Chapter 46
Connor
There were thirty-eight of us on the squad and my wonderfully kind and crazy mam had invited all of them over for dinner. Every single one.
Not everyone could make it, which wasn’t a bad thing, because while my parents’ house was big, it wasn’t thirty-eight rugby-players-wide big.
Mam, however, was completely unfazed, and moved through it all like this was exactly what she’d planned. Ever the hostess. Pots bubbled, trays were lined up along the counter, and she barely broke stride as she stirred something on the stove.
“Next time,” she said, talking to me, “I’m going to invite the Valkyries too. Make it a tradition. That’d be grand, wouldn’t it?”
“As well as the lads?” I asked. Then my mind immediately skipped ahead to Teddy being here, meeting my family, and everything in my body warmed, my cheeks especially.
It was rare lately that she wasn’t on my mind.
I’d tried to give her space after she met with her dad.
That lasted all of an hour and I’d messaged her to check in.
She said things went as well as they could have.
Then later that day, we walked on the beach together, and ended up at Micah and Bobby’s place for dinner.
It was the most couple-y thing we’d ever done, and it fueled my desire to do more with her.
Mam patted my cheek, breaking my daydream. “Yes, love, I want a house full of people celebrating the sport we all adore.”
“Now that, my lovely Siobhan,” Jake said from somewhere behind me, “sounds like the greatest dinner party in recorded history.”
“Thank you, Jake. I agree.”
“We should get Nate to bring his sister too,” Jake added, clearly choosing violence.
“I swear, I’ll kill you,” Nate said, seeming to appear out of nowhere.
Mam finally turned then, spoon still in her hand. “Is yer sister not nice people, Nathaniel?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Jake cut in before Nate could answer. “He won’t let me meet her.”
“For good reason,” Nate huffed, but didn’t elaborate. Then again, he didn’t have to…
Mam narrowed her eyes at Nate and pointed her spoon. “I want to meet her, if that’s alright with you and yours?”
Nate rubbed his chin, weighing his response. “She’d like you very much, Siobhan.”
“Then I have to meet her. I’ll have your people call my people.”
“Oh sure,” Jake guffawed. “You’ll let other people meet her, but not me.”
“One more strike, Jake, one more,” Nate hissed, and I wondered how next season would go if his sister did end up joining the Valkyries and sharing our stadium. Things would be interesting, that’s for sure.
Dad appeared in the doorway then, beer in hand, surveying the kitchen like a man who’d long ago accepted chaos as a permanent fixture of his life. A faint smile tugged at his mouth, the kind that said he found this whole thing deeply funny.
“If you lot keep hovering,” he said mildly, “Mam’s going to start handing out jobs.”
“Connor,” Mam called out, “tell Ramirez to stop stealing olives from the bowl. They’re for later.”
“I’ve only had four,” Ramirez protested, already chewing.
“Four that I saw,” Mam replied. “And wipe your hands on a towel, not your jeans. I’m not raising animals in this house.”
Jake laughed, loud and delighted, slinging an arm around my shoulder. “I’d die for this woman,” he announced.
“Yeah, yeah,” Mam said, waving him off with the spoon as she reached for a tea towel. “You’ll live longer if you set the table instead.”
It wasn’t long before dinner was ready and everything was moving fast.
Dad stepped aside to let a procession of hungry rugby players funnel toward the dining room, like they’d been released from a holding pen.
The table—really, two tables pushed together and extended as far as they’d go—was already half dressed, Mam having planned for this.
Trays followed in steady succession: roasted chickens, a dish of potatoes crisped to within an inch of perfection, bowls of greens slicked with butter, bread stacked high. My mouth watered at the scents.
When Mam finally nodded, satisfied, she clapped her hands once. “Right. Eat before you start chewing the furniture.”
The lads didn’t need to be told twice. There was immediate chatter and movement as all the players dove for the table and spoke between mouthfuls. It took Mam ten times longer to cook than it did for us to eat almost everything, and before long, we were all outside, enjoying the sunshine.
I ended up beside Dad on the old wooden chairs, Mam on my other side, slightly away from the rest of the lads. The late afternoon sun warmed my skin as we talked about everything that was going to happen over the next few weeks. Everything I’d been looking forward to telling them about.
Dad patted my shoulder, his eyes glassy as he looked at me. “I’m so proud of you, son.” He sniffed as Mam did the same, hugging me after the conversation we’d just had together about my future.
“Your grandad would be so proud, too,” Mam said, and that hit right in my solar plexus. I hoped he saw what I was going to do and knew that it was because of him. Everything that was coming stemmed from his drive and ambition; I couldn’t deny that I wouldn’t be the player I was today without him.
“Thanks, Mam,” I said.
She pulled me into a hug and kept me there for a long time.
“And you make sure you bring whoever the girl is who lit this fire under yer behind to meet us, okay?”
That had my eyes widening. “How did you…?”
“Trust me, I know when an O’Riley man is head over heels.”
My dad chuckled, leaving me feeling called out but strangely understood too. I’d never get tired of coming here.
I scanned the open-plan space and couldn’t help but smile at how relaxed everyone looked. Exactly how it was for me here too. My parents’ house did that to people. It fed you before you realized you were hungry and made you feel welcome before you’d even taken your shoes off.
Ramirez and a few others threw a ball in front of us. Jake, Nate, and Bobby all surrounded me on the deck chairs. Some had filtered off, but not without complimenting Mam on her cooking.
My shoulders rolled back as I let the ease roll over me, the early evening sun beaming on my skin, and hummed deep in my throat. “I love this team.”
“We love you too, buddy.” Bobby tapped my leg twice and took a swig of his beer.
“I mean it.”
He turned to face me, a knowing look in his eyes. “Is that you being a happy captain, or something else?”
I tipped my head back against the chair and let the question sit there. The ball thudded against the fence somewhere to our left, followed by Ramirez swearing loudly and Mam calling out that if he broke anything he’d be washing dishes for the rest of his life.
“Can’t it be both?” I said eventually, eyes still on the sky. “I’ve got clarity. That’s all.”
Jake tilted his head. “That sounds suspiciously like you’re about to give a speech.”
“Relax,” I laughed. “I left the mic inside.”
Bobby leaned back, studying me properly now. “And the Ireland stuff?”
I should’ve known they’d ask today. It was the thing everyone circled without questioning. It’s likely why they thought my mam threw this big dinner.
I met his gaze. “What about it?”
“Are we about to lose a captain and friend to another country?” Jake asked, a thread of anxiety lilting his voice.
“You’d never lose me as a friend, no matter where I live.”
“Dude.” Jake pouted, head back. “You’re so about to leave my ass. I’m fragile. You can’t do that to me.”
“Or me,” Nate added, brooding over the label of his bottle. I hadn’t expected that to come from him. Our resident grouch, but I appreciated it all the same.
“I don’t know what things will look like in a year,” I admitted.
“But I do know this—whatever comes next, I’m not leaving people behind to get there.
” I’d done enough of that already. Chasing the version of myself everyone else expected, telling myself it was the same thing as progress.
I was ready to start something, for me now.
“Something is going to happen tomorrow at the stadium. I’d like you all to be there, though. ”
There was so much they were going to learn. Me, included. This next year was going to push all of us, and I knew that whatever I did, these guys would be behind me the whole way.
“You do what you need to do, Cap. We’ll be here all the same,” Bobby said. “Just remember to name me captain, yeah?”
“Get the fuck outta here. I want that C,” Jake said, shooting upright in his chair.
I snorted, the sound pulling loose something warm in my chest. “In your dreams.”
“Excuse you, I would be an excellent captain. Inspirational. Approachable. Devastatingly handsome.”
“Unqualified,” Nate said flatly, not even looking up.
“That’s rude,” Jake replied. “Also, untrue. I have as much experience as any of you.”
Bobby laughed, the sound easy, familiar. “You bite every single time, man.”
Their bickering slid back into place like muscle memory, and the quiet certainty settled again.
My grandad had worn the captain’s armband in his career for a long time. A different country, a different era, but in the end, it was all the same. For a long time, I’d thought legacy meant following his path. Proving something. Carrying his name forward like a debt I owed.
Sitting here now, listening to Jake argue his imaginary qualifications and Nate refuse to rise to it, I understood it differently. Legacy was what you needed it to be.
Whatever this next year brought—pressure, change, uncertainty—I wouldn’t be facing it alone. None of us would. And for the first time, that felt like I was finally doing right by him.