Chapter 22
Connor
After training, the Valkyries went to wash off the mud and sweat while my team did the same.
The session had been a good idea, giving us all some common ground when we’d been told to stay separate at first. It helped to see everyone laugh through the drills, tease and encourage each other, and realize both squads were competitive, relentless, and allergic to letting the other side win even a warm-up.
I needed to find Teddy before she disappeared to ask her to come to St Brigid’s with me next week before our first games.
I’m not sure how long it would take for my body to regain its natural rhythm after spending the last hour in her orbit.
Or that I was seeking her out so soon like an addict needing a hit.
In true Teddy style, she’d fled, and I’d expected it.
That didn’t stop my body from twitching with the need for a resolution.
I stood in the lobby, hands on my hips, breathing through the excess energy with nowhere to put it. Avoidance changed nothing.
Bobby appeared at my side, Nate and Jake long gone. “Hey, man, what you still doing out here?”
“I’m just hoping to catch Teddy,” I said, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck. It was perfectly normal for captains to talk, right? Especially since we’d been pushed together after the quake. It wasn’t like I’d said, “I’m waiting for her because I need to ask her why she kissed me.”
“She’s probably with Micah. She texted me saying she’s wrapping up, then we’re getting sushi.” He lifted his chin. “You’re welcome to tag along.”
“Maybe,” I said without commitment. Because I already knew I’d read the room before I stepped into it.
I wasn’t going anywhere if Teddy didn’t want me there.
“I’ll see how it all comes together, sure,” I added, because it was easier than admitting I was waiting on her call, even if she’d never made it.
Bobby accepted that without digging, which was one of the reasons I liked him. He stayed a few feet away, leaning against the wall, eyes drifting toward the corridor every few seconds, waiting for his girl.
A moment later, Micah finally emerged, purse over her shoulder. She smiled when she saw Bobby, then looked between us.
“Hey, baby,” she cooed, leaning toward him for a kiss. “Thanks for waiting.”
“Of course,” Bobby said with a gooey smile. “Connor’s waiting for Teddy. Is she coming?”
Micah’s expression flickered, and then her eyebrows pinched.
My stomach dipped.
“She left already. Slipped out the side hall about ten minutes ago.”
It shouldn’t have caught me off guard, but it did.
“Okay,” I said, keeping my voice easy. “Thanks.”
Micah gave me a small, considerate look before turning to Bobby. “Ready?”
He pushed off the wall and followed her toward the doors, tossing me a simple, “See you tomorrow, man.”
I lifted a hand in return, but my attention drifted back to the empty hallway Teddy had apparently rushed through. I guessed her message was clear—she really didn’t want to talk to me.
***
Pour Decisions was half-full when I pushed open the door. I didn’t usually go to bars after training, but I was hungry and this place was the closest food to the stadium.
The second I scanned the room, my eyes snagged on a dark brown braid I knew all too well.
My brain tried to compute the fact that I’d been waiting for her, and she’d snuck through a side door, only to end up here. The first place I’d go. My gaze was stuck.
She nursed a glass of water in front of her, her long legs draped over each other as she perched on a stool, leaning toward…
Leo, who was grinning and licking his lips as he blatantly checked her out.
She smiled back at him, and a muscle ticked in my jaw.
I wasn’t about to interrupt… Ah, who was I kidding?
I was absolutely going to interrupt. A growl worked its way up my throat, but I swallowed it down.
There was no fucking way I was going to let him think he could have a shot with her when she and I had unfinished business.
I stalked toward them before I had a full plan, weaving past high tables until I got close enough to hear Leo say, “—I guess I got lucky today.”
That was as far as he got. It’s also as far as I’d let him get.
“Teddy.”
Her head snapped my way. The smile vanished like it had never existed. The temperature in her eyes dropped a degree, then another, until the blue flamed just the way I liked it.
Leo blinked at me, still leaning on the bar. “Hey, man,” he said, slow and uncertain, before his eyes flicked to Teddy, brow furrowing as he took me in. “I, uh, didn’t see you come in.”
I didn’t answer him, my focus solely on Teddy.
“Can we talk?” I asked her.
Teddy swapped her legs around, putting the other on top. “I’m busy,” she said, flicking her braid over her shoulder. As she gave Leo a brief smile, my blood ran wild.
“You’re drinking water,” I countered, nostrils flared.
A warning flashed across her face. “That doesn’t count as busy to you?”
Leo shifted on his feet. “Should I… give you two a minute?”
Teddy didn’t answer, but her shoulders tightened in a way that told me exactly how fast she’d bolt if I gave her an opening.
“Yes, I need to talk to Teddy alone.”
He hesitated, then nodded, tapping the bar twice as he went.
Teddy’s lips pursed. “I was talking to Leo.”
“I could see that,” I said quickly. “Seemed you were both enjoying the conversation. Were you planning on kissing him too, then running off?” I paused, watching her response, hating the burn in my chest and the way I came across.
Lust and frustration were a lethal combination, and that’s what I felt around her.
Her nostrils flared, a beat of silence passing between us. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you.”
“I’m not jealous.” There was a pain in my jaw from clenching my teeth together. Of course I was fucking jealous. I went green watching him hold her attention, wanting it for myself.
A humorless breath left her lips. “Sure.” She pivoted off the stool, moving quickly toward the hallway that led to the bathrooms.
“Teddy.” I followed, catching her by stepping into her path, not touching her, just blocking her escape.
I was getting tired of chasing her. If she wanted space, I’d take it on the chin and let her have that.
I wasn’t chasing her to convince her of anything; I just needed to know if this was something worth fighting for, or whether I needed to step back and let it go.
“I need to pee,” she snapped.
“You didn’t look that desperate a second ago.”
Her arms crossed in front of her, creating a barrier between us. “What, you’re going to follow me into the women’s restroom?”
“If that’s what it takes.”
Her lips parted, outrage and something else flickering there. “You wouldn’t.”
“Teddy,” I murmured, leaning in just enough, “I’ve been wanting to hash this out since Friday night. Don’t test my commitment.”
That earned me a startled, unwilling laugh. It was breathy, and as soon as it slipped out, I knew she hated giving it to me. “Fine. I’ll come back. You can wait out here like some kind of deranged stalker.”
“I prefer ‘committed admirer,’” I muttered.
Her mouth twitched with an almost smile, but she shut it down fast and slipped past me into the restroom.
And then it was just me standing in a hallway—again—like an idiot. A fucking hungry idiot because I still hadn’t eaten since breakfast and my stomach was grumbling about that.
I braced a hand on the wall in front of me and let out a slow breath as my mind circled back to the whole reason I was here—and by here, I didn’t mean Pour Decisions.
I meant, in this position, with Teddy. She’d kissed me with purpose.
By choice, and all heat. Nothing about it felt convenient or accidental.
Maybe I shouldn’t have waited for her today or walked up to her here at all.
But here I was anyway, stripped down to the simplest fact: I wanted to understand why she did it.
And I wanted to do it again.
The door opened, hinges squeaking, and she stepped back into the hallway. “Happy? I returned just like I said I would. No disappearing act.”
I looked at her arms covering her body, and I wanted to unfurl them, tangle myself up in them, in her.
“Let’s make it quick,” she huffed, avoiding my eyes. I knew this immature attitude wasn’t her. This is what she did when she felt cornered.
“Is that really what you want?” I asked as I stepped forward, enough for her to feel the intent behind my movement but without crowding her entirely.
She moved back, just like I knew she would, until she lightly met the wall behind her.
Shadows climbed up her shoulder and jaw.
I followed, slowly, watching her arms fidget as she uncrossed them and planted them by her sides.
Her slender fingers flexed and curled into her palms.
She parted her lips to speak, but I pressed in the last inch and raised my finger to cover them.
“Uh-uh,” I murmured. “I’m still talking.”
Her pupils dilated. Her lips were pillowy soft beneath me, making my restraint even thinner.
“I’ve been thinking about that kiss,” I said, each word a whisper.
I moved the tip of my finger slowly tracing the outline of her mouth, a gentle drag over the tip of her Cupid’s bow, a small curve down to the corner where her breath escaped in a shaky exhale.
“More than I should. I don’t usually do that, think about someone as much as I’ve been thinking about you. ”
Her throat lifted and fell with an audible swallow.
“I tried to ignore it,” I went on, lowering my finger to drift along the line of her jaw. “Tried to believe it was nothing, that you were acting out of adrenaline.”
She drew in a breath as my fingers slipped into her hair. I tipped her head back the slightest bit, leaning in until my mouth hovered over hers without touching.
“Then I kept wondering why you kissed me at all. Why you ran after. Why you’re pretending you don’t feel this too…”