Settling the Score (The Summer Games #1)(108)

“It is,” she insisted, hugging me back just as fiercely. “I’m so happy but also…I lost a bet I made with Kinsley.”

I laughed. “What bet?”

She tilted her head back and let out a heavy sigh.

“When she dropped me off at the airport, I told her I’d see her in a week, but she bet me a million dollars I wouldn’t be coming back.”

“Yikes.” I smiled and pulled her close. “Where do you think you’ll get that kind of cash?”

She kissed my chest and shrugged. “Maybe I’ll ask Caroline to help me forge some bank documents.”

I smiled. “Too soon.”

She laughed. “Then let’s stop talking and get to the things we really want to be doing.”

I slipped my hand down her stomach and watched as she inhaled a shaky breath. Her smile slipped and her nostrils flared. Just like that, she was mine…for good.





EPILOGUE


Andie




“FREDDIE! HAVE YOU seen my cleats?!”

I threw a pair of stilettos aside and then pushed a few dresses out of the way to look in the back corner of the closet. There were heels and flats and sneakers, but my team cleats were nowhere to be found. I didn’t even bother looking over on Freddie’s side of the closet; it was always immaculate. I had no clue how he kept up with everything. My clothes and shoes usually landed somewhere in the vicinity of the closet, but hanging things up at night wasn’t a priority when I had Freddie Archibald waiting for me in bed.

“Have you already looked in the kitchen?” Freddie asked, tipping his head into the doorway and offering me one of his trademark smiles.

I rolled my eyes for extra emphasis. “Of course I looked there.”

It was a lie, but his smile was so confident and I wasn’t going to give in that easily. He loved being right and I loved pushing his buttons. I stood up and swept past him to get out into the hallway.

His hand reached out to grab my waist to block my path. “Where are you going?”

I stared past his shoulder. “To grab a granola bar.”

I could see his smile widen out of the corner of my eye. “You just had breakfast.”

“Did I?” I scrunched my nose. “Hmm, wasn’t very filling.”

His hand tightened around my waist. “We both know you’re going to have a look for your cleats in the kitchen.”

I turned and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Don’t be silly. I really, really want a granola bar.”

With that, I wrestled myself out of his grip and took off to the kitchen as fast as I could. If I could get them in my bag before he saw them in the kitchen, technically he wouldn’t be right.

He shouted after me as I rounded the corner and I saw them sitting on the floor near the kitchen island, grass-stained and untied. I lunged for them and threw them in my bag, glancing up just in time to see Freddie standing in the doorway.

“Find them?”

I patted my bag. “They were in here the whole time.”

He arched a dark brow. “Were they?”

I smiled, proud. “Yes, Archibald; you’re not right all the time.”

He pushed off the doorway and strolled to stand in the kitchen. (I swore it looked like he was gloating, though he had no reason to.) I watched him fill my water bottle and then reach into the pantry for a granola bar we both knew I didn’t want.

“Here you go,” he said, handing them both over to me.

I averted eye contact and grabbed for them before offering a deadpan, “Yum.”

I was running a little behind so Freddie offered to drive me. He reached for his keys and I slipped on my sneakers. Just as we were walking out the door, he laced his fingers through mine.

“You’re sure the cleats weren’t in the kitchen?”

I could see the devilish glint in his eyes, the small smirk he was trying desperately to squash.

“Positive,” I lied.

He nodded and his smirk widened. “That’s a shame. If they were, I was thinking of having you pay for it later.”

“P-pay…”

My stomach dropped with anticipation as the meaning behind his sentiment sank in.

“I guess you still could?” I offered. “I mean, even though the cleats were in my bag.”

He laughed and then reached up to cradle my neck so he could press a quick kiss to the corner of my mouth.

“First we have to get you to your game.”

I smiled. “You’re able to take me?” I asked. “I thought you had a meeting with the construction team for the swim club?”

Since the Olympics, Freddie had been in no rush to jump back into the limelight. He took time off before deciding his next move would be to open a swim club for the underprivileged in central London. His foundation had partnered with Nike and they were due to break ground on the project in a week.

“I had the team move it to another day. I couldn’t miss your final.”

I smiled and popped up onto my toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “We should go out with Georgie and your mum after the game to celebrate.”

He peered at me out of the corner of his eye. “Brilliant idea. I have a feeling there will be a lot to celebrate.”





“WE BELIEVE, WE believe, we believe in ANDIE!”