Chapter 21
Erin was the first to wake the next morning.
She hadn’t expected a peaceful night’s sleep—it had been a long time since she’d shared a bed with anyone—but was pleasantly surprised to blink awake at ten a.m. after a restful night.
Beside her, Lia lay on her front, one arm under her pillow and the other curled in the sheet. A bare shoulder peeked out of the covers, the strap of Erin’s tank top slipping from her shoulder to reveal smooth skin.
Powerless to resist the pull, Erin shifted closer, brushing her lips against Lia’s shoulder. Goose bumps erupted beneath her mouth, and Lia hummed in her sleep. Erin kissed the sensitive spot on the back of Lia’s neck before rolling away.
“Why’d you stop?” Lia’s voice was raspy with sleep.
It made Erin smile. “Because I wasn’t sure if you were awake, and we haven’t discussed our boundaries when it comes to that.”
“Mm, well, for the record—that’s a much better way to wake up than to my alarm.” Rolling over onto her back, Lia scrubbed at her face with the heels of her hands. “What time is it?”
“Little after ten.”
“Not too bad.” Lia dropped her hands, blinking at Erin with sleepy eyes. “How did you sleep?”
“Well. Did you?”
“Yes.” Lia snuggled closer, seeking out Erin’s heat. She tucked her head beneath Erin’s chin, fingers lazily tracing the pattern of the tattoo on her ribs.
Before Erin could turn boneless beneath Lia’s idle ministrations, her stomach gave an almighty rumble, reminding her it had been hours since she’d last eaten. “We should probably get up. Did you have any plans for your day off?”
“I was going to visit my grandmother.” Lia’s hand stilled, flattening across Erin’s hip. “What about you? How does the great Erin Finch celebrate her free days?”
After locating some food, Erin would like to spend all day in bed with Lia—but she didn’t want to drag Lia away from her grandmother when their time together was already so short. “Usually with Maisie, but given it’s a school day, probably with Gerrard watching TV.”
“Would you maybe want to come with me instead?”
“To visit your grandmother?” Erin couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to—she knew how important she was to Lia—but Erin had never met anyone’s family before. Was it too soon? Would her grandmother be lucid?
“You don’t have to.”
Before Lia could roll away, Erin curled a hand around her back to keep her close. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I’d love to spend the day with you, and with her. I just don’t want to intrude.”
“You wouldn’t. I know she’d love to see you.”
“Okay, then we’ll go. As long as we can get breakfast somewhere on the way.”
“Deal.”
“And maybe…” Erin hesitated, teeth worrying her bottom lip. “Maybe next time my dad and stepmother are in town, we can go out to dinner with them. So you can meet the rest of my family.”
“You’d want that?”
“Yeah.” It didn’t feel too soon, not with the weight of Lia’s steady gaze on her. Not when it felt like it had taken an age for them to get to this moment, safe in each other’s arms. “I know they’ll want to meet you.”
“Then I’d love to.”
Lia returned to her own apartment to get ready, and they met in the lobby an hour later. After a quick detour to the bakery across the road for a coffee and a pastry, they climbed into Erin’s car, and she followed Lia’s directions to the care home on the city outskirts.
The building had a cheery exterior, the bricks bright and the window ledges painted a dazzling white. Behind the building were winding gardens and dewy grass. A handful of residents sat on wooden benches throughout the grounds, some bundled in thick coats to ward off the chilly April air.
Erin hoped the weather improved soon. She was sick of playing in the rain or the freezing wind, getting covered in mud whenever she was tackled. While playing in hot sunshine came with its own challenges, she’d take it over the alternative any day of the week.
“Sure about this?” Lia asked after Erin had parked.
Reaching across the centre console, Erin squeezed her hand. “Yes. Let’s go.”
She followed Lia inside the building’s ornate lobby. Behind the large wooden desk, a woman smiled at them, eyes brightening when her gaze landed on Lia. “Well, if it isn’t my favourite visitor.” She batted her absurdly long fake eyelashes.
Erin coughed to hide a scoff.
Lia shot her a warning look. “Hey, Mandy. Been busy today?”
“So-so.” Mandy leaned over the desk as Lia stepped toward one side of it.
A sign stating all visitors must sign in hung above an iPad, and Lia’s long fingers tapped on the screen.
“It’s looking up now, though.” Mandy offered Lia another sickly-sweet smile, ignoring Erin. “You’re not usually here so early.”
“It’s my day off, so I thought I’d drop by.” Lia glanced toward Erin. “I’ve signed you in, too. You ready?”
Before Erin could reply, Mandy leaned further forward—no doubt to give Lia a glimpse down her blouse. Unfortunately for Mandy, Lia only had eyes for Erin.
She tried not to be too smug.
Mandy glanced toward Erin, annoyance on her face. “And who are you? I haven’t seen you around here before.”
“You don’t recognise Erin Finch?” Lia answered before Erin had the chance to say something rude. “She’s one of the world’s best players.”
“I thought you were one of the world’s best players.” Mandy’s voice turned simpering.
Erin struggled not to gag.
“You’re sweet.” Lia wrapped a hand around Erin’s wrist and pulled her toward the large double doors behind the reception desk. “Come on, Erin.”
“She was flirting with you,” Erin said once the door was closed behind them. “Is she always like that?”
With a grimace, Lia turned to look at her. “Some days it’s more blatant than others. She was putting on a show today. I think you made her jealous.”
“Good.”
Amusement danced in Lia’s eyes. “Don’t tell me she made you jealous, too.”
“Please.” Erin reached out a hand to slide her thumb along the line of Lia’s hip—a move that never failed to make her knees weak. “I know you’re all mine.”
“I am.” Lia covered Erin’s hand with her own and squeezed. “But is it going to bother you if other people don’t know that? Should I have introduced you as my girlfriend?”
Erin pursed her lips, unsure that a brightly lit corridor in a care home was the right place for this conversation. “Is that what we are?”
Lia’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I don’t know. Are we?”
“I would like that.” Even though the term made her feel like she was thirteen years old again, with her first crush.
“You already know how committed I am to you—and only you. As for other people…” The thought of their teammates—members of the public—knowing about her relationship status made her squirm.
“I’m not sure how much I want them to know.
Outside of our inner circles, anyway. Just for now. While we settle into things.”
“Okay.” Lia squeezed her hand again before gently extricating herself from Erin’s grip. “Does my inner circle include my grandmother?”
“You can tell her whatever you like.”
“I hope she’s having a good day. Come on—we’ll check in here first before we try her room.”
The hallway opened into a large lounge. Dozens of small tables were dotted around, along with chairs and sofas. Chatter swelled around them from the residents present, a few of them with visiting family members or friends.
“There she is.” Lia walked over to one corner of the room, toward where a woman with long white hair sat in a high-backed armchair.
On the table in front of her was a chess board, and she gazed at it with pursed lips. As Erin’s and Lia’s shadows fell over her, she glanced up—and beamed. “Lia! I didn’t expect to see you today.” She had a deep Welsh accent.
Tension leaked out of Lia’s shoulders as she was recognised, and she swept her grandmother into a tight hug. “You know I can’t stay away from you.”
Her grandmother chuckled, patting Lia’s back before pulling away. “Sit, sit.” Her blue eyes landed on Erin. “You brought a friend?”
“I did.” Lia sat in one of the two chairs opposite her grandmother and motioned for Erin to settle in the other. “This is Erin. Erin, this is my grandmother, Iris.”
“I know who she is.” Iris looked offended. “As if I could forget one of the greatest female players of the game.” She leaned further forward in her seat. “But why are you here to see little old me?”
“I didn’t know you were a fan.”
“Oh, yes. I have been for years. We’ve already met, you know.”
Erin tilted her head. She hadn’t expected Iris to say that—did she think Erin was someone else? “We have?”
“Yes. When Lia was oh, fourteen? Fifteen? You and some of the England players came to do a coaching session for her football team and a few others in the area.”
Erin cast her mind back. She had done dozens of those events when she was younger, an attempt to try and grow the game and let more girls know they could make football into their career. If Lia was twenty-four, that meant it would have been nine or ten years ago.
“I’m sure Erin met a lot of people at those events, Grandma.” Lia came to Erin’s rescue. “She won’t remember everyone.”
“Well, I remember you. I could see how much you cared. And I have to thank you for coaching my granddaughter. She wouldn’t shut up about what you’d told her for weeks afterwards, you know.”
Amused, Erin turned her gaze to Lia.
“Erin doesn’t need to hear this, Grandma.” Her cheeks were flaming red.
“Oh, on the contrary, I think I do.” Erin was enjoying herself immensely. “What did I say to you?”
How had Lia never mentioned this before?
Although, judging from the look on her face as she stared at the chequered pattern rug like it was the most interesting thing she’d ever seen, maybe she’d been too mortified.
“It’s not important,” Lia replied.