"YOU GUYS WHAT?" WILLIE EXCLAIMED REALLY LOUDLY. Keeley had to dive across the couch to put her hand over her friend's mouth because the door was open, and they were in a compromised location. They were sitting in the Carlisle woman's office because the Jones woman had a break and could come over, but there were dozens of people walking past at any given moment, and what Keeley had just told her was confidential information.

They probably should have closed the door, but both of them were too lazy to get up. So, they were just going to have to talk in hushed voices, which was almost impossible given what they were discussing. Keeley repeated, "Broke up."

"Yeah, no, you didn't because if you and Roy broke up, then love does not exist, and there's no hope for the rest of us," the brunette responded, shaking her head and leaning back against the cushions. That was a very unfunny prank that her friend was trying to pull, but she was not having it.

"I'm sorry. We just both had so much going on, and we were growing apart. So, he broke it off," the blonde explained, and Willie almost choked when she heard that Roy broke up with Keeley. That was absolutely insane. She was pretty much left speechless. "We're on good terms, though. Just don't tell anyone about it just yet. I don't want anyone to freak out."

She was still in shock from everything, and she was just kind of staring ahead because if Roy and Keeley were over, then love was just not real. What was the point of even trying? "Yeah, yeah."

"What about you and Jamie?" Keeley questioned, leaning forward and raising her eyebrows at her friend in excitement. She wanted to change the subject from love ending to love blooming, but Willie was definitely not prepared for that question.

"What about me and Jamie? There is no me and Jamie," she stammered out. She had barely even spoken to him since she got back, but even when she was halfway across the world, she could not get hs speech from the funeral out of her head — him telling her he loved her after he kissed her after the game. "There's me, and there's Jamie. But there's no me and Jamie."

As luck would have it, HIggins knocked on the door at that exact moment, and they both looked up at him to see him holding flowers and a heart-shaped box of chocolates. Willie furrowed her eyebrows as he informed them, "Hey, Willie, there's a package for you."

"Thanks, Higgins," she responded, accepting the gift as he left. She grabbed a note that was taped to the chocolates. As soon as she saw the handwriting and the message, she knew exactly who it was from. 'I took care of the first two. The last part is up to you."

Keeley could tell by the look on her friend's face that it was from the Tartt man. "'No me and Jamie', my ass."

《❂》

TED HAD AGREED TO TRENT CRIMM WRITING A BOOK ABOUT THE TEAM. Now, Willie was a bit scared, but if Trent was not there to completely ruin their reputation, then it could be a really good opportunity for the club. However, it might not even happen because Roy had scared everyone and said that he'd kill them if they even said a word to the man.

It was time for the first game of the season, and Rebecca was focused more on Zava than the actual game against Chelsea; Higgins came over before the match started. "Zava and Chelsea are pretty much a done deal. I have confirmation of that from a very reliable source."

"Oh, what source?" Willie asked with raised eyebrows. Did Higgins have some good connections that she did not know about?

"A friend of my wife knows an agent whose masseuse moonlights as an airline steward on private jets," he explained, and she nodded as he spoke, slowly coming to the conclusion that the reliable source might not have been that reliable. "Now, she wasn't working today, but her coworker who can read lips, he saw Zava mouth the word 'Chelsea' a lot."

Keeley stared at him in amazement before breathing out. "God, I wish I could read lips." Willie had to admit, it would be really cool if she could read lips as well.

"Has anyone seen Rupert? Is there any sign of him?" Rebecca questioned, and she leaned past them to look at the box where Zava was sitting for any sign of her ex-husband or any of his men.

"No, Rebecca. He's not here," Higgins assured her, and all three of the women winced at his next sentence because he was basically asking for Rupert to show up. "And even if he was, there's nothing he can do."

The Welton woman groaned. "Oh, great. Jinxed it."

The game started, and Chelsea had a point within twenty minutes.

"Hughes tries for Todd, but Chelsea intercepts. The Greyhounds are in massive jeopardy now. Oh, some invention. Look at that pace. High-pressure football. And Chelsea on the board with beautiful counterattack against a reeling Richmond. Absolutely devastating."

As they were all groaning, Higgins began doing his little gagging thing, which meant that something bad was happening. Rebecca looked over at him with a confused expression. "What now?"

"I might've jinxed it," he told them, and their eyes widened when he pointed over at Zava who was shaking hands with noone other than Rupert fucking Mannion. That little rodent. Willie cursed and ran a hand through her hair. West Ham was already amazing. If they had Zava, they'd be unstoppable.

"I knew it. Would you please go and find out as much as you can from your vast network of lip-reading massage therapists?" the Welton woman ordered, and he shuffled away. She leaned back in her seat and groaned. "Rupert's gonna land Zava."

Willie shrugged, and Keeley sighed, "You don't know that."

"Years ago, when I was bartending in that private club, Rupert and his then wife came into the bar. He was the life and soul of the party. Buying rounds of drinks for everyone, telling stories. Just charm personified. And he left me a massive tip. And then about a week later, he came back without his wife and asked me out. I, of course, said no. Then he left. But then he came back the next night and the next night and the next. And he would just sit at the bar with a drink and chatted to me until close. And he just said, 'It doesn't matter if you ever go out with me. It's just worth it being here to get to know you.' And after about six weeks of that, he asked me out again. And I said yes without any hesitation. Because by that point, I just felt so lucky because he wanted me. He made me feel special. Chosen. He made me feel like that."

Rebecca had left to try and get a chance to talk to Zava, and the game was not looking too good. "Richmond's defending has kept them in this match, and they are one moment of inspiration away from going home with an unlikely point. Well, Chelsea giving Hughes space."

"If they're going to give him space, he's going to take it," Chris commented.

"Possibilities here. Hughes has options. He slides it through to Tartt," Arlo said. Colin passed it over to Jamie who then prepared to pass it to Sam, who was wide open. "Is this the moment? Obisanya's gonna have a go."

Sam missed, and it hit the goalpost. However, on its rebound, it slammed into Dani's face and back into the goal. "Oh! It's in, off the face of Rojas! Absolutely brilliant."

Willie laughed loudly as she cheered after making sure that Dani was not knocked out or something because that was an amazing goal. She was almost a hundred percent sure that it was an accident, but it was still awesome. They left the game with a beautiful tie.

While they were walking out, Zava announced on national television that he would be playing for Richmond.