MASTERMIND | Jamie Tartt

FIFTY ONE: MY KIND OF WOMAN

read 50 first!

psa: the chant used during the match is based off a real life chant west ham fans use for one of their players which i thought would work well in this chapter...enjoy!

"Morning, babe," Jamie smiled as he entered Billie's bedroom, armed with a brown paper bag of breakfast from the local cafe, surprised to see that she was sitting up in bed, scrolling on her phone, wearing his hoodie as always, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Billie nodded, even though Jamie could tell she was holding something back, "How was training with my brother?"

"We just did a run round the green...well, he sat on the bench, 'cause of his knees and controlled me music, choosing shorter songs with each lap, said he didn't want me to overdo it before today's match," Jamie told her as he climbed back into the bed, Nelson wriggling up in between them, resting his head on Jamie's lap, "You gonna tell me what's really going on?"

"What did you get for breakfast?" Billie asked, choosing to avoid his question.

"Omelette for me, pancakes for you," Jamie replied, handing her a box, "Now will you tell me what's wrong?"

Billie opened the box, smiling at the sight of her favourite strawberry and Nutella pancakes, "You're a diamond for getting me these, J."

"Billie," Jamie replied sternly, "What's wrong?"

Billie looked up at him with trepidation, having hoped to avoid the conversation for as long as possible, but deep down she knew it was far better to talk about it than keep it to herself, "I think my Dad's gonna be there today. He's got a season ticket at West Ham, I've not seen him since the day of the bonfire."

"You don't have to see him, you know that, don't you, babe?" Jamie assured her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to her chest, she felt such a need to be cradled that she didn't care that he was laced in sweat, in fact that never really bothered her.

"That's what we thought about your dad at Wembley," Billie whispered, "And look how that went."

"If he's got a season ticket that means he'll be in amongst all the other fans, he won't be in the VIP area, which is the only way he could reach you," Jamie attempted to comfort her, even though they both knew that there was always the possibility of an unwanted run in.

"I just really don't want to see him, J."

"I know, Bils," He kissed the top of her head, "Have you spoken to Roy about any of this?"

"No, he doesn't really get it," Billie told him, "I mean he knows what happened when I was a kid since I told him, but he's never experienced that sort of thing from our Dad before, so he doesn't expect trouble, whereas I know it's inevitable."

"If we can get through a match against your ex's team, we can get through today, alright?" Jamie assured her as she opened her phone, clicking on a new notification that she had a message from Keeley.

"J, I literally had a panic attack at the Chelsea match," Billie sighed with a smile to reassure him that she was fine with it.

"Yeah, but you got through it," Jamie reminded her as she opened the link Keeley had sent her, "Nothing bad is gonna happen alright?"

"I wouldn't hold your breath," Billie exhaled as she showed him the article Keeley had sent her.

MISS SOUTH LONDON & THE HEARTBREAK PRINCE

JAMIE TARTT CONFIRMS ROMANCE WITH ROY KENT'S SISTER, FOLLOWING MONTHS OF PUBLIC SPECULATION.

"How did they work it out?" Jamie frowned, his eyes fixed on the headline as Billie scrolled further down the article, stopping on a photo, "Fuck."