Chapter 10 #2
“Yeah…that might work.” Keira blinked. The teenager wasn’t wrong.
She tried to look past Sienna’s bubbliness; she had been reading it as immaturity.
In her research before she joined the team, though, she knew Sienna was in the GB pathway, and had experience at international tournaments being coached by people who’d forgotten more about basketball than Keira knew.
Shame rose up in her gut for not giving the teenager more respect.
Lucy, who had been flitting between tables, finally sat down at theirs. She had two slices of different flavour pizza, one in each hand.
“How’re you guys doing?” she asked. Then, opening her mouth wide, she fit in at least half a slice.
“We were just saying we could use Sofia to neutralise their number eight.”
Lucy chewed, looking contemplative. Then she swallowed loudly.
“True, but there is more than just number eight to worry about,” Lucy nodded sagely.
Her phone pinged. She put her half-eaten slice of pizza down on one of the box lids, wiped her greasy, crumbed hands on her trousers, and dug out her phone.
The dating app logo was visible from the other side of the table.
“You’re looking for a date? All the way up here?” Keira couldn’t help but ask. Lucy just shrugged.
“Hey, you never know when you’ll find true love,” Lucy countered, clearing the notification. Amelia suddenly appeared by Lucy’s side. Keira hadn’t noticed her walk over.
“Yeah, but maybe don’t go looking for love on a school night, hmm?” Amelia said, resting a hand on Lucy’s shoulder.
“Yes, boss.” Lucy said with a grin.
“Keira, I’m turning in. Do you want to come and get the key off me, or—”
“I think I’ll turn in, too.” Surprising herself, she got quickly to her feet.
Her curiosity couldn’t take it anymore. She was determined to find out what was wrong.
Being professional didn’t excuse sudden, downright coldness.
“Night all,” she said, then headed towards the lifts.
This time it was Amelia’s turn to play catch-up.
Keira caught her own smirk in the reflection of the metallic lift doors.
When they returned to the room, Amelia dived straight for her bag and dug out her wash bag, then slipped into the bathroom.
Keira thumped down on the bed, interlocked her fingers behind her head, and crossed her legs at the ankles.
She’d wanted to get the conversation out of the way, but at least this gave her some time to work out what to say.
Her hands twitched with the desire to check in on her dad again, but it was late, and she hoped he was asleep.
She looked towards the bathroom, where the unmistakable sounds of muffled shuffling and the shower being turned on drifted from under the door. Keira shivered.
What is it about Amelia and showers that does this to me?
Her mind was a massive contradiction. She was mad at Amelia for blowing hot and cold and was determined to keep things professional, while getting wildly distracted by the thought of Amelia being naked in the next room.
Toying with Amelia at Coach Grant's had been fun, but it had done nothing to quell her own libido.
She thought she might need a cold shower herself soon.
She sat up again and rummaged through her bag.
Pulling out a vest top and shorts to sleep in, as well as her own wash bag, she decided to brush her teeth once Amelia was done.
She checked her phone to see if her dad had messaged her and found a good luck message from Sonia. She glanced towards the bathroom door, then pressed the video call button next to Sonia’s name. Sonia took three rings to answer.
“Hey, Morgan, how’re you doing?” Sonia sounded slightly out of breath. She was walking what looked like quite a steep trail. Behind her were tall trees with golden leaves glowing in the afternoon sun.
“All good, you?” Keira glanced towards the bathroom door again.
“Are you sure?” Sonia raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, just, an…interesting roommate situation.”
Sonia looked confused, then exaggeratedly mouthed, ‘Amelia?’ Keira nodded.
“And let me guess, there’s—”
“Only one bed?” Keira finished panning the video call around to show the lone bed, and nodded again.
“No WAY,” Sonia almost yelled.
“Shh!” Keira waved her hand at the screen. Sonia shoved her hand in her mouth, clearly looking to stop herself laughing.
The shower noise ceased.
“Look, I gotta go—” she said,
“I want details, Morgan.”
“I gotta—”
“Details!” Sonia whisper-yelled before Keira had a chance to hang up.
The bathroom door unlocked, and Amelia stepped out, towels wrapped around her body and her hair, carrying her clothes in her arms. The bottom of her thighs peeked out from below the towel, and Kiera had to look away.
She grabbed her stuff, including her pyjamas, and took her turn in the now quite steamy room.
She debated getting in the shower with the express purpose of touching herself just to get whatever this was out of her system, but thought better of it.
Doing that knowing Amelia was in the next room would probably make things worse, and was definitely not professional.
Once she finished, she stepped back into the bedroom.
Amelia stood by the side of her bed in just her underwear, facing away from her.
She’d seen her teammates in just their underwear or fresh out of the shower countless times, but that was a room full of people in a basketball setting.
Here, with just the two of them and a bed, it felt…
intimate. She had to force herself to breathe.
She didn’t think she’d get the image of water slowly dripping from Amelia’s hair and down her back, between her defined shoulder muscles, out of her head.
Ever. She stood open-mouthed for a few moments before she realised she was staring, and snapped herself out of it.
Keira put her stuff next to her bag and grabbed her phone charger, plugging it into the socket by the bed and climbed in. A few moments later, she felt the bed dip as Amelia got in behind her. They were about to share a bed, having barely spoken.
This is ridiculous.
Keira turned to face her.
Her breath caught in her chest. She hadn’t prepared herself for how it would feel to look over in bed and see Amelia’s beauty on the pillow next to her.
Her dark brown hair fanned out a little under her, and the angle highlighted the soft contours of her face.
It took her breath away, just for a moment.
Amelia was on her phone and hadn’t registered Keira’s attention, which was probably a good thing.
Keira shook herself, reminding herself she had followed Amelia back to their room for a reason.
“Have I done something wrong?” Keira asked sharply. Amelia jumped.
“What? No, why?” she said, looking up at her from the pillow.
“You’ve barely said two words to me since we got here.” Keira sighed. “Look, I get it, if I took things too far at the team social…” admitting it out loud felt dangerous, but she ploughed on. “But, tell me that, don’t just give me the cold shoulder, okay?”
Amelia blushed, and Keira tried not to think about how adorable she looked.
Her dark hair contrasted with the white pillow and her rouge cheeks.
Keira chastised herself for thinking like that.
Amelia had made her feelings on teammates dating clear.
She needed to respect those boundaries. Not that the current roommate situation was helping.
Maybe I did take it too far.
“Oh, I…sorry,” Amelia looked crestfallen, and Keira felt bad for snapping at her.
“I just normally room with Evie.” Amelia glossed over any discussion of any less than professional behaviour from Keira.
“I guess with TJ assistant coaching now that’s going to change…
.” Her shoulders sagged. “I just like the routine of it, you know? It’s almost our ritual for away games and that’s going to be different now. ”
Oh. It’s got nothing to do with me.
Keira felt like a fool. A love sick fool.
“I’m sorry,” Keira said earnestly.
“No, I’m sorry, for making you think you’d done anything wrong.” Amelia played with the infinity necklace around her neck. “I know it’s childish. It just would have been nice to have had a heads-up. Though I guess it’s a fairly obvious thing…”
“Hey, it’s not childish. You can’t help how you feel.”
Amelia smiled. It made her eyes sparkle like sun glinting off a cool lake.
“Also, for the record…” Amelia blushed, her voice quiet, “you didn’t take anything too far. We’re teammates, right? We’re supposed to wind each other up.” The corner of her mouth twitched playfully.
Is that what we’re calling it?
Keira’s pulse quickened. Memories of Amelia’s thigh pressed into hers flooded her mind.
Keira gave her a polite smile, ignoring the sparks of desire flaring inside her.
Amelia was still running her fingers over the gemstones on her necklace.
“That’s a pretty necklace,” she said, changing the topic onto safer, more impersonal ground.
Amelia immediately dropped her hand from it, and Keira wished she hadn’t drawn attention to it at all.
“Thanks, it…my sister gave it to me,” Amelia said shyly. She held the necklace further forward for Keira to see. “This stone,” she said, tapping the stone on the right, “is my birthstone. And this one,” she said, tapping the left stone, “is hers.”
So much for impersonal.
“You and your sister must be really close.”
“We were,” Amelia said sadly. “We haven’t spoken in years.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Amelia suddenly looked so much smaller.
Keira’s resolve to keep emotional distance broke instantly.
She wanted to reach out and hold Amelia’s hand.
She wanted to protect her from whatever pain was making the powerful captain shrink.
Keira wished she knew the right thing to say, but her silence seemed to give Amelia the space she needed to speak.
“My parents pitted us against each other a lot growing up and…” Amelia didn’t finish her sentence. The words caught in her throat as her eyes shimmered under the bedside lamps. Keira instinctively shuffled closer to Amelia and pulled her into a tight embrace.
Sod professionalism.
Amelia stiffened at first, and Keira wondered if she’d overstepped.
She started to pull back. But Amelia relaxed and nestled her head under Keira’s chin.
Something inside Keira broke. Even the voice that screamed at her to keep her distance for the sake of her basketball career quietened.
Keira wrapped her arms more tightly around her, and cursed people she didn’t even know that could hurt Amelia like this.
Keira inhaled slowly, breathing Amelia in, relishing their closeness.
She ran her fingertips in gentle circles on Amelia’s back as her entire body yearned to somehow hold the other woman closer, and never let go.
After a few minutes, Amelia pulled back and wiped her eyes.
“We should probably get some sleep.” Amelia smiled, before turning onto her side, away from Keira. Keira immediately missed her warmth.
She set an alarm on her phone and turned off her own light. Lying back on the bed, she stared at the ceiling. She could just make out the pattern in the plaster as the glow of a nearby streetlight highlighted its contours.
A while later, just as Keira’s mind drifted as it does just before sleep, she heard sniffing coming from the other half of the bed.
She wordlessly rolled onto her side and placed what she hoped was a reassuring hand on Amelia’s waist. Amelia tensed up again, just for a moment, then she relaxed under Keira’s touch.
A few seconds after that, Amelia’s uncertain fingers clasped her own. Sleep came easily after that.