Chapter 47
Teddy
Micah was playing the best friend role in full force today.
Not only did she quiz me with a billion questions about seeing my dad—what he was like, how long he was staying, whether he really looked like me—and then announced that she’d decided she absolutely needed to meet him, all before my morning coffee.
She was now standing at the edge of the rugby pitch with her arms folded, my stopwatch dangling from her fingers like a threat, insisting that I cut my cardio session short.
Can’t a girl just catch a break and continue with her regularly scheduled life? God forbid, my life returned to normal.
I slowed at the end of the pitch, chest heaving as I reached the try line, sweat slicking down my spine. “I’m not done,” I said, hands braced on my hips as I turned back toward her. “I still have two laps left.”
She didn’t even pretend to consider it. “You’re done enough,” she replied, already turning on her heel. “Can you come with me for a second?”
There was something in her tone that had my irritation flickering into suspicion. I glanced back at the length of the pitch, then at her retreating back. “Micah,” I warned, grabbing my water bottle, “if this is another ambush about my dad—”
“It’s not,” she said as she waved for me to follow. “Just… trust me.”
Micah never cut training short without a reason, and she never smiled like that unless she knew something I didn’t.
“Where are we going?” I asked, jogging a few steps to keep up, calves already protesting at the sudden stop-start.
She cut toward the tunnel, the cool AC air hitting my skin as we went inside. “Locker room.”
“For what?” I shot back, but she was already pushing the door open.
Micah crossed straight to the bench, grabbed a towel, and pressed it into my hands.
“Splash some water on your face, please.”
I stared at her. “What? Why?”
“Because you’re flushed, and I need you not to be.”
My muscles were twitching, quivering even, because I didn’t like vague answers. The desire to flee rumbled through my head down to my toes, but I didn’t think Micah would appreciate the cardio of trying to catch me. So I leaned over the sink, cold water cutting through the heat clinging to my skin.
When I was done, she nodded and turned on her heels. “Let’s go.”
We walked the length of the building in silence, past the gym, Coach’s office, and the hallways felt endless. My pulse thundered in my ears the closer we got to the end, and when we stopped in front of the large conference room at the end of the hall, my stomach dropped.
The glass panels were opaque, but I knew that room.
I’d stood in it with Connor months ago, shoulder to shoulder, cameras flashing as we announced the stadium share.
Nothing had been the same since then. Me and Connor, for one, were…
whatever we were. Instead of being at each other’s throats, we were regularly in each other’s beds.
My team was strong and top of the table, in a league still finding its footing. Women’s rugby in the US didn’t have dynasties yet—just hungry teams, short seasons, and a brutal points race where consistency mattered more than reputation. And we were driving forward toward that final win.
My feet slowed as we approached the door. Then they stopped altogether, like my body had made the decision ahead of me. I had no clue what was beyond that door and my palms were slick. “Micah.”
She turned to me, one hand already on the handle. “Don’t freak out.”
Don’t freak out implied this was manageable, like my heart hadn’t just started beating against my ribs with something close to panic. Don’t freak out was the worst thing you could say to someone before pushing them into the unknown.
“I am freaking out,” I whisper-hissed. “Why are we here? Why would you bring me here without telling me what’s going on?”
She opened her mouth to answer, then seemed to think better of it. “Just… trust me. Please.”
Her brown eyes pleaded with me. I’d spent my entire professional career listening to her, trusting her, and she knew I wouldn’t say no. Even if I wanted to march back to my laps and run all this weird energy off, I didn’t.
I nodded slowly, and she pushed the door open to reveal a room full of press.
There was a collective swoosh of bodies shifting in tandem to face me just as my cheeks hit fireball temperature.
Please don’t take a picture of me like this, I internally begged.
Thankfully, the universe was on my side and no one did, they all turned to face the front where Connor was behind the podium, Knights and Valkyries branding lining the wall behind him, Coach Knox sitting to the left of the podium too.
What was going on right now?
Whatever this was, whatever came next, it was already happening, and thanks to my best friend, she wanted me to be in on it.
Connor’s focus locked on me as he began to speak. “Thank you all for being here today. I appreciate you taking the time to hear this,” he said calmly.
I stepped closer, breath stuttering on the inhale.
“Change,” he began, “isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it’s necessary. Sometimes it’s overdue.”
My heart pounded so hard it felt like it was bruising me from the inside.
Oh god.
This was where he says it.
This was where he tells them, tells me everything that’s been silently whispering around us as rumors up until now.
I fought the urge to run, to disappear and let him tell everyone without hearing it firsthand.
But I think I owed it to myself to be here.
I owed us the honesty of being present to it.
If things were going to end, I needed to make peace with that and let him move on.
There was a part of me that wished I’d have said something sooner, but he deserved to live his dreams.
Every muscle in my body pulled tight as he looked away from me, and I prepared myself for the moment the ground shifted beneath my feet.
Connor continued. “For a long time, we’ve talked about growth within sports. We all want to achieve a status that improves us professionally. There are goal posts we set ourselves and all season we aim to achieve them.”
My hands curled at my sides, nails biting into my palms.
“This season, it was my goal as captain to push my team to the playoffs.” He huffed a laugh. “Well, we all know that didn’t happen.”
A few murmurs of laughter echoed in the room.
“I want you all to know that I have been dedicated as captain, but I’ve also grown and learned so many things. I can contribute a large part of that to the Valkyries for showing us mercy and grace when we needed it. But I’ve been shown a different side to rugby this year, too.”
I swallowed, my throat burning as my mind raced ahead of him, filling in the words he hadn’t said yet. My feet began tracing backward steps. I kept my eyes forward, afraid that if I looked at him, if I let myself see his face, whatever was holding me upright would give way.
I needed space. A door. I needed to—
“Teddy,” he said clearly, the room going quiet enough that the sound of my pulse seemed deafening, “has shown me remarkable leadership this year, something that I believe will continue to inspire many people during her career. I’m incredibly grateful that I’ve had the time to learn from her and the Valkyries. ”
The air stuck in my lungs, just as I knew that final blow was coming…