Chapter 10
In the canteen, a tray clattered onto the table opposite Erin.
Expecting Alex—who else would want to join her?—Erin raised an eyebrow when Lia dropped into the chair. She hadn’t seen Lia that morning in the gym; she’d been given the all clear to go back out onto the training pitches to move on to the next phase of her rehab. Erin was still stuck inside.
A few of their teammates who had already returned from international duty gave them curious looks as Lia got herself settled.
“What?” Lia lifted her bottle of water to her lips.
“You never sit with me. No one ever sits with me.”
“Alex does.”
“Alex is different.”
“I missed you this morning.”
Okay, that was not what Erin was expecting Lia to say. “Look, just because you were at my place last night doesn’t mean that we’re friends.”
“Oh no.” Lia dug into her omelette with gusto. “I wouldn’t dream of it—we’re colleagues only.”
Erin’s own words were parroted back at her with a sarcastic smile.
“And sometimes colleagues eat together.” Lia paused, glancing at Erin’s face. “Do you want me to go?”
“Well, you’re already here, so you may as well stay. And people will talk if I send you away. More than they already are.”
The looks and muted whispers of her teammates made Erin itch. It wasn’t a feeling she was accustomed to—she had a thick skin, and other people’s opinions didn’t matter to her. But it was rare that someone dared to discuss her so openly.
Lia grinned. “I knew I’d grow on you.”
“Like a rash.”
“So you didn’t miss me this morning?”
“No.” Lia didn’t need to know how empty the gym had been without her.
“You do wonders for my ego, you know. I can always count on you to keep me down to earth.”
Some of Erin’s unease ebbed away the longer Lia talked. So what if this was unusual? Hadn’t Shanice wanted the two of them to get on? Well, look at them now.
“How long did you manage to run today?” Lia asked.
“Seven minutes.” A full ninety felt like an impossible mountain to climb, but Erin was determined to get there.
“Nice. You’ll be back on the grass in no time.”
“How was your training today? Do you think you’ll be ready for the weekend?”
Lia’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. “It’s looking good, but you never know. I’ll hopefully be on the bench, at least.”
“And how are you feeling about that?” Erin tried hard to keep her voice neutral.
Lia stiffened all the same, tension in the set of her jaw as her knuckles flashed white around her fork. “I’ll have easier games.”
Considering their next game was against Wanderers, Erin didn’t doubt that.
A lot was on the line—Wanderers were in second place, breathing down Albion’s necks, and your first time coming up against your former team was always difficult—even if you hadn’t left in contentious circumstances.
And though Wanderers’ coach had been fired, Lia’s ex was still playing.
While Erin wasn’t one for emotional entanglements, she could imagine how difficult it must be. “Expect to be grilled on their tactics in our next team meeting.”
The tension cracked as Lia broke into a smile. “Oh, I’ve already been asked about a thousand times. I think they’re expecting me to be our secret weapon.”
“If you can get on the pitch, there’s no doubt you will be. But it won’t be a secret.” Erin couldn’t begrudge Lia anymore. She wasn’t an idiot; she saw how good Lia was, how much she improved the team.
If Erin couldn’t do it, she was glad someone else could.
And it was going to push her to get back to her best quicker than ever.
* * *
Lia wasn’t fit enough to start the game.
Sitting on the bench, watching her new teammates shake hands with her former ones, Lia wasn’t sad about it. Hannah was playing, and the thought of having to stand opposite her made Lia’s stomach roil and her hands shake. It was a good thing she wasn’t on the pitch.
Lia wished the whole thing would have thrown Hannah off her game, but as always, she bossed the midfield today like she was born to do it, intercepting tackles with ease and sliding balls through to the attackers that no other player had the vision to do.
It was one of the things that had attracted Lia to her—she was someone who did their job effortlessly, and did it well. Competence was sexy, after all.
But watching Hannah for too long made her feel sick. She blinked and saw Hannah and Carol locked in an embrace, Hannah’s watery eyes when Lia had confronted her, the future they could have had. She dug her nails into her palms, willing herself not to cry in case the cameras caught her.
Desperately needing a moment to herself, Lia jumped from her seat and headed toward the tunnel.
“You okay?” Adrianna asked as Lia shuffled past.
“All good—just need the toilet.” The lie came easily, and Lia hurried inside and to the bathroom before anyone else had the chance to stop her. Hunching over the sinks, she curled her hands over the porcelain and took deep breaths. When the door opened behind her, Lia raised her head.
Erin let the door swing closed behind her.
Hastily wiping at her eyes, Lia tried to force a smile. “What are you doing here?” Erin was supposed to be in the stands with Maisie. Lia had waved at them earlier.
“Figured you might need some support.”
“I’m fine.”
Erin raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because you look far from fine.”
Lia could argue. She didn’t think Erin would push her too hard. But she sagged instead, leaning back against the sink and hanging her head. “I didn’t realise it would be this hard.”
Quiet footsteps approached, and Erin paused in front of her. “No one would begrudge you for saying you’re not ready to play.”
“I can’t let everyone down like that if they need me to come on.”
A finger pressed against the underside of Lia’s chin, forcing her head to lift. Erin’s gaze was steely. “You’d be letting everybody down if you stepped out onto that pitch if you weren’t one hundred percent ready. You can’t freeze when you come face to face with her.”
Lia let out a breath, drawing some comfort from Erin’s warmth. “I know. But I don’t know how to make myself ready. It’s been months—shouldn’t I be over it? You would be. Not that you’d have let yourself get into this position in the first place.”
“I was. Once.”
Lia’s mouth dropped open.
Judging from Erin’s uncomfortable look, she was as surprised those words had left her mouth.
“I was eighteen, and I didn’t handle it well when she broke my heart.
She left the club, and when our teams faced one another the next season, I was so wound up that I got sent off.
So trust me when I say that if you don’t feel ready, tell Ayla that you’re not coming on today. ”
Erin let her hand drop back to her side, a haunted look in her eyes.
“I…didn’t know that.” Lia was amazed she could speak at all. “Is that why you have your rule?”
“Yes.” Sliding her hands into the pockets of her Albion hoodie, Erin leaned a hip against the sink beside Lia. “I let her affect my career, and that was unacceptable. I swore it wouldn’t happen again.”
“I don’t want her to affect my career.” Hannah had already ruined so much. “Though I guess she already has.”
“By improving it.” Erin’s voice was fierce. “Not everyone can move to another team and fit in like you have. Not everyone can replicate their form at a new club. And arguably, you’re doing better than ever.”
“Again with the compliments.” Lia managed a watery smile.
Erin shrugged but didn’t meet Lia’s eye. “Just the truth.”
“I wish she wasn’t playing as well as she is.”
“She’s okay. Predictable, though. Keeps looking for space between our centre-backs but refuses to put the ball out to the left. And she’s weaker on her right foot—it looks like she’s carrying a knock from when Cerys tackled her early on.”
Despite Lia’s pleas to leave Hannah alone, Lia had no doubt that tackle was Cerys’s special gift. She’d winced when it had happened; Cerys had been lucky not to receive a yellow card.
“And she might not be affected by you right now,” Erin said, “but I think if you were on the pitch, it might be a different story.”
“You think so?”
“She’s in your head. There’s no reason to think you won’t be in hers. And if you’re not, you should be.”
Before Lia could reply, a cheer rang out from the stands—but it wasn’t loud enough to be from their own fans. Had Wanderers scored? “That doesn’t sound good.”
Erin made a face. “No, it doesn’t. You ready to go back out there?”
With another deep breath, Lia nodded.
“Good. Because I think we might need you in the second half, if you’re up for it.”
* * *
“You were gone ages,” Maisie said when Erin slid back into her usual seat on the bench behind the players. “And you left me alone! What if someone kidnapped me?”
“They’d soon bring you back.” Erin ruffled Maisie’s unruly hair. “And I’m back now, aren’t I?”
“You missed a goal. Wanderers scored.”
And Albion were playing like they’d never kicked a ball before. By the time the half-time whistle went, Erin had counted a mere two shots on goal by Albion, and neither of them were on target.
“They need to bring Lia on.”
Erin agreed wholeheartedly, but… “I’m not sure she’s fit enough.
” Mentally, not physically. Hopefully she’d said enough in the bathroom to get Lia out of her own head.
She’d certainly said more than she meant to.
Few people knew about her first and only relationship, and Erin had spilled it all to Lia because she’d been looking lost and dejected.
Well, Erin couldn’t take it back now. And maybe it would help. She didn’t want Lia to act as rashly as Erin had. Getting banned for their next game wouldn’t help anyone, even if a hard tackle would wipe the smirk off Hannah Edgerton’s face.
Erin didn’t know what Lia saw in her. Sure, she was a good player, but Erin had seen better. And she was stereotypically pretty—with high cheek bones, bright-blue eyes and a long, blonde ponytail—but her smug expression wasn’t attractive.