Chapter 4
Amelia
The sound of clinking cutlery, laughter, and bubbly chatter filled the air as Amelia walked into the restaurant.
She quickly scanned the room and spotted Coach Grant, Evie, and TJ sitting at a large table at the back.
She weaved in and out of the furniture, stopping occasionally to let a waiter pass.
Aromas from different delicious foods filled her nostrils as she passed each table, making her stomach rumble.
She’d come straight from a busy shift at work, and her body desperately needed fuel.
Coach Grant took a sip of her beer as Amelia arrived at the table.
“Hey, Amelia. Great choice of venue,” she said, raising her bottle in Amelia’s direction.
“Hi, Michelle. And yeah, I thought so.” Amelia walked around the table. “People at work highly recommended it.”
“Pipsqueak,” TJ said, acknowledging Amelia with a fist bump. Amelia rolled her eyes and sat down, leaving an empty seat between herself and Evie.
“Do I smell or something?” Evie asked with mock offence, her petite features forming a frown, while her blonde hair, normally tied up, cascaded around her face. Her brown eyes glinted with mischief while the overhead lights washed out her already pale skin.
“No, I just…thought I’d save a seat for Keira. She doesn’t really know anyone on the team yet.”
“And she knows you?” Evie asked, raising an eyebrow.
“We may have bumped into each other outside of training,” she said with a smirk. “I met her on a run before I knew who she was. She may not even be coming, but just in case.”
Evie’s eyes widened. Amelia’s cheeks burned. She’d forgotten telling Evie about the woman from the park. The woman she’d called cute. The woman she now knew to be Keira. Evie stared pointedly back, grinning.
Amelia shrugged her shoulders in an attempt at indifference. I’m just being a good captain. I’m helping a new teammate settle in, that’s all.
The unease in the pit of her stomach told her that wasn’t the whole truth.
A few more of the team spilled into the restaurant. Lucy led the way, wearing a warm grey waistcoat and with her hair styled to perfection; she turned more than a few heads. Once it was clear Keira wasn’t with them, Amelia slouched back in her chair, fidgeting with her cutlery.
The new arrivals sat down, and the noise in the restaurant got disproportionately louder.
Lucy tended to have that effect on a room.
All but the empty seat next to Amelia were filled.
Coach Grant checked her watch, then glanced at Amelia; she shrugged.
When Coach Grant cleared her throat, the table fell quiet.
“Right, everyone. Here’s to the start of our first professional season.
In celebration of that…” Coach Grant said, her eyes drifting around the table.
“Tonight is on me!” The team erupted in cheers.
“Food and soft drinks only!” Coach Grant shouted over the din, before grumbling good-naturedly, “I’m not paying for you lot to get sloshed just before the season starts. ”
“Thanks, Coach!”
“Yeah, you’re the best.”
A few minutes later, a waiter approached their table and started taking their drink orders.
He had almost finished when the restaurant door swung open again, and Keira shuffled inside.
Amelia sat up a little straighter. She was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a loose overshirt, and resembled a rabbit caught in headlights.
Amelia waved her over with what she hoped was a welcoming smile, but it may have come across as a grimace, since her stomach suddenly reacted like she’d eaten a bowl full of popping candy.
What the hell.
She tried to shove the feeling down.
Keira walked over and gave a half-hearted wave back to Amelia, who still had her arm in the air like a fool. Immediately, she dropped it to her side. Keira skulked to the empty chair.
“Sorry, I had to…sort something out at home,” she apologised in general, glancing around to everyone at the table as she lowered into the seat.
“We’re just glad you’re here,” Amelia said encouragingly. Evie leant back in her seat, looking around Keira, and raised an eyebrow at Amelia. Amelia ignored her.
The waiter, having taken everyone’s drink orders, disappeared again, and Lucy handed out menus.
Everyone discussed the various options, debating them like they were working on a peace treaty.
Amelia handed Keira a menu. When Keira took it, her fingertips brushed the back of Amelia’s hand, and heat radiated across her skin.
She quickly buried her nose in the menu, very aware of Keira’s proximity.
This is silly.
She gave herself a mental shake. Thankfully, the thought of food was distracting enough; her appetite tried to convince her to order one of everything. She turned to ask Keira what she was going to order, only to see her checking her phone under the table, her forehead creased.
“Is everything all right?” she asked quietly. Keira furtively whipped her phone out of sight.
“Yeah, all good.” Keira smiled, but it looked fixed, so Amelia didn’t press her further.
“What’re you thinking of ordering?” she asked instead.
“Oh, I, er, I’m not really hungry. I had a big lunch.”
“That’s a shame. Coach Grant is paying and I’m planning on taking full advantage.” Amelia joked and turned back to the list of options. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Keira re-open her menu.
The waiter returned with their drinks and took their food order; Amelia ordered a chicken and ribs combo with a side of onion rings, and Keira asked for a chicken burger and chips.
A few different conversations broke out around the table. Lucy was the centre of the largest group, regaling them with her latest attempt to use a dating app.
“So I turn up, and she’s sat there, like twenty years older than she said she was.”
“Yikes,” Asha said, sucking her breath through her teeth. “Though age isn’t everything, I guess?”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Lucy sighed dramatically. “And I would have been game to still have the date — if there wasn’t also a ten-year-old boy sat next to her.”
Poor Asha nearly spat out her drink.
“What?” Sofia asked from the other end of the table. Sofia, being one of the longest standing members of the team, was well-versed in Lucy’s chaotic dating life. But this, apparently, was a new one, even for her.
“Yep.” Lucy paused, building suspense as she played with her cutlery. “Apparently, they were going to the theatre after our coffee. Even asked if I wanted to join them.”
“What did you do?!” Sienna asked.
“Drank my coffee way faster than I should have done, and noped it the heck out of there!” Lucy said, gesticulating with her arm to indicate the speed at which she left.
Most of the table burst out laughing, and even Amelia chuckled. She glanced at Keira’s face to see her reaction, but Keira was again looking at her phone.
“It’s alright for you, Evie,” Lucy said, singling out one of the few married people on the team. “You married your high school sweetheart.”
“We didn’t go to the same high school,” Evie pointed out, interlocking her fingers with TJ’s.
“Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to,” Lucy waved her away, then her gaze landed on Amelia.
“What about you, Doc? Got any good dating stories for us?”
Amelia scoffed and picked up her drink, waiting for the conversation to move on. Only, almost the entire table looked expectantly at her.
“When would I have time to date?” She laughed, taking a sip and putting down her glass.
“Some things you have to make time for, Carino,” Sofia said.
“There’re loads of apps out there. Why don’t you try one of those? Streamline the process,” Lucy stated, pulling up an app on her phone to show her.
“What? Because you’ve made it sound so appealing?” Everyone laughed again.
“Touché,” Lucy replied, opening her hands in submission. “But still, it must get pretty lonely. You won’t even have to date. You could just, you know…” Lucy glanced sideways at Coach Grant, who pretended to be very engrossed in her menu. “Have some fun?”
“With who, though? I spend my entire life at work or at basketball, and I’m certainly not about to sleep with one of my colleagues.”
“What about — “ Lucy began, tone cheeky
“Or any of the parents, Luce…” Amelia rolled her eyes.
“What I was about to say,” Lucy said, “was what about meeting someone through basketball? You’d already know you had something in common.”
Amelia laughed. “I don’t hang out with anyone from basketball, either, other than you lot, and I’m certainly not about to start dating one of you,” she chuckled.
“Why not? Don’t you think I’m pretty?” Lucy fluttered her eyelashes and tilted her head coyly, making their teammates laugh. “But seriously, Doc, why don’t you — “
“Dating teammates, or even potential teammates, is never a good idea,” Amelia interrupted, desperate to shut down the conversation.
“Especially if you’re a captain.” Amelia’s pulse pounded in her ears.
She didn’t like having her personal life interrogated like this.
It reminded her too much of her parents and their constant disappointment in her. Keira shuffled in her seat.
“Speaking from experience?” Lucy teased obliviously, before her body jerked. “Ow!” she whispered, glaring at Sofia. Sofia glared right back.
It took a few long, awkward seconds for subdued conversation to break out again.
Amelia took another drink, anything to keep her hands occupied, making a mental note to thank Sofia later.
The chatter increased again when the food arrived, everyone excited to be eating on the boss’ dime.
A waiter put Amelia’s plate down in front of her.
The ribs glistened with sticky glaze as butter slowly melted and tracked its way through the corn on the cob’s kernels.
Amelia eagerly picked up her knife and fork.
About halfway through the meal, she realised her eyes may have been bigger than her stomach. She thought she could manage her main meal, but the onion rings may have been too much.