Page 38 of Game on, Love

“On…”

“Cricket.”

“No shit, Sherlock. What’s it for?”

“A project.” Her eyes flashed with irritation, though I could easily see the tiny twitch in her lips.

I grinned, thoroughly enjoying myself. “What’s the project? Maybe I can help.”

“No, I’m good.”

“Seriously?” I tilted my head. “You’d rather have somerandomguy teach you about cricket over someone who’s literally labelled as theprinceof English cricket?”

I tsk’d but she finally laughed.

A win is a win.

“You did not just call yourself that,” She tried to get the words out in between her laughs, and I grinned.

“If you can’t escape it, you gotta own it. That’s the rule.”

“The rule?”

“Yep.”

“Rule of what game, exactly?”

“Mental peace.” I hadn’t meant anything more than that by it, but suddenly, her soft laughter died, and Raina watched me with a look in her that I’d never seen her wear before.

“So,” I broke the silence. “What do you say?”

“To what?”

“About me teaching you cricket?”

“You’re serious about that?”

“Sure, why not? What’s your deadline?”

She hesitated. “End of the year. I start early next year.”

“Start? Is it a filming thing?”

“A restructure thing. I’ve been moved to cricket.”

My eyes widened. “Andyousaid yes?”

She pursed her lips, her brows raising as if saying, ‘I’m shocked too’.

“I thought you hated cricket,” I tried to not sound offended when I said those words.

“I don’thateit,” She said that with too much effort, and I was sure it was for my expense. “I just am not a fan.”

I gave her a look to continue, curious as to what made her say yes.

“I love F1, but I also love NexGen. I’ve been there for years now, and the work environment is good. I’d rather take the promotion I deserve and deal with cricket for a while over being fired.”

“You could’ve left, though. You’ve got enough of a brand to do it independently, and you’ve got enough resources to keep you going.” I supplied, watching her closely.