Chapter 14
A week passed before Lia’s path crossed Erin’s again.
The rehab programme Erin had been put onto kept her out of Lia’s orbit, instead spending long hours in the gym and on an alternate mealtime schedule to the rest of the team. She hadn’t even been involved in the one team briefing they’d had since arriving back in the UK.
One week since their eyes had last met. One week since Lia had walked away, saying she needed space. And one week where Lia’s head had been filled with nothing but thoughts of their night together.
Frustratingly, not even Erin’s attitude the morning after had dampened the thrill that went through Lia when she spotted Erin hobbling through the hallway at Park Lane with one heavily bandaged leg.
Whatever Cerys was saying to Lia about the movie she’d watched with her boyfriend last night faded away as her gaze found the back of Erin’s head.
Despite everything that had soured between them, every fibre of Lia’s being wanted to race after Erin and ask how she was feeling, how her recovery was going, how they could try and fix what had splintered between them.
Which was a huge problem.
“You should definitely watch it if you get a chance,” Cerys said, her voice cutting through Lia’s thoughts.
Before she had to scramble for something to say—and agree to watch something she couldn’t name even if a gun were pressed to her temple—Adrianna skipped over to them, eyes gleeful as she held her phone aloft. “Have you seen the news?”
Lia had the uneasy feeling she wasn’t going to like whatever “news” Adrianna was so elated by. “No?”
“Here.” Adrianna brandished her phone in Lia’s face.
Cerys leaned over Lia’s shoulder so they could read it together.
The first thing to catch Lia’s attention was Hannah’s name—and the fact that she’d left Manchester Wanderers to sign for Real Madrid. But it was the reason for Hannah’s transfer that made Lia’s mouth drop open.
“She admitted it,” Cerys said, her hand tight on Lia’s waist. “She admitted that she was the player who had the affair with Carol. Why would she do that?”
Why would Hannah do that? She had no reason to.
It had been weeks since the article had dropped; disgraced former coach Carol Evans was old news.
Even Lia’s social media mentions hadn’t been cluttered with any recent speculation.
It had blown over, the scandal forgotten with the dawning of the second half of the Super League season.
But Hannah had dragged it right back onto the front page.
Why?
And why had she handed in a transfer request? The Spanish league was notoriously one-sided and non-competitive, and Real Madrid were always the team coming in second. Why had Hannah left a team in one of the best women’s leagues in the world, where she was competing for trophies, to go there?
“You knew, right?” Adrianna’s eager eyes zeroed in on Lia’s face. “That it was her sleeping with your old coach? That’s why you really left Wanderers, isn’t it?”
“That’s none of your fucking business, Adrianna.
” Cerys shifted to put herself between Adrianna and Lia, like she could shield her from the oncoming storm.
“And it’s no one else’s business, either.
The past is in the past, and what matters is that Lia’s here with us.
Not what may or may not have happened to bring her here. ”
“I was only asking.” Adrianna’s face turned sullen, lips twisting into a pout. “You don’t need to be a dick about it.”
“The only dickish behaviour I see here is from you, spreading gossip around this team when you should be supportive.”
Adrianna looked like she was going to argue before she shook her head and stalked off, no doubt to find someone who would humour her.
Slowly, Cerys wheeled around to face Lia. “So, how are we feeling about what we just read?”
Shaking her head, Lia leaned back against the wall. “I don’t know how to feel, really. I don’t know why she’d do this when it had all blown over. She’d gotten away with it. And why’s she gone to Spain? She doesn’t even like the sun!”
“I don’t know, Lia.” Cerys rubbed a hand along Lia’s arm. “But on the bright side, unless we face Real Madrid in the Champions League, you won’t have to see her again. That’s something, right?”
“Right.” But Lia was uneasy as she joined the rest of the team for training, trying to ignore the few stares and whispers that were directed her way.
Uneasy because she didn’t understand the decision, uneasy because she was now front and centre again, uneasy because she knew her name was on the lips of every single one of her teammates.
Uneasy enough that when, after training had finished and the rest of the players went into the canteen for lunch, Lia pulled out her phone and hovered over a number she hadn’t called in a long time.
Hannah picked up on the fourth ring. “Can’t say I’m surprised that this caught your attention.”
“What the hell, Hannah? Why are you dredging this all up again? Why now?”
A sigh echoed in Lia’s ear. “Because you were right; it wasn’t fair. Because I got away with it, and you didn’t deserve to have your name dragged into it. But now you won’t anymore. I’m sorry that it’s brought it back to the front of the news cycle, but it’ll die down soon enough.”
“You’re ruining your career.”
“I ruined my career the second I decided to cheat on you, Lia. I knew what I was doing was wrong. I knew there was no coming back from it, but I did it anyway. At least now I’m doing something right. I’ve cleared your name. I’ve given myself a fresh start.”
“In Spain?”
“It’s not so bad. I’ll get used to the weather.
And I’ll get to compete against some of the best players in the world.
I think I needed this. A reset. Being in that house without you, it didn’t feel right.
It was ours until I fucked it all up. Charlie’s settled in Spain already. There’s a river nearby he can play in.”
He was a water baby at heart, having to be persuaded out of rivers, lakes, and seas with a multitude of tasty treats. “And are you settled in?”
“I’ll get there.”
“Is this your way of punishing yourself? Because if you think that’s what I want, then it’s not, Hannah. All I wanted was to move on.”
“And now we both can. This was the best thing I could have done. For the both of us. Now, I’ve taken up enough of your time.
I really am sorry, Lia. For everything. I’ll never be able to fix it, but I can give you this.
Freedom from having to see me again. At least regularly.
I hope you’re able to find happiness. And I hope you continue to thrive at Albion.
I’m sorry I couldn’t be who you needed me to be.
Who you deserved. I hope there’s someone out there for you who treats you the way I should have.
Maybe even one of your new teammates. I bet they’re lining up for a chance with you. ”
Unbidden, an image of Erin, back arched and lips parted, flashed through Lia’s mind. She was quick to shake her head. “I think I’ve learned my lesson about that. Getting involved with someone on the same team never seems to end well.”
If only Lia could have remembered that before falling into Erin’s bed. God. She was an idiot. Not even six months on from joining Albion and she was already making mistakes, jeopardising everything all over again. Stupid.
Hannah’s laugh was laced with sadness. “Yeah, I know. I think I’ve learned my lesson about that, too. Look, I’d better go. I’m really glad you called.”
“Yeah. Me, too, actually.” There was no mending what had been broken between them, but something about this conversation felt like closure.
Maybe this time, once and for all, Lia would be able to slam shut the door to her and Hannah’s relationship and feel like it wouldn’t crack open and spill out, messy and bloody, on the carpet again. “Look after yourself, Hannah.”
“Yeah. You, too.”
* * *
“Have you really not got anything else to talk about this afternoon?” Erin snapped at Adrianna as she queued behind her in the canteen at lunchtime.
She thought she’d done well to hold her tongue for as long as she had, sick to death of hearing Lia’s name spoken by everyone around her as they digested the bombshell that Erin had already worked out months ago.
Lia herself was nowhere to be seen, and that made Erin itchy. Though she’d been dreading the thought of their paths crossing for the first time since Erin had left Spain, she also wanted to set her eyes on Lia, to make sure she was okay after the article had dropped that morning.
But even after purposefully delaying her lunch to join the rest of the team, she’d been left disappointed, finding Lia suspiciously absent.
Was it any wonder she was in a bad enough mood to engage Adrianna?
“I didn’t realise you were in charge of what topics of conversation we could cover in the canteen,” Adrianna said, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder for good measure as she shot Erin a poisonous glance.
“I’m not, but she kinda is.” Erin jerked her thumb toward where Shanice stood behind her in the queue. “And I’m pretty sure she agrees with me.”
Shanice’s cheeks puffed out as she sighed. “I do, yeah. Leave Lia alone, Adrianna. Do you not think she’s been through enough?”
Too much, in Erin’s opinion. Too much to be on her own, away from her support network. Cerys sat at a table with a handful of others, seemingly unconcerned about Lia’s absence.
A few weeks ago, Erin having a desire to check on Lia would have been laughable.
But she’d seen her in that rage room, seen her nearly break down before facing Hannah on the pitch.
And as much as Erin might be trying to forget the night they’d spent together, she couldn’t deny that Lia had gotten underneath her skin.
Erin wouldn’t have slept with her if she didn’t care about her at all. Which was what led to her abandoning her place in the queue and retreating into the hall to see if Lia was nearby.
She didn’t have to look for long before she heard Lia’s voice. When Erin turned the corner, Lia was leaning against the wall, one hand twisting a strand of hair around her finger.
She had her back to Erin, giving her a rare opportunity to drink her in without risking being caught staring. Lia’s Albion hoodie was baggy, the sleeves rolled up to reveal her delicate wrists.
Looking at her, Erin was bombarded with memories of their night together, filled with an aching desire to do it all over again.
Lia had awoken something in her that had long lain dormant, and Erin had no idea how to deal with the intensity of the desire that flooded through her with Lia back in touching distance.
Lia had asked for space, and Erin was trying to grant that, but the temptation to reach out and brush a hand across the small of Lia’s back, to ask if she was okay, was dizzying.
And then Lia’s mouth opened, and Erin recoiled when she realised who she was speaking to.
“Is this your way of punishing yourself? Because if you think that’s what I want, then it’s not, Hannah. All I wanted was to move on.”
The reason Lia wasn’t in there with the rest of the team was because she was talking to the ex-girlfriend that had broken her heart. Erin froze a few steps away, unsure what to do. The last thing she wanted was to overhear a reconciliation.
Perhaps she should go over there and physically shake some sense into Lia?
Had she forgotten all the awful things that Hannah had done?
Surely, one interview and moving teams wasn’t enough for Lia to forgive her.
That was the least Hannah should have done, and she should have done it weeks ago, when this first happened.
Not six months later when the guilt got to be too much.
Erin wished she could give Hannah Edgerton a piece of her mind.
“I think I’ve learned my lesson about that,” Lia said, voice quiet, her back still to Erin. “Getting involved with someone on the same team never seems to end well.”
Was Erin imagining the regret in Lia’s words? And if she wasn’t—was it regret for how things had worked out with Hannah, or was she thinking of Erin? Was she realising that Erin had been right all along to try and keep their work and personal lives separate?
And there Erin was, hovering behind her, listening to a conversation she had no right to be a part of, when all Lia had asked of her was space.
What was she doing? Erin wouldn’t be out there if it was Adrianna or Cerys or one of the others—anyone other than Alex, and Alex had been more family than teammate for years.
Quietly, Erin backed down the hallway before Lia could notice her. With her appetite gone, she instead made her way to the gym to start on her next round of rehab exercises. Maybe if she pushed herself hard enough, she’d stop wondering why she cared if Hannah and Lia got back together.