Chapter 19 #2
“Amelia—” Evie sounded stern.
“Not anymore,” Amelia admitted. She hated that her voice quavered. Evie reached across the table and took her hand. TJ turned down the heat on the frying pans, still stirring them, but clearly listening intently.
“What happened?” Evie asked softly.
“We — I — We…did things,” she admitted.
“So you slept together?” TJ asked bluntly.
“TJ!” Evie whisper-scolded him. TJ held his hands up in apology and returned to cooking. But despite her scolding, Evie continued his questioning.
“At the Durham game when you had to share a double bed?” Evie asked innocently.
“How did you—” Amelia blurted.
The guilt on Evie’s face gave her all the answer she needed. Of course she’d engineered that. She sighed.
“It doesn’t matter. But, after the game on the weekend, she made it clear that…whatever was happening between us, was done.”
“Why?”
“Because neither of us wants to date a teammate.”
“If that were true, you wouldn’t be so cut up about it,” Evie surmised. Amelia shrugged.
“It would mess with the team dynamic, plus I’m the captain…”
“So?” TJ asked, getting plates from one of the cupboards.
“So, it’s complicated.”
“Not really, if — ” Evie’s glare silenced TJ, who rolled his eyes and went back to serving dinner.
“I’m sorry you’re hurting,” Evie said, and she gave Amelia’s hand a squeeze before leaning back in her chair.
“I’m guessing Keira is hurting too…” Evie let the statement hang in the air.
Amelia sighed. She imagined she was. Her stomach turned acrid at the memory of how she'd acted at the market.
Maybe if she'd handled things differently then, this wouldn't be happening.
But it had to happen. Keira just saw it first.
“Maybe you should text her, check in on her,” Evie continued when neither of them spoke.
“She made it clear we’re done,” Amelia stated.
“Done being friends? Or just done…doing things?” Evie said.
Amelia glared at her smirk, but conceded her best friend did have a point.
Nothing about what had happened meant they couldn’t be friends.
Plus, it might make it easier in the long run, being part of the same team, if they were friends.
It might help them get over the awkwardness, maintain team dynamics.
Plus, I miss her. It’s been days and I miss her.
“Dinner is served!” TJ said proudly, as he put a bowl containing fajita filling and three plates down on the table, quickly followed by a stack of shop-bought wraps.
“Cheers,” Evie said and held up her glass. Amelia and TJ obligingly clinked theirs together with it before taking a sip. Amelia had never wanted it to be alcoholic wine as badly as she did now.
She placed a wrap on her plate, then served herself some of the fajita filling. She rolled it up and took a large bite, groaning as the flavours hit her mouth.
“That’s so good,” she said around a mouthful of food. TJ grinned.
The trio chatted over their meal, mainly about basketball, with Amelia keen to catch up on how TJ’s team was doing this season.
She kept abreast of the scores and attended the home games when she could, but her own training and work schedules meant she rarely got to watch them, which she regretted.
TJ got so animated when discussing basketball and was so supportive and compassionate towards other players. He was becoming a fantastic coach.
Throughout the meal, TJ and Evie kept grinning at each other, making Amelia feel like she was on the outside of a joke.
She shrugged it off as a married couple thing and tried to ignore the little green blob of envy that had settled in her chest. Once they had all cleared their plates, Evie took TJ’s hand.
“Now?” she said to TJ, apparently having communicated the rest of the question telepathically.
“As good a time as any.” TJ grinned at her, then turned to face Amelia.
“We, err, we’re glad you asked to come over. We wanted you to be one of the first to know,” TJ said cryptically. Her gaze darted between the two of them.
“I’m pregnant,” Evie said, beaming.
Amelia all but catapulted herself out of her chair to hug her friends.
“Oh my gosh! You’re not? I can’t believe it! Oh, I’m so happy for you two,” her voice almost squeaked, she was so excited. “Wait, the shoulder injury was fake?” Amelia realised.
Evie just grinned.
“How has it been? How far along are you? Any weird cravings?”
“I only tested when I started getting cravings for Marmite and ice cream.”
“Ew.”
“Yeah, I know.” Evie held up her hands. “I don’t even like Marmite. Won’t let it in the house. But TJ got it for me,” Evie said, placing a hand on TJ’s arm and looking lovingly into his eyes.
“And we’re just coming up to ten weeks. I know it’s early, but I didn’t want to lie to you anymore about why I wasn’t at training or games. Everyone else, on the other hand, will continue to be told I’m injured, for at least another two weeks.” Evie laughed, and Amelia couldn’t help but join in.
“Do your family know?”
“We’re telling them tomorrow. They’ll be over the moon.”
“I can imagine!” She pulled her friends in for another three-way hug before sitting back down. “Your parents will love being grandparents, and Jenna was born to be the cool Auntie.”
The good news was infectious, and Amelia’s face started to hurt from grinning so much.
They spent the rest of the evening talking about the upcoming new arrival, whether they had any baby names picked out, and Googling cute onesies the baby could wear to home games as the chief mascot.
Amelia didn’t want to leave an environment so warm and full of love, but at around nine o’clock, Evie started to look exhausted, so she thought she better make her excuses.
TJ and Evie both walked her to the door, still talking about baby outfits.
Evie hugged Amelia tight and spoke into her ear.
“Text her, okay?” she whispered, before squeezing Amelia tightly.
“I’ll think about it,” she replied before letting go of her friend. “Congrats again, man,” she slapped TJ on the back as she hugged him. She was genuinely thrilled at the idea of her best friends becoming parents.
She reluctantly stepped outside and walked to her car, turning to wave as she got there.
She climbed in before the cold air could freeze her hands.
Starting the engine, she waited for the thin amount of condensation on the windshield to dissipate.
Evie’s words echoed around her head. Finally, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, staring at the dark lock screen.
They were going to have to spend the rest of the season in close proximity, and that would be hard if they weren’t speaking to each other.
She had always had fun when they had hung out, and if she was honest with herself, she didn’t have the largest pool of friends in the world.
Expanding it, especially now TJ and Evie were about to have their hands full with a new baby, might be an idea.
But could they do it? Could they go back to being just friends?
She squared her shoulders and unlocked her phone, navigated to the texting app, and quickly scrolled to the message thread she had with Keira. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard while the cursor blinked patiently at her, waiting. Her throat went dry.
Hey. Happy Christmas (eve).
I don’t want things to be weird between us. Could we meet for a coffee? Or a walk? I’ve enjoyed spending time with you over the last few months. We could continue to do that, as friends, if you're willing.
She read it over several times before pressing send, then placing her phone face down on the passenger seat, so she wouldn’t fixate on any notification she received back while driving.
Taking a deep breath, she put the car in gear, trying not to think about the text whizzing its way through the ether to Keira’s phone.
Would she want to meet up as friends? Would she reply at all?
She’d been pretty clear in their conversation about her feelings, but they owed it to the team to at least try.
Amelia’s heart fluttered, lighter than it had been in days. She refused to admit how much she had missed Keira, even though it had only been a few days. But friends? She could do friends. Right?