ISAAC WAS GIVING ONE OF HIS LEGENDARY HAIRCUTS. Colin texted Willie as soon as it started, and she was down the stairs and inside the locker room in three minutes. It might have been the fastest that she had ever moved. She gasped and sat down next to Jamie as the legendary man worked. He offered her some of his popcorn, which she accepted gladly.

Not wanting to disrupt the moment, she leaned in toward the Tartt man to ask him a question, not knowing that the proximity caused him to not be able to breathe. "What's the occasion?"

"He's got a hot date tonight with some girl he met on Bantr," he answered, and his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, and both of them saw that it was a text from his father.

She did not want to invade his privacy, so she looked away from the phone and back at Isaac so that Jamie could read the text in peace. However, her focus shifted when she saw him frowning. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing," he told her, shaking his head like he was shaking whatever it was off. He stuffed his phone back into his weirdly tight pants and stood up, informing her, "Uh, I gotta go talk to Higgins about tickets for me dad."

"Oh, I can handle that," she assured him, and she stood up with him. It would be difficult just tracking Higgins down since he worked all over the place ever since Dr. Sharon took his office. She could easily book seats, and she had nothing else to do other than watching Sam get a haircut.

He raised his eyebrows. "Really? I mean, I don't want you missing the show."

"Colin's recording it for me. Come on. Let's go to my office," she told him, and she led him out the door and up the stairs to her office so that she could let the ticket boxes know that they were reserving seats. She sat down and spun around in her chair as Jamie stood in front of her desk awkwardly. "Um, family section? VIP?"

"Put 'em in the car park for all I care. Just getting him tickets so he'll get off me back," he told her. She nodded and reserved a few in the family section. "Are you close with your dad?" he asked after a moment of silence.

She glanced up at him for a second before thinking about it. She loved her dad, she really did, but they had not always had the perfect relationship that Matt did with him. She was his little girl, but he really only believed un her brother. He acted like he expected her to be a receptionist somewhere while Matthew ran a company. "Um, ups and downs, like everyone. He's a lawyer, so he's really good at making me feel guilty for everything. It's complicated."

"Mine's not complicated. He's just a dick. Every situation, he does exactly what a dick would do. Not much you can do with that. Know what I mean?" the Tartt man responded, and she looked up at him with pity in her eyes. She felt bad about complaining when she remembered what he said about his father the night they were 'getting rid of the spirits.'

"I don't know about you, but I've done enough favors for dicks in my life. I'm done, and you should be too. No one deserves to be used, Jamie," she said. They stared at each other, taking deep breaths for a moment before she shook herself out of her trance and got back to work on the seats. "Names?"

He inhaled sharply, like he was just broken out of a trance. He responded, "Uh, James Tartt. Uh, his mates are Denbo Cullens and Bug. Uh, one G. Like the animal."

"That's his legal name?" she questioned, pausing to look up at him. What kind of parents name their child 'Bug.' One that wanted their child to get bullied, she guessed.

He shook his head, and she did not know whether she was relieved or even more concerned. Bug was not the coolest name that she could think of, so she was scared of the type of person that would call themselves that. "Changed it 'cause he eats bugs for money."

"That's an option, I guess. All right, your dad has his tickets," she informed him, clicking the final button on her computer as she looked up at him with a smile.

"Thanks," he replied with a nod, and he was about to walk out when he turned back. "And thanks for the stuff you said about dicks."

She laughed, "You're welcome, Jamie."

《❂》

IT WAS TIME FOR THE GAME, AND EVERYONE WAS ON EDGE. It was the semifinals, and they absolutely had to win so that they could get promoted. Alex was on the other side of the stadium, camouflaged in the sea of light blue somewhere. He picked regular seats with his friends over VIP seats with his girlfriend, but Willie was really trying to not let that bother her.

"Wembley Stadium, the Taj Mahal of English football. The setting for every young footballer's dreams. A sporting battlefield, pockmarked with the footprints of giants. Hoping to add another upset to this fabled ground's storied list, humble AFC Richmond. Never won a major trophy. The last London club to make their Wembley debut.

"Renewing hostilities against the undisputed greatest team in the land, the mighty Manchester City. It was only months ago this Richmond side were relegated by City in heartbreaking fashion. Jamie Tartt was a City player then, and he helped send Richmond down. Then City sent him down the M , and he's a Greyhound again. City are after another trophy. Richmond are after revenge."

"It's ready to blow, it's under the arch, it's Wembley Stadium. It's the FA Cup semifinal, and it starts now."

The game ended 5-0, and watching it was absolutely brutal. Willie was completely shocked at how bad they lost. She did not know what happened. She made her way through the stadium and down the hall where the locker room was. She did not go inside, but she wanted to be there when the guys came out.

However, she noticed a man being led down the hall by a security guard, a man that looked a hell of a lot like Jamie. She frowned, and as he was being led inside, she followed in so that she could see what the hell he wanted. If he was there to gloat, then the guys were most definitely not in the mood for it.

"I told ya. dick," the man laughed out as he stepped inside. Willie stood in the doorway as the guard exited, and she frowned when she saw what he was doing. "Oh, gentlemen! Gentlemen! Hey, it's a tough one, lads. It's a tough one, but no shame to it, 'cause, you know, we only ever beat, uh, everybody we play. So you pups had no chance."

He was obviously drunk, and then his eyes landed on Jamie. "Oh. And there he is, my son. My own flesh and blood. Poor Jamie, my son. Now, maybe I'm thinking his heart's still in Manchester and that's why he missed that sitter in the first half. Oh. Whoo! You absolutely balled it. You balled it. What were you thinking?" He punched his son in the stomach jokingly, but it was obvious that Jamie was not having it. "I'm only kidding, hey. Hey, look, do us a favor and get Denbo and Bug past security. They wanna go on the pitch, take a few snaps, yeah?"

"I'd rather 'em not," the younger Tartt responded, refusing to look his father in the eye.

James just kept on rambling on, clearly not understanding that Jamie did not want him there. Willie knew that she should not be there, but she just could not pull her eyes away from Jamie. He looked so heartbroken and scared, and she wanted to be there in case anything really bad happened. "Yeah, they just want to look around. It'll only take a second. Doosh."

"I'd rather 'em not," he repeated.

James started jumping up and down, and he lowered his voice. It was so silent in the room that you could hear what he was saying pretty clearly anyway. "What? What, you're not gonna all go little moody bitch just 'cause you got your arse served to you on a plate, are ya?"

"Don't speak to me like that," Jamie ordered, but his father just kept getting in his face and saying 'Huh?' like an idiot and an ass. "Don't speak to me like that. Don't speak to me like that."

"Okay, well, let's see if you can hear this, hmm? You know that ickle TV show you made? You made it easier for Manchester City to kick you to the curb. And look where you are now. Twaddling about with a bunch of amateurs! No offense, no offense," he told the guys, but none of them took offense because it was coming out of the mouth of someone whose opinion they really did not give a crap about. Jamie turned around, trying to let his father know that he was done speaking to him. "Don't turn your back on me, you pussy." James pushed him.

And then Jamie spun around and socked him right in the nose.

"Oh, yeah. Okay. You can have that one for free," James grunted out as he stood up. He lunged at his kid, but Coach Beard was faster and grabbed him. As he was hauling him out the door, he shouted, "You wanna go? Let's have it. Don't you forget where you came from."

And that was when Jamie's eyes that were full of tears landed on the brunette standing there. She was crying as well, and he froze when he realized that she saw the whole thing. She saw him get yelled at, and she saw him get angry. He never wanted her to see that side of him.

As James was kicked out, she stepped out as well. She wanted to hug him or do anything, but she felt that she had overstepped her boundaries enough for the time being.

She sat down on a bench outside the stadium to wait for Alex, and it was not long before he joined her on the bench. She was honestly surprised. She figured that he would be mad at her or avoid her. She was sure that he would not want to talk to anyone, especially her. She was just some woman that worked at the club he played at that he talked to sometimes.

"I really wish you didn't see that," he said finally. He did not seem angry or upset, just sad.

She reached over to his lap and grabbed his hand, letting him know that she was there and she did not judge him for anything that happened in that room. If anything, it made her admire him more. It broke her heart that James Tartt did not appreciate the kid that he had. "He doesn't deserve you, Jamie. You are so talented and smart and passionate, and he does not deserve a son as wonderful as you are. You are who you are in spite of him, and you should be so so proud of everything that you have done."

"I don't know. I kind of regret that reality show," he joked, and a grin spread across her face as she laughed with him.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, and if she was being honest, it was not the dumbest thing that she had seen him do. One of his Instagram posts from last year was worse than everything he did on the show combined. "That might be the most genius moment of your career."

"You know, you're pretty great too," he told her, and there was a moment of silence between them that gave Willie a chance to realize how close their faces were. She barely had time to process it before he leaned forward and connected their lips.

The Carlisle woman froze, and it took everything in her not to give into him and kiss him back. However, she hesitated for a moment, enjoying the feeling in her stomach at his touch before she forced herself to pull away. She looked down at her hands, and Jamie's eyes widened, realizing what he had just done. "I am so sorry."

"No, it's fine," she assured him, shaking her head.

But he was freaking out. He ran a hand through his hair, and his face made it seem like he was scared that he was going to slap him or something for being so completely stupid. "I d'know what I was thinking."

"Jamie, really, it's okay," she repeated, and she had to think for a moment about the reason why she had to pull away. When it dawned on her, she felt so completely awful. She had forgotten about Alex for a moment, and guilt filled her body as she breathed out, "It's just...I have a boyfriend."

"Is that the only reason?" he questioned, and the truth was that she could not think of another reason that she would've pulled away. But she had a boyfriend, and that was reason enough. Keeley. Oh, shit. Would Keeley hate her if she told her about it?

She just smiled back at him, trying to hide the fact that she was freaking out inside. Jamie Tartt kissed her. She just cheated on her boyfriend. She kissed her friend's ex. Jamie Tartt kissed her. She stood up and stuck her hands in her pocket. "Goodnight, Jamie Tartt."