Try Me || Erling Haaland

Chapter Fifteen

I pulled up outside my last stop, one of the familiar student accommodation blocks. The other fresher which I had taken with me to training had gone home with some friends off another sports team, meaning that I only had Naomi to drop off after Mia and Imogen. 

"Thank you, Lottie," She grinned at me, hurrying to grab her stuff. I looked up into the mirror and gave her a soft smile back. 

"You don't have to thank me," I chuckled. She made me feel a bit soft, which not many people did. 

I had noticed during training sessions that she was quite reserved and didn't speak to many people, often hanging back from the other girls and other freshers. I wanted her to settle in and make friends, all of the girls on rugby were extremely close to each other and I wanted her to experience that. 

"Will you be coming to training on Friday?" She asked, hopefully. 

"More than likely, yeah," I responded as I nodded my head. She nodded herself before picking up her stuff and getting out of the car. 

"Okay, see you then!" She smiled, as she was about to close the door to my car, I interrupted her with my voice.

"Are you not coming to the pub?" I shouted back to her, turning my head around. I watched as she hesitated. 

"I'm not sure, I still don't really know anyone," She stumbled, as she looked at me through the door of the car. 

"You know me," I reassured as she slowly nodded her head. "Get changed and meet us there," I added on, smiling at her. I watched as she smiled before she closed the car door. 

I waited a few minutes to make sure that she'd gotten into the reception before pulling away and driving down the road. 

♡

I didn't have to get changed because I hadn't been training, so I drove straight to the pub. The pub was packed with people sandwiched together, as it was every Monday evening after training. All sports teams would meet for a drink after training with their teams. 

"Here she is!" I heard Emma shout as I pushed past a group of boys. 

We all stood chatting in a circle with a pint, engrossed in our own conversations. I took a sip of my pint and turned to face the entrance, when I saw Naomi enter the pub. She scanned the room rapidly before smiling when her eyes landed on me.

She ordered a drink and came to stand by my side, we chatted for a bit before I started to listen to the conversation that the freshers were having to the side of us. They were talking about going out together tonight, as they were feeling tipsy.

"Naomi said Molly's is good on a Monday," I interjected, shoving Naomi slightly towards the freshers. They all turned around to look at us. 

"Really?" One of them asked, looking at Naomi. I elbowed her lightly, without the girls seeing. 

"Uh, yeah," She said, finding her voice. "I went last week with my flatmates, it was really busy," She smiled at them. The girls looked at each other silently. 

"You coming then?" One of the girls asked with a smile, inviting her into the conversation. I smiled as I walked away to rejoin the conversation the old girls were having.

I looked up mid-conversation to see Naomi laughing with the girls as she said something, when she noticed me looking she gave me an appreciative smile. I gave her a tight smile and turned away. 

"She's single!" I heard Imogen shout from the side of me. I hadn't heard their conversation, so I looked over quickly to see Imogen pointing in my direction whilst the other girls looked at me in amusement. 

"I'm single for who?" I questioned, I knew they were up to something. I looked at Emma who started laughing, Mia nodded her head in the direction of a boy off the men's football team who was looking directly at me. 

"Absolutely not," I scoffed, taking a sip of my pint. 

"I thought your type was footballers?" Mia teased with a smirk, as she elbowed me. 

♡

I had made a mistake driving to the pub, we always said we would go for one pint after training and now I couldn't drive back because I was steaming. 

I lifted my phone up, snapping a picture of me and Mia. I used the 0.5x zoom and took a picture from above of us both smiling whilst clinking our pint glasses together. I captioned the picture 'Monday club' before posting it to my Instagram story. 

I saw that I still had an unopened message from Erling:

@ErlingHaaland: No, you're the first 🤫

I liked the message before pressing on the camera to send a picture reply. I held the phone up and took a picture of myself from above with my finger over my lips, my pint glass in the same hand. 

I started typing.

'Don't worry, your secret is safe with me'.

Before I pressed send. 

I watched as within a few seconds, the picture changed from delivered, to opened. 

The chat turned bold, signalling he had replied. I pressed on the chat to see he had sent a picture back in response. 

"Who are you talking to?" Mia asked with a smirk on her face as she put her head over my shoulder. I pulled my phone into my chest. 

"No one," I muttered, as I looked at her. She looked at me wide eyed. 

"Who is it?" She questioned, reaching for my phone. 

"Are you speaking to someone?" She asked in surprise, her eyes widening more. 

"No one and no, I'm not speaking to someone!" I said as I squinted my eyes. 

We looked at each other challengingly for a few seconds, before she took a step backwards, admitting defeat. 

I let out a breath as I dropped my hand, removing my phone from its grip near my chest. Before I could react, Mia lunged forward and grabbed my phone. 

She turned and looked at me with her mouth hanging open.

"Haaland, as in Erling Haaland?" She whisper-shouted in question. 

"What about him?" I asked dumbly.

"You're talking to Erling Haaland?" She whispered. Her eyes still wide as she looked at me. 

"No I'm not talking to him, we're just friends," I said as I grabbed my phone off her. She nodded her head, looking at me in question. I narrowed my eyes at her and she held her hands up in defence. 

"I believe you," She said. She walked to stand next to me instead of in front of me. 

"What did he say?" She questioned as she looked at my phone screen.

"I don't know, I've not opened it yet," I replied as I looked up at her. My phone still in my hand, unlocked.

"Open it!" She whisper-shouted as she glanced at my screen. I pressed back on the chat and opened the picture.

He was sat down, wearing a black jacket and white t-shirt. He looked smart. His hair was slicked back in his usual sleek bun, a small twinge of a smirk on his face. My eyes scanned the screen for a few seconds before I looked at what he had replied.

It was weird seeing him in normal clothes, I was so used to seeing him in either his training kit or his playing kit.

'It better be'.

"What better be?" Mia questioned, her mouth slightly parted as she looked at me. I shook my head at her before reaching and smacking her on the back of the head.

"Stop being so nosy!" I laughed.

"Sorry, not every day I see someone messaging a famous footballer." She defended with a smirk.

♡

A/N - So Lottie does have a soft side? 🤨... interesting