"Look at those two." Ted grinned at Coach Beard, keeping an eye on his niece who was talking to Nate a few yards down the sidelines. "They're hitting it off like two fleas on a Saint Bernard."

"I'm more of a Newfoundland man, personally." Beard said dryly.

"Hmm, gentle giants." Ted nodded, "I'm a sucker for Mastiffs. Something about those floppy faces makes my heart melt."

"German Shepherds."

"Ooh, adorable. Great Danes are majestic-"Ted was cut off by a familiar, confident voice approaching from behind them.

"Don't forget about Greyhounds, gentlemen. We need to keep the Richmond spirit alive." Rebecca Welton came waltzing towards them, looking wonderfully expensive as always. "Keeley mentioned you have a visitor here and I wanted to introduce myself."

"You didn't have to come all the way down here, boss." Ted was touched she cared enough to take the time to meet his niece. "We all know how busy you are."

"Nonsense, being the boss means I can do what I want," Rebecca smirked. "Where is she?"

"Oh, she's right over there potentially building a lifelong friendship with our very own Nate the Great." Ted began walking over to them with Rebecca by his side, leaving Coach Beard to monitor the play the team were practicing. "She's a great kid, you'll love her."

Alex and Nate were standing next to the water table, focused on watching the players on the pitch.

"So, a player is offsides if he's too close to the goal when his team has the ball?" Alex asked Nate, "Isn't the point of scoring to get close to the goal?"

"I'm still trying to understand that rule too, Lexie." Uncle Ted piped up, "it's about as confusing as figuring out the metric system."

Nate and Rebecca both sent him unamused looks, "Although, I do admit it makes more sense than the way we do things in the States."

"I believe yours is called the imperial system." Nate chimed in encouragingly.

Ted snapped his finger and grinned at Nate, "That's it! I knew it reminded me of Star Wars but couldn't put my finger on it."

Rebecca snorted in amusement before reaching out her hand to greet Alex. "I'm Rebecca Welton, the club owner. It's lovely to meet you."

Alex blinked and shook her hand awkwardly, "You're..? You own the club? That's incredible." She suddenly noticed the woman's sleek form-fitting blue dress with shiny designer shoes. "You're incredible." She blurted.

Rebecca laughed lightly, "You're very sweet. That midwestern charm must run in the family."

Shit, I still haven't said my name. "I'm Alex!" She exclaimed, "Or Lexie, if you want. Or Alexandra. Some people call me Lex, too. Whatever you want to call me is fine."

"Her name is like a buffet at Sizzlers, many options to choose from." Ted quipped, making Alex giggle nervously. She was never great at meeting new people, especially intimidating people like Rebecca.

Rebecca regarded her with kind eyes, "I think Alexandra is quite a pretty name. I choose that one."

Alex smiled at the stunning woman. Mrs. Welton radiated confidence and power, and she couldn't help but admire her. Her uncle seemed to feel the same. The whole time they'd been standing there his eyes hadn't left the tall blonde. Interesting.

Alex made sure to file that thought away for questioning later. Maybe Coach Beard knew something about the relationship between the two.

The shrill sound of a whistle cut through the frosty air, causing the group of four to turn their attention to Coach Beard. "Jamie, you've got to pass to Rojas if he's open!"

Jamie Tartt stood with his hands on his hips, confusion etched on his face. "I scored the goal, didn't I?"

Ted made his way out onto the pitch, "Jamie, we've talked about this. You're just one of eleven, remember?"

The athlete clenched his jaw, "So, what? I'm never allowed to score?"

"Now that's a bit dramatic, Jamie. This is a team effort. You've got to pass if he's open."

"I've been passing the fucking ball all practice." Jamie snapped back and pulled at his hoodie in frustration.

Ted approached Jamie to talk to him personally. "Look, we all know how talented you are. But the other players need to practice receiving the ball and they can't do that if you don't give it to them." Jamie shook his head and looked down at his cleats, barely refraining from lashing out at his Coach. "When it comes to gametime, if you make the decision to score when we need you – I'm all for it. So long as you're doing it to help the team and not your ego."

Alex thought Jamie's jaw might break from how tightly he was clenching it. The other players stood around, talking to each other like this happened often.

"Run the play again!" Ted called out, making his way off the pitch and leaving Jamie to his irritation. He shook his head and muttered something no one heard, which did not look like a compliment.

Rebecca jolted with a shiver, "It's a bit chilly, isn't it? I think I'll take my leave now and head back to my office," Her lack of warmth didn't affect the smile she gave Alex, "Let me know if you need anything at all, Alexandra. It was great meeting you."

"Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate you," Alex said, sweetly.

Rebecca's eyes widened slightly in recognition. "Yes, you two are definitely related."

As Mrs. Welton strutted back inside the arena, Alex nudged Nate to get his attention. "Is he always like that?"

Nate crinkled a brow and followed her line of sight to the burly, dark-haired player on the pitch. "You mean Jamie?" Nate let out an amused chuckle, "Believe it or not, he actually used to be worse than that."

Uncle Ted came back over to stand next to the duo. The only way Alex could tell he was frustrated was the by the slight tenseness around his eyes. She'd seem him look that way many times back home.

"He's come a long way," Ted acknowledged. "But it's hard getting him to let go of his control over the game. Great athletes like him feel like it's all on their shoulders to win."

Alex watched the play run again. This time Rojas scored the goal and shouted, "Football is life!" He said it in the purest way she'd seen anyone talk about a competitive sport. The other players didn't seem to mind his optimistic energy, all shaking their heads with endearment.

"Alright, boys! Great job today, hit the showers!" Ted yelled, clapping his hands in encouragement. "We only have two practices left before our match against New Castle on Friday."

As the players started walking off the pitch, Ted gave words of encouragement to each player who passed him. "Nice job sharing the ball, Jamie." He said, as the top-scoring striker walked past him.

Jamie didn't acknowledge his coach's words. The only sign of recognition he showed was another clench of his jaw. He keeps that up and his teeth are going to break, Alex thought as she watched him saunter by. As if he heard her thoughts, his head turned in her direction and their eyes locked.

She could see the frustration and anger in those dark blue eyes. The playfulness he looked at her with earlier was gone. With his intense gaze on her, she became aware of every part of her body. Here was this almost annoyingly gorgeous athlete in the prime of his life, and Alex stood there in her oversized hoodie and jeans, wrinkled from several hours of sitting on an airplane. She didn't know what to do under his examination, so she offered him a small smile. He didn't smile back but his eyes softened a little. He pursed his full lips, as if he was going to say something but refrained, before breaking their eye contact and continuing into the arena.

"Lexie!" The call of her name snapped her out of watching his retreating form. "You hungry?" Uncle Ted asked, as he helped Nate pick up the rest of the equipment left on the pitch.

It suddenly occurred to her that she hadn't eaten anything other than a small meal on the plane. She was starving. "God, yes." She beamed, "I can't wait to see how well the Brits eat over here."

Uncle Ted grinned, "I know just the place."