All Saints: Love and Intrigue in the Stunning New Zealand Wilderness (The New Zealand Soccer Referee Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

or right.
    I
swallowed and then gave the complete stranger my home address, wondering as he
flicked the indicator right, if I’d made yet another monumentally terrible life
choice.

Chapter 3
    I poured wine with shaking hands and lifted the glass to sniff the
contents. The merlot smelled ok although it’d been open awhile; probably a
month or more. Marking school work filled my evenings nowadays and living alone
offered no sober driver if I needed to dash out in an emergency. My father’s
health declined in fits and starts and I wouldn’t want to miss the end. I
pursed my lips and forced the thoughts away. The smile fixed itself like a
wooden mask as I turned and approached the small sitting area, handing a glass
to Foxy.
    “Thanks.” He lifted
it to his full lips and drew a healthy sip. He put the glass on the table and
got comfy, bending one long leg beneath him on the two seater sofa. His dark
eyes followed me as I moved to the opposite side of the room and sat on the
other one.
    “Sorry Mark was
rude about your soccer skills?” I said. “I can’t imagine why he’d be so nasty.”
    He raised his
eyebrows and gave me a knowing look. “You can’t?” Full lips quirked upward in a
smirk and I laughed, despite myself. The sound seemed distant as though it
belonged to someone else. I’d forgotten what it felt like to find something
genuinely funny without the jaded pinch which seemed to accompany my humour
nowadays. The stranger studied me with calm assurance. “My sister just texted.
She doesn’t need a ride home.”
    “How come?” I
asked, concerned for the pretty dark-haired girl in the long, silver gown.
    He shrugged and
looked unruffled. “Last time I saw her, she had her tongue pushed down the
throat of a Devonport defender. I think she’ll be fine.”
    I smiled and tried
to remember the thrill of the chase, coming up against a bone jarring brick
wall. My teenage crush married someone else and his donning of a police uniform
meant he was dead to the Saints. There were few rules but all three of them
were written in family blood. Thou shalt not marry a cop, a convict or a
referee; of either sex.
    Foxy swigged his
wine as an awkward silence descended and I dragged my rebellious brain back to
the moment. “Why do they call you Foxy?” I asked, making an effort with the
conversation as curiosity budded in my chest. The man intrigued me. He looked
like any of the other soccer players in the club house; athletic, muscular and
capable of running eight kilometres in a game without breaking a sweat.
    “Teina Fox,” he
replied. “It’s my name.”
    “You look
familiar,” I said. “Who do you play for?”
    An expression of
confusion moved across his face and he downed the last of his wine. “Why aren’t
you in the line-up this season?”
    The strategic
change stumped me for a second and I swallowed and lowered my eyes. “I don’t
want to.” I clenched my jaw. Teina watched me and sized up my reply, finding it
wanting.
    “That’s crap.”
    My brown eyes
flashed and I felt an angry pulse begin in the side of my neck. “It’s my
choice!” I snapped.
    He shrugged and
still those dark eyes bored into my face. “You were the best defender they had.
I’ve seen what’s on offer and they’ll struggle without you.”
    Misplaced vanity
gave my ego a moment in which to stroke itself before I regained control. “It’s
nice of you to say that,” I conceded. “But they’ll be fine. They’re a great
bunch; they’ll work for it.”
    “Na.” Teina leaned
forward and placed his glass on the table with exaggerated care. “You put those
girls into that league; you should help keep them there.”
    I knew my smile
appeared ragged as I seethed inside. “You know nothing about it.”
    He pinched his top
lip between thumb and finger and sat as though ready to leave. My head screamed
a warning at him to go but my heart appealed to the inner loneliness I saw in
his eyes and he gave a quizzical smile.