All That Went Unsaid | Complete (18+)

Chapter 31

Sophie's POV

The world roared around me as thousands of voices rose like a wave- but all I could hear at first was Zahra's voice in my ear.

"Three new inquiries this morning," she said, her tone bubbling with barely contained excitement. "Two local, one from a UK-based NGO. Everyone wants to collaborate. I think this thing is really catching fire, Sophie."

My steps faltered for a moment as Raymond's manager guided Daniel, Justin, and me through the security checkpoint. The buzz of the stadium swallowed us whole. Chants echoing off the metal stands, flags waving like wild flames. "You're serious?" I asked, my voice nearly lost in the crowd's thunder.

"I'm dead serious," Zahra laughed. "GTH's name did it. Everyone suddenly wants in before it's too late."

I couldn't help but smile, that deep, helpless kind of smile that took over your whole face. Around me, the air shimmered with energy, thousands of bodies packed tight, the scent of fresh turf and popcorn mingling under the blinding stadium lights.

"That's incredible," I said, weaving through the corridor toward the VIP section. "Let's start reviewing those proposals. We'll need to be careful who we partner with."

Raymond's manager gestured us up the steps, toward the glass-fronted seats that overlooked the field. The view took my breath away- an ocean of fans, the field stretching out like a perfect green canvas beneath the glow of floodlights.

"Already on it, boss," Zahra replied. "Go watch your man make history."

I smiled, heat rising to my cheeks. "He better," I said, "or I'll have to remind him who the real achiever is."

Zahra laughed again before hanging up, and I tucked my phone away, but the grin refused to leave my face. The roar of the crowd blurred into a hum as I sank into the memory of him. The way his mouth had felt against mine barely an hour ago, soft and sure, as if he already knew I'd still be thinking about it now.

My lips still tingled from that kiss. God, even the car ride here had been a blur. I felt like seventeen all over again. Making out on the backseat of the car, his hand laced with mine, his thumb tracing small, distracting circles on my skin. God I needed to get a grip on myself.

He'd shown up at the airport last night straight from practice- sweaty, exhausted, and still managing to look infuriatingly good. The scent of him- sweat, something purely Raymond- had wrapped around me the moment he pulled me into his arms. I'd told him he needed a shower.

He'd told me to join him.

The rest of the night had been a haze of chuckles and moans. Warmth and hands that knew too well where to linger. Even now, as I sat in the VIP box surrounded by roaring fans, the memory of his touch pulsed quietly beneath my skin.

A shy flush crept up my neck. I wasn't jealous of the women who'd come before me, not anymore. Raymond had always been a storm- too wild, too restless and somehow, I'd become the one place he returned to.

I was reaping the reward of every lonely year, every sleepless night wondering what he was doing, who he was with. Because now I knew that he was mine, and I was his.

And there he was.

Down on the pitch, in red and white, shoulders broad beneath his jersey, warming up with the team. Even from this distance, I could tell it was him- the way he moved, deliberate yet fluid, calm but coiled with energy. My chest tightened as the announcer began calling names, the sound swelling like thunder.

Everything suddenly felt surreal. My project was thriving, the investors reaching out, women in the lab finally seeing what we'd dreamed of take shape. I had fought for years to make that happen. And now, here I was, standing in a stadium in another country, watching the man I loved about to play the biggest match of his life.