They don’t wantme. They want the name, the brand, the highlight reel. They want the version of me that made that save in the 2014 semifinal. The man who defied physics and carried a team on his back.
Now I’m here, Great Lakes, bloody Florida, on a team that’s banking on me to do it all again.
A fresh start, they called it.
New city, new teammates, new league… but everywhere I go, I’m stillRogue Gallagher.Still a headline, still someone to gawk at.
I glance over at Thiago as he adjusts his gloves and bounces on the balls of his feet. He’s fast—raw, but fast. Good instincts, good attitude. He’s got potential, and he bloody well knows it, judging by the grin he’s been wearing since I showed up.
The others are working through drills. There’s a buzz in the air, a nervous energy I recognize from younger squads.
They want to impress me; they want toconnectwith me. Hell, one of them brought an old jersey and asked me to sign it before I even laced up.
I’d forgotten how much pressure it was to bewatchedall the time. Not just by fans and media, but by your own team, your own staff, even the social media girl…
Catalina.
I see her sometimes out of the corner of my eye, camera poised like a sniper rifle, waiting for the perfect shot, always moving, always focused, smelling of jasmine… Not that I’m paying attention. I huff out a breath and block a low shot coming in fast.
This is why I’m here.
Not the interviews, not the endorsements, not the digital campaigns.
The pitch. The ball. The gloves.
The work.
If I have to say goodbye to the only thing I’ve ever loved, I’m going to do iton my terms.
And that starts here.
The sun’s already baking the pitch, sweat is rolling down my back as I drop into position again. “Focus, Gallagher,” I mumble under my breath, but it’s a losing battle, because she’sright there.
Catalina Arismendi, all sharp focus and soft curves, floating along the sidelines like she belongs in two worlds at once. She’s not wearing anything remarkable—khaki pants that cling just right to hips made to ruin men, white tennis shoes, and today’s team training jersey tucked neatly into her waistband—but God help me, she could be wearing a garbage bag and still pull every bit of air from my lungs.
That hair—long, thick dirty blonde—tied up in a ponytail that swings with every step. I’ve thought about wrapping it around my fingers. Once, maybe twice…Liar.
The truth is, since meeting her just yesterday, I’ve pictured her hair coiled around my wrist, taut, her breath catching as I tug just enough to tilt her head back. She doesn’t strike me as the submissive type, but something tells me she’d fight it just enough to make it interesting. And Christ, what does it say about me that I’ve known her a day and she’s already in every feckin’ thought I have?
A ball slams toward me, and I barely catch it, nearly fumbling the rebound. My hands sting, my knuckles flex, my teammates shout encouragement.
I say nothing.
I’m too damn distracted by the one person here who’s not wearing cleats and still manages to leave me off balance.
She’s not even looking at me, just standing at the sideline, taking photos like it’s nothing. Like she hasn’t completely upended my ability to concentrate. Like her laugh doesn’t still echo in my skull from earlier. Like I didn’t just imagine how she’d look with her knees pressed to the bed sheets and my hand tangled in that hair.
I swallow hard, pulse thrumming in places it shouldn’t be during training.
Focus, Gallagher. For feck’s sake.
She’s just doing her job. She’s here to cover us for the fans. Document every sweaty, gritty, media-friendly second.
And yet… it’s not just me. Every bloke on this team hovers near her like she’s gravity itself. Even the ones who’ve never had game off the field. All jokes, shoulder nudges, trying too hard to get her to laugh.
She does. She laughs a lot. That light, melodic laugh that’s fast becoming the soundtrack to my descent into madness.
It’s just her job, Gallagher.She has to make us look good. She has to know our faces, our stories, our angles. She’s not flirting. Even if she is all eyes and teeth and sunshine.
