33. Chapter 33
Jake
The Philly Raiders were on point, but they couldn’t catch up to us. I’d ended the first half with a bloody lip and a torn shirt, Bobby got a scuffed elbow, and Connor’s sure his ribs are bruised from someone’s boot. It’s shaping up to be a fucking sensational first game of the season.
I bounced on the balls of my feet as we waited to return to the pitch, hoping to catch a glimpse of Seren and Cai in the stands. I didn’t find them in the first half, at least I couldn’t see them in the stands with the rest of the Valkyries. The stadium was a blur the farther back I searched.
“We’re gonna win this one, lads,” Connor said as the cool air in the tunnel drifted around us.
All the guys nodded and howled in response, my blood pumping faster around my body as Connor led us back out to the green. Fuck yes, I loved this game.
Running back out, I searched the stands once more where the rest of the Valkyries were. There I saw a little mop of blond curls in the arms of another blonde I was obsessing over.
There you are, my mind said, or was that my heart? I couldn’t tell because it was kicking up a ruckus in my chest at the sight of them.
I lifted my hand to wave, and both of Cai’s arms mirrored mine, his little mouth opening and closing with words I couldn’t hear but wanted to so badly.
My grin broke free as I tapped my chest twice, once for Cai, once for Seren, and pointed at them. I was about to play the rest of this game on the biggest high.
No one had ever shown up for me before. No one had ever been at a game for me, period. I knew, realistically, they weren’t here just for me—but that didn’t stop something in me from claiming them.
I wanted to believe I was allowed this. I wanted to hang on to this feeling.
And for however long it lasted, I got to pretend they were mine to come back to.
I dropped my hand slowly, still grinning like an idiot as Cai bounced in Seren’s arms, and that tiny moment stitched itself into me.
The whistle cut through the crowd, and I snapped back into place, shoulders rolling, jaw setting, the noise of the crowd swelling again as the ball went up and everything began.
The second half morphed into collisions up front—bodies slamming, pods hammering the middle, our forwards grinding for every inch.
From the backfield, I could see the whole thing tightening like a vise.
Philly wasn’t rolling over. They kept punching straight through the guts, forcing us to defend phase after phase inside our own twenty-two.
“Hold!” Nate barked somewhere in the mess, his voice shredded by effort.
I hovered behind the line, tracking their ten, watching for the chip, the cross-kick, the moment someone slipped a tackle and came spilling into my lane. My legs were coiled, ready to shoot up or drop back, depending on where the next break came.
Their eight charged low into contact, and then our seven got over him, hips locked, hands clamped on the ball. Whistle. Penalty. Relief hit like oxygen after being held under for too long.
Connor signaled for the clearance, and I shifted automatically, chasing up the pitch as he drilled a low, skidding kick that forced their fullback into a panicked, off-balance return. The ball came back messy. Perfect.
We reset fast. Two tight carries off nine. A tip-on to the pod leader. Philly was scrambling now, their defensive line fractured just enough for us to build momentum. I swept up behind the attack, calling space, watching the edges compress.
Then Bobby took the short ball and crashed over, legs pumping, three defenders hanging off him as he bullied the last meter.
When the final whistle cut through the noise, my whole body sagged, sweat cooling on my skin, chest heaving. The scoreboard confirmed what we already knew. We’d won.
The locker room was a wash of steam from the showers and noise.
Someone, probably Ramirez, had his music turned up loud, while Bobby reenacted his try like he needed us to see it from every possible angle.
Connor stretched out on the bench, shirt off, prodding at his ribs with a grimace, trying to decide how bad it actually was.
“It’s bruised,” I told him, grabbing a towel.
“You a doctor now?” he shot back.
“Yeah,” I deadpanned. “Specialize in you being dramatic.”
He flipped me off without looking up, and I grinned, heading across the room, planning on taking the fastest shower of my life. Most of the other guys followed but stayed longer. Usually, I would enjoy the hot water on my tired body, but not today. I had places to be, people to see.
My bag was barely zipped, my skin still slightly damp, as I pushed through the locker room doors, the music and voices fading behind me while the hallway opened up ahead, busy and loud and full of movement. I didn’t need more than a second to find them.
They were impossible to miss, the Valkyries gathered along the wall in a loose, animated cluster, with Evie in the middle, holding Cai’s hands as she danced with him to whatever song she was singing.
Lola, Cassie, Micah, and a few others gathered, laughing with them, and just off to the side, Seren.
Cai saw me before she did. His whole face changed, his body tipping forward as his feet caught up, small hands reaching out as he leaned away from Evie with complete confidence that I’d meet him there.
“Jakey!”
I didn’t slow, or think twice about it; I crossed the space between us and lifted him straight up, the momentum of it carrying us into an easy spin that pulled a loud, unfiltered laugh out of him.
I turned once more, before settling him against me, his weight warm and solid as he clung on like he’d been waiting all afternoon to do exactly that.
“Again,” he insisted, breathless but wrapping his arms around my neck. My heart was a wild horse racing through open meadows as I hugged this little guy who I adored with my whole heart.
“Shall we see Mommy first?”
He looked at me and nodded, but paused, pulling my face to his, homing in on my busted lip. “Ouchy, Jakey, ouch.”
“Yeah, little bit.”
His eyebrows pulled together, serious now in a way that didn’t match his age, and before I could stop him, he leaned in, pressing a sloppy, determined kiss right against the edge of it.
It caught me off guard. My heart used to be made of muscle, but now it was only a puddle.
This sweet little man thought the best way to treat my cut was to kiss it better.
I understood the sentiment, but quickly realized not a single person in my life had ever done that for me.
And now, he cared so much, he was doing it.
My ribs felt too tight as I tried to inhale.
He pulled back, watching me like he was waiting for confirmation it had worked.
“All better,” I whispered, my voice breaking, and the grin that spread across his face was utter joy.
I carried him the rest of the way over to Seren, not quite ready to let go of that feeling just yet.
When I reached her, Cai wriggled to get down and immediately found Evie again to resume dancing. His chorus of “more” and “again” drowned out the moment I looked at Seren.
Her hair was twisted up off her neck, the clean line of it exposing the very faint mark still visible above the collar of her shirt. I’d been watching it fade all week, making plans to do it again once it had gone. All the emotion unfurling inside me turned into possession.
Mine.
Something slow and satisfied burned in my gut at the sight of her with my mark on her neck.
“Hey,” I said, my voice coming out rough.
Her mouth curved. “Hey, yourself. Nice win.”
“Yeah?” I tipped my head, letting my gaze flick back to her collarbone so she’d know I saw it, before I met her eyes again. “Think that was my best work?”
The flush creeping up into her cheeks was exactly what I’d hoped for. Her fingers came up to brush the side of her neck. “It was a great game.”
Amusement thread into my hum as my hand found her shoulder, sliding across until my arm settled around her, drawing her in without any real announcement of it. She stilled a little, enough that I felt it, then eased, her weight shifting into me instead of away.
I dipped my head, pressing a brief kiss into her hair, inhaling her sweet scent. “Thank you for coming today.” My voice was quiet, mostly because I wanted her to hear how grateful I was for her showing up.
She tipped away slightly to look up at me, a gentle frown marring her brow. I wasn’t sure if she’d heard the vulnerability in my voice, but something told me that maybe she did. “We were a little late because someone decided he was done with diapers this morning.”
“Oh, wow,” I said, really having no freaking idea what kids were like, but damn if tiny dictators didn’t come to mind. “Little guy really knows his own mind.”
She snorted. “He sure does.”
Her lips curved, and mine mirrored, then her eyes flicked briefly toward Cai, who was now fully back in Evie’s orbit, laughing as she spun him again. “He thinks he’s part of the team now.”
“He is,” I said easily, my gaze following hers before dropping back to her. “Best hype man we’ve got.”
Lola snorted softly, her eyes zeroing in on where my arm rested on her teammate. “I was right, wasn’t I?”
“I…We’re…” Seren looked at me with wide eyes, so I stepped in to help her out.
“Friends.”
She sighed, and a smile tipped the side of her mouth.
Friends was the line we’d both been pretending not to look at too closely.
But the second the word left my mouth, something inside me twisted. Because we hadn’t talked about what this was, or what we could be.
And I didn’t want to push her into something she wasn’t ready for. She had Cai and a whole life to protect. She didn’t need me barging in with labels and expectations.
Still…if things kept going the way they were?
Yeah, I wanted it. I wanted her. Them. I’d never had a girlfriend before.
The most serious I’d ever gotten were a few flings.
Nothing that ever felt like this. Nothing that made me think about Sunday mornings and school runs and… a family waiting for me in the stands.
But I wasn’t about to say any of that here. This wasn’t the moment to lay my heart out like an idiot.
So I swallowed it. All of it. The want, the hope, the stupid, reckless certainty flourishing beneath my ribs.
And then the panic snuck in as subtle as a steam train.
What if she doesn’t want that? What if this—whatever this is—is already as far as she’ll let it go? What if I’m the only one standing here imagining something more?
The thought hit like a cold wave, knocking the breath out of me. I tightened my arm around her without meaning to, reminding myself of the simple fact that she was here.
I forced a slow breath, trying to tame the unease slithering under my skin.
For now, I could be her friend. I would take whatever she was willing to give. But god, I hoped she wanted more.
Lola’s mouth twitched, unconvinced. “You’re both terrible liars. Has anyone ever told you that?”
Evie lit up when she looked at us. “Oh my god, she is. Are you together? I hope this isn’t becoming a requirement to be on the team. First Teddy, now you. I’ve never dated a rugby guy, and I never will.”
“Dude, chill the fuck out, will you?” Cassie laughed.
Seren shot her a look, flicking her attention between her and Cai. “It’s, um, well, we haven’t exactly put a label on it. We are friends.”
“Mhm.” Lola hummed. “And do you approve of that statement, Jake?”
Everyone looked at me. Seren most of all.
I could’ve laughed at how badly I wanted to say the right thing—whatever the right thing even was. We’d drawn our lines, sure. Boundaries. Rules. But none of that mattered when she was looking at me like that, waiting. None of it mattered when being her friend was the last thing I wanted.
“We’re figuring it out,” I said finally.
Seren’s shoulders loosened a fraction, enough that I felt it, and mine followed suit.
Lola’s mouth curved. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”
And just like that, the whole thing moved on—except for the part of me still thrumming from the way she’d looked at me, like the truth was sitting right there between us, waiting for one of us to be brave enough to address it.