Making our way through the packed stands, I held on tight to a handful of the back of Drew's coat. The crowds pressing in on either side and the smell in the air, a mixture of food and sweat, made it difficult to see the appeal of the event.

"Stop pulling on me." Drew grumbled, shrugging off my grip.

The wave of anxiety that rose up in me eased with the realisation we were finally at our row. Inching round legs with mumbled apologies, I followed Drew to our seats.

We had a good spot, just a few rows from the front. Close enough to see the whites of the players' eyes Drew had proudly informed me on the way in.

The plastic seats weren't exactly comfortable, but I was beginning to see the appeal of the matches. There was a buzz in the air and excited chatter as everyone took their places. Two rows in front, a little girl who couldn't have been more than three, begged to be lifted onto her dad's shoulders and squealed with excitement as he swung her up.

Further along, an older man sat with his arm around his wife, both wearing matching tops from the visiting team. Drew took his coat off, revealing his pale blue Manchester City top, and reached out with a charming smile to help me take mine off.

I smiled back, both surprised and touched by the gentlemanly action. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I knew you'd enjoy it if you came." He said smugly.

I rolled my eyes. He obviously hadn't noticed how close I was to a panic attack in those crowds. Although that was on me, I had been so worried about ruining things; I had kept quiet and clung to him.

"It's alright, I mean, they haven't even started playing yet, so it's not like I can form an opinion either way." I joked.

Drew's expression darkened. "If you're so determined not to enjoy it, why did you even bother coming?"

I frowned. "That's not what I meant at all. It doesn't matter where we are. I just wanted us to spend some time together again."

Drew huffed and fished his phone out of his pocket. "We basically live together, Nikki, isn't that enough?"

I closed my eyes and swallowed down the annoyance. We couldn't even last five minutes without irritating each other. Maybe Claire was right. What was the point of trying to force a relationship neither of us seemed able to fix?

"I don't want to argue. I just want us to spend time together like we used to. This break is a last chance. If we can't reconnect and find what we had, then I'm done because I can't live like this anymore." I sighed.

Drew didn't glance up from his phone but offered a grunt that told me he hadn't listened to a word I had said.

"Drew?" I probed, touching his arm. "We said no phones. I thought we were trying to reconnect."

"For fuck's sake, Nikki, anything else you'd like to control? It's a work email, I have to deal with this." Drew snapped.

I flinched at the force of his anger and sat back in my seat, leaving him to the email. There were eyes on me and I forced myself to not meet any of them. Looking out onto the pitch and staring at the white lines until they blurred.

Music started playing and a sideways glance told me that Drew wasn't looking up from his phone any time soon. On the pitch, the players began to filter out of tunnels on either side, waving to the crowds and stirring them up into a frenzy.

The music stuttered and crackled a few times before cutting out entirely.

From the reactions of the players and crowd, this wasn't normal, and I looked sideways at Drew, biting my lip, "Is it always like this?" I asked.

The noise level and amount of people were overwhelming for someone who spent the majority of their days with no more than a few people at a time. He shrugged, not even looking up from whatever he was typing on his phone. "They'll fix it."

As if on cue, the speaker above us crackled. "Please bear with us. We are experiencing a technical issue and the team is working hard to resolve it." said the tinny voice.

The sound definitely only seemed to come out of one side of the stadium now, and the collective groan around us confirmed this was not the news everyone was hoping for.

On the pitch, the players jogged on the spot and stretched as they chatted and waited. If I had my camera, I would have loved to snap some photos. When we had agreed to this, we had said no distractions, just time together. I had thought my camera might be distracting and left it at home. Apparently, Drew hadn't thought the same for his work phone.

As the minutes ticked on, people began booing and shouting, patience already wearing thin.

"Apologies for the delay." the speaker's voice spoke again, and the noise dropped instantly. "We have worked out where the issue is and have people working urgently to fix it, however there will be a slight delay to the start of the game."

Boos filled the air again, and I nearly missed what the voice said. "Taking inspiration from our friends in America, we are going to be running a kiss cam to keep you all entertained until then."

The crowd was quiet for a minute as they tried to decide whether they were happy with that solution. Then the big screen nearest us lit up with a couple surrounded by cartoony hearts. It felt as though the whole stadium was holding its breath before they both laughed and he dived in with a dramatic kiss.

Cheers and laughter shot through the crowd, and it moved onto another couple quickly. "That's so cool, isn't it?" I laughed, patting Drew's leg.

He pushed my hand off, and I looked at him in surprise. 'On the phone,' he mouthed angrily, and turned his body away.

I bit back tears and focused on the screen. The current couple on screen were looking mildly panicked and mouthing that they were brother and sister which had people roaring with laughter.

The screen flickered for a moment and then lit up with a familiar pair. I smiled awkwardly at the camera and tapped Drew's shoulder to get his attention. He turned and snapped at me to fuck off before continuing the call, utterly oblivious to the attention and camera on us.

I bit my lower lip and looked away, hoping no one could tell I was on the verge of tears. Everyone in this packed stadium had just witnessed my utter humiliation and if I hadn't been sure earlier, I certainly was now. We were done.

I glanced at the screen again and saw it still showed us and I tried desperately to look anywhere but where my face was blown up on that screen, red with embarrassment and anger.

In the crowd I met sympathetic gazes, which did nothing to improve my mood or the situation. I moved to stand and make my escape when gasps and cheers filled the stadium. Relief rushed through me that they had moved on so quickly and I dropped back into my seat, glancing up to see who had elicited such a reaction.

The screen still showed my bemused face, so I followed everyone's gazes to the pitch, where a player was vaulting over the railings and jogging up the stairs.

I tilted my head, wondering what was going on when I realised he was heading right for me. Whistles and cheers continued as people rushed to clear him a path to me. My jaw dropped, and I was pretty sure I was drooling as he came to a stop beside me with a grin. After a moment of appraising me, he dropped forward, so his hands landed on the arms of my seat.

He was gorgeous. Handsome in that effortless way, with an edge of cocky confidence that said he knew it too. "Hey beautiful," he grinned, "What do you say we give them a little show?"

The cheers were reaching a fever pitch, and I glanced back at the screen to see my stunned, flushed face peering over his shoulder.

Drew still hadn't noticed anything was going on. His phone call was clearly more important than me. All of a sudden, it all made sense and came into focus. Why was I wasting time trying to salvage a relationship with someone who wouldn't even hear me out or give me one afternoon of his attention? This footballer wasn't the one, but his attentiveness and focus on me was more than Drew had shown me in months.

"Okay." I whispered.

The man's smile changed, and it was like the sun bursting out from behind a cloud. "I'm so glad you said that." He murmured seconds before our lips connected and he blew my mind.

I thought I had been kissed before. But I had never been kissed like this. It was like every nerve ending lit up. Parts of me I had ignored for far too long stirred.

Sliding a hand along my jaw, he moved his hand up to the back of my neck. Fingers knotting in my hair as he deepened the kiss.

Too soon, we broke apart, and the noise around us came back into focus. "Jesus." I whispered, more than a little dazed by the encounter.

He smiled again, and I noticed a cute little dimple appear in one of his cheeks. "Actually, my name's Evan."

"Evan." I whispered back, my thought process still thoroughly scrambled.

He nodded before saying in a stage whisper, "Now's the part where you tell me your name."

"Oh sorry, Nikki, I'm Nikki." my voice trailed off. It felt a little silly to say nice to meet you after the close encounter our tongues had just had.

"Nikki." He said slowly, eyes still fixed on mine.

Movement on the pitch caught my eye, and I glanced at the people waving and trying to call Evan back down to the game.

"I should get back down there." He said reluctantly, pulling back.

The space between us felt alive with the tension. "I'll be shouting your name and cheering you on." I promised somewhat shyly.

"I can think of much more fun places to be screaming my name, but maybe we save that for after the game?" He shot me a wink that had my cheeks flushing before turning and jogging back down the stairs to the pitch.

What the hell had just happened?