Chapter Five
Practice was as gruelling as usual, but Jonny welcomed the pain in his body, for it distracted him from what was waiting for him.
His venture at the station house.
Specifically, stealing from the police.
But he had taken the ledger once before, and truthfully, Blackwood’s operations had likely been more locked down than the station had been.
“Tate, you missed the ball!”
Jonny looked up to find Rhys standing before him, hands outstretched in exasperation.
“Where’s your head? Did you leave it wherever you were during the last game?”
“You’ve got to let that go,” Jonny grumbled over his shoulder as he chased after the ball. “I told you, something came up with my family. I couldn’t leave them.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. His brotherhadbeen involved.
“Yet you can’t tell us what’s happening. Don’t want to allow us to help.”
Rhys remained right beside him, not leaving him be.
“No.”
“Is it your mother?”
Jonny’s father had died a few years ago, from a hard life more than anything, and his mother now lived with his sister, Maggie, and her family. Jonny tried to look in on her when he could, and always made sure to leave money, even if it left him without enough to pay his own rent.
He knew Will did the same for their mother, but he could only imagine where Will’s money came from.
“Just leave it, Rhys, all right?” he asked, running away slowly before he lost his temper, which was the last thing he should do when the team had given him one more chance to prove himself.
“Don’t forget what I said!” Rhys called after him. "No more chances after this.”
Jonny rolled his eyes, grateful that the only one who saw was Tommy, who ran over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I don’t know the story, Jon, but I know whatever came up must have been important. Just make sure to tell me if you need anything, all right? You were there for me. I’ll aways do the same for you.”
“Thanks, Tommy,” he said, but Ada’s words echoed in his mind – to not make anything difficult for his friends.
He would make good on that promise, for he wanted the same thing — to keep them safe and away from Sharpe.
He glanced over to the side of the field, seeing Lily and her daughter playing beside Emmaline and Minnie, whose stomach was expanding with her own child, to come during the season. The women took turns playing with the girl and watching the field, capturing his attention for a moment — especially when they were joined by someone he had come to know better than he had hoped, or expected.
He met Ada’s gaze from across the pitch, reading thequestions there, as he knew she wondered about what he had done about the ledger, whether he had completed his quest.
Not yet.
He felt the urge to go to her, to share with her, but he chased that thought away.
What was most important was staying as far from her as possible. That kiss had been… it had been everything he hadn’t known was missing in his life, as much as he never wanted to admit that.
He had closed his eyes and replayed it in his mind far more than he should have, but it was hard to forget. Her lips had been perfect under his, soft yet insistent, and instead of the apprehensive standoffishness he had expected, she had melted into him and had been more responsive than he could ever have imagined.
He longed to feel more of her, to run his hands over all those delicious curves.
But it could never be. That, he knew.
