Epilogue - Connor
I didn’t know how I’d feel today, coming back here for real. Last time was different; it was operational. Maybe it was because Teddy had been beside me the first time I’d walked back in after the quake, her fingers threaded through mine.
Maybe it was because, by then, the blueprints were already spread across boardroom tables, and we weren’t standing in ruins—we were standing in plans.
Even now, as I take it in properly, I can still see it the way it was.
The sinkhole that swallowed half the east stand, yawning and ugly.
The windows along the upper levels all blown out, glass scattered across concrete like frost. The gym at the far end split open along one wall, weight racks twisted, ceiling tiles sagging under water damage.
It’d looked final.
But today was different, the start of something new.
Within six months, the first intake of players would arrive. Twenty girls had already enrolled in our weekend program. Then we would escalate to fully funded scholarships within two years. We’d be opening doors wider than they’d ever been.
The new pitch had been laid farther west, deliberately shifted away from the mapped fracture line. Geologists had surveyed the soil twice. The unstable section had been excavated and reinforced with deep-set piers and compacted. Our pitch wouldn’t be near it again, to stop any further issues.
Luckily, the gym and stadium were far enough west of the pitch and the fault line that we didn’t have to move them. They had both been completely restructured—internal steel replaced, roof rebuilt, shear walls reinforced to updated seismic code. It was wild that I knew what all of that meant now.
Six months ago, I would’ve looked at all of it and seen weakness.
Now I saw responsibility and, even better than that, I saw possibility.
Oh, and Jake in his boxers rolling around the new turf like an overgrown dog.
“For the love of god, get up!” Nate shouted from the sideline.
Jake stretched his arms wide and didn’t move. “This is the best grass I’ve ever felt.”
“Do we need to call someone to come get him?” Evie asked, a pinched expression on her face, her head tilted in sympathy.
I chuckled under my breath. “This is a regular day in the life of Jake Ledger.”
“Put some shorts on before the sponsors arrive,” Nate shouted, appearing next to us.
“They should see what they’re investing in,” Jake shot back.
Nate scoffed. “I swear to god, if this is the first thing that gets photographed—”
“Don’t encourage him; you know he’ll just go full naked,” I interrupted.
Beyond the far touchline, the rest of the squads started to filter in properly. Knights laughed, pushing each other, wearing their green kits, ready to go, all laughing at Jake.
Then, the rest of the Valkyries emerged in a block of navy and gold. Delany and Lola led them out. They moved like they owned whatever space they stepped into. I guess that’s what happens when you’re champions, and they fucking deserved it.
When I noticed Teddy, that old rivalry flickered to life again.
It wasn’t the same as before—it was so much more now. Laced with utter adoration, which buzzed low and steady in my bloodstream every time I was near her.
The last few weeks had been crazy after their win, and the team deserved downtime. Teddy and I spent most of it at my place and at the beach, where neither of us checked our phones.
The media had run with our relationship, calling us Rugby’s Power Pair, Captains of Solterra, and Teddy and I worked hard to make sure it wasn’t the focus of what we were trying to do.
Any chance we got, we would reframe conversations with the media and ask questions that mattered, that pointed toward the future of women’s sports, instead of what we ate for dinner together last week.
It wasn’t easy, but neither of us were quitters.
She inspired me to keep my captain title for another season and continue to set up Legacy Line.
With her by my side I was pretty sure I could do anything.
Our families had taken the whole thing in stride too.
Mam adopted Teddy immediately, which meant she now received weekly care packages containing enough homemade snacks to feed both our entire front rows.
Teddy’s dad had been quieter, but he wasn’t deploying for at least the next year, which meant he’d be around to watch this next chapter unfold, and I knew how much that mattered to her.
I’d never been so fucking happy to have such a powerful woman to call mine.
I didn’t realize I’d started walking in her direction until we were only a few steps apart.
She stopped in front of me, close enough that I caught the faint scent of her shampoo. I’d never tire of that smell.
“Hey there, Captain.”
“Hey, sunshine.”
Her braids were back, her staple for playing, and I fucking loved to see it.
She kicked her chin upward. “You ready for me to kick your ass today?”
“Dream on,” I said, holding her gaze. “I’m not going to go easy on you.”
A flash of memory hit me without permission—her fingers fisted in my shirt, her breath catching against my mouth, the way she’d once whispered don’t you dare go easy on me, captain in a completely different context.
My body reacted before my brain caught up. Damn dick, now wasn’t the time.
Her eyes darkened a fraction, knowing.
“Don’t forget,” she said quietly, stepping half an inch closer, “I know all your weak spots.”
My pulse slowed and accelerated at the same time, that strange, controlled chaos she had mastered since the day we stopped pretending this was only a rivalry.
She meant weak spots on the pitch.
She absolutely did not just mean on the pitch.
I leaned in just enough that only she could hear me. “No weak spots here.”
“None?” She blinked innocently, her gaze dropping to my hand hanging at my side. Before the motion even registered, her fingers closed around it.
She lifted my hand slowly between us, holding my eyes the entire time, as though daring me to pull away. There was no fucking way that was going to happen. It didn’t matter who was watching; I couldn’t have given two fucks when she touched me.
Her lips brushed across my knuckles, and my breath stalled.
And then she guided it down over the smooth stretch of her neck, where I had the urge to tighten and pull her in to me, but I resisted. Moving lower, the steady rise and fall of her breathing lifted against my palm.
My hand followed the line of her body as she moved it, lower, over the curve of her waist and the defined strength of her hip. The muscle beneath my touch was dense, earned through years of tackles and contact and relentless discipline.
God. Or should I say goddess?
She shifted slightly, pressing my hand against the powerful sweep of her thigh, and it drifted of its own accord to her ass, and what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t give it a squeeze? Fuck, it was like a high, the way I needed her.
“You’re distracted already,” she murmured, licking her lips.
I swallowed, dragging my gaze back up to her face instead of the slow path my hand had just traveled.
“You’re playing dirty,” I replied, though my voice had lost some of its steady edge.
She leaned in closer, close enough that the warmth of her breath brushed the corner of my mouth without quite giving in to it. I was willing to fuck the match off right now.
“This is rugby,” she whispered. “There’s no clean.”
For one reckless second, I nearly closed the distance and kissed her properly. But she would’ve won then.
“Fuck, sunshine, you’re making me hard.”
Her giggle floated between us. “No weaknesses, huh?” she asked, before pecking my cheek. “Don’t get too distracted on the pitch, O’Riley.”
And then she jogged away, leaving me with the imprint of her body on my hand, and a fucking hard dick in my shorts. I was so screwed.
Adjusting myself, I thought of everything that wasn’t my sexy girlfriend. Then I caught sight of Jake running across the pitch like this is an audition for The Sound of Music, and that snapped my focus back. I had to rein him in somehow.
I turned toward my own squad, clapping my hands once to pull focus back where it belonged.
“Alright,” I called out, voice carrying. “Let’s show the champions how it’s done.”
Across the halfway line, Teddy caught my eye again.
She didn’t smile, but my blood ran hotter when she scowled.
Game on.
***
Thank you so much for reading Teddy & Connor's story. If you are able to leave reviews, I can promise you'll get all the virtual forehead kisses from this indie author.
If you'd like to see who comes next in the series. Jake's story is coming Sept 2026