the Aristocrat
Page 18
Si gasped, and grabbed for Lucien with his free hand. Antoine was grinning back at him, his phone carefully angled to include the man beside him in the camera’s view—a man Si easily recognized.
“Hey, Antoine,” he said, his voice shaking. Was this it? Was this going to be the moment he’d been waiting almost three years—no, almost twenty-three years for? “Hello, Coach.”
“Hi, Simon.” Antoine’s smile widened even more. “Look at this.” He slowly panned the camera around the room, letting them take in the club emblem, the décor that prominently featured the team colors, and the familiar faces of several club executives and a top talent agent. Lucien’s hand spasmed suddenly in his. If Si had been able to tear his gaze away from the small screen in front of him, he knew he would see the same hope on his husband’s face that he was feeling.
He cleared his throat. “Got some exciting news, Antoine?” There, that wasn’t too bad. The words were casual, and he hadn’t sounded squeaky or anything.
Antoine laughed as he came back into view, and beside him, the coach of one of France’s top clubs was smiling. “The contract is right here. It’s been negotiated, reviewed, and all I have to do is sign.”
Si frowned suddenly, and turned to look over his shoulder. “Pierre, why aren’t you there?” He remembered the day he’d signed his first professional contract. He brought both his parents, bursting with pride, and his sisters had met them afterward to celebrate.
Pierre chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. “If I was there, who would be here with you?”
Lucien’s grip on his hand tightened almost unbearably, and Si blinked back tears. “That’s very kind of you,” he said unsteadily, and then looked back at the phone. “And you, Antoine. Thank you for including us.”
Antoine snorted, his face completely serious for the first time since the camera had gone on. “No. I was one month away from dropping football when you launched On the Ball. I’d applied for every damn scholarship out there, but competition was fierce, and there was no way I was letting my dad go without anymore just so I could play. I was going to give it one more month, because that was when the last two scholarships I’d applied for would be announced, and then that was it. I was going to accept the fact that I’d just be playing for fun or in a weekend neighborhood league. Then suddenly one day I’m at school and at lunch everyone starts talking about this new scholarship program. One of my idols, one of the men I’d always admired and aspired to be like, was starting a program so kids could play football. I skipped my classes that afternoon so I could fill out the application, and since then I’ve never looked back. On the Ball changed my life. Simon and Lucien, you changed my life. And now, thanks to you, it’s going to change again. Hold this, Victor.” He thrust the phone toward the talent agent, who took it and kept the camera focused on him. Antoine picked up the pen… and signed the contract.
Simon didn’t even try to hold back the tears that streamed down his face.
While everyone in that room congratulated Antoine, Simon turned his head and buried his face against Lucien’s shoulder. They’d done it. They’d actually done it. One of their kids was now a professional footballer.
“Simon,” Lucien said, moving his shoulder sharply. Si lifted his head, and Lucien nodded toward the phone. In the background, the congratulations continued, but the screen was centered on Victor Caron’s face.
Si wiped his cheeks, not even a little bit ashamed of his tears. He’d earned them. “Hello, Victor.”
The agent, a man known for being scrupulously honest and fair with his clients but utterly ruthless in negotiations, smiled. “Get used to this feeling. I’m working with two of your other kids at the moment, and colleagues of mine in Germany and Belgium tell me they too are in talks with On the Ball players. Those are only the ones I know about. You’ll have cause for celebration again soon.”
While Si was digesting that, Antoine snatched the phone away from Victor. “Right, we’re all going out to lunch to celebrate. Papa, did you organize the car?”
“It should be outside right now,” Pierre assured him. “We will meet you at the restaurant.”
Si’s stomach sank. “I have an appointment in an hour,” he said regretfully, glancing at Lucien, whose face reflected the same dismay.
“No, you don’t,” Antoine told him. “Anna canceled it. You too, Lucien. By the way, your assistant is scary.”
Si blinked. “Anna knew? And Paul?”
Antoine shrugged. “I had to make sure you were free to celebrate with us. They were both pretty excited—I didn’t think they’d be able to keep it a secret.”
Pierre ushered Si and Lucien out of their seats. “Of course they kept it a secret. They knew Simon and Lucien deserved this surprise.”
As they walked through the main office to the sound of Anna’s and Michel’s cheers, Si thought back to that day three years ago when he’d waited, in a building not far away, for a meeting with Édouard Morel. He’d been nervous then, more nervous than he had ever been as a championship professional footballer. A phase of his life had been over, and he’d been waiting to find out if his dreams for the next phase could possibly come true. He’d known the meeting had the power to change his life, but… could he ever have expected this? The fulfillment of a dream, a home in a new country, new friends, meeting the love of his life, coming out to the world… his husband.
He slid his arm around Lucien’s waist and leaned into him while they waited for the elevator. Pierre looked away, and Si smiled indulgently at him. Lucien bent his head and rested it against his.
“I love you,” he whispered.
Si grinned. Nothing could ever make those words less magical. He turned his head and caught Lucien’s lips with his. “I love you.”
Life was good.
LOUISA MASTERS started reading romance much earlier than her mother thought she should. While other teenagers were sneaking out of the house, Louisa was sneaking romance novels in and working out how to read them without being discovered. She’s spent most of her life feeling sorry for people who don’t read, convinced that books are the solution to every problem. As an adult, she feeds her addiction in every spare second, only occasionally tearing herself away to do things like answer the phone and pay bills. She spent years trying to build a “sensible” career, working in bookstores, recruitment, resource management, administration, and as a travel agent, before finally conceding defeat and devoting herself to the world of romance novels. Louisa has a long list of places first discovered in books that she wants to visit, and every so often she overcomes her loathing of jet lag and takes a trip that charges her imagination. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she whines about the weather for most of the year while secretly admitting she’ll probably never move.
Website: www.louisamasters.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LouisaMastersAuthor
Email: louisa@louisamasters.com
By Louisa Masters
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Published by
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5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Athlete and the Aristocrat
© 2019 Louisa Masters.
Cover Art
© 2019 Alexandria Corza.
http://www.seeingstatic.com/
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-778-5
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64108-107-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018907598
Digital published January 2019
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America