“No.”
Lia didn’t know whether to be relieved or upset. “Then why, Hannah?”
“I don’t have an answer for you, Lia. I liked the attention she gave me. It was new and exciting, and I got lost in the thrill. I never intended to hurt you. I kept telling myself that I’d stop it or I’d come clean and tell you, but I didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry.”
Once more, Hannah reached for her, but Lia flinched out of her grip. Numbness crept through her body, making it hard for her to stay upright.
“Is there… Can we fix this?”
Lia wrenched the diamond ring from her finger and hurled it toward where Hannah stood. “This is how we’ll fix it.”
Before Hannah had the chance to call out, to beg her to stay, Lia made for the front door, slamming it closed behind her. She didn’t have any of her belongings, but that didn’t matter. She could stay in a hotel for the night and come back tomorrow when Hannah was in training.
As she was walking down the street, her cheeks damp with tears, her phone rang in her pocket.
“Hey.” The voice of Lia’s agent was breathless on the other end of the line. “I think we’ve had a breakthrough on the transfer fee. How do you feel about signing the ink on a contract with Salford Albion first thing in the morning?”
“That fast?” Lia had expected to have to wait at least a few days. Though she’d never been part of a transfer saga before, she knew how they worked. It could take weeks to hammer out the details, even when both parties wanted a deal.
“That fast. They want you, Lia. And whatever you said to Carol, it worked. Wanderers are throwing everything they can at this to get a deal over the line.”
“I could be an Albion player as soon as tomorrow?”
“Uh-huh. What do you say? You sure about this? I promise it’ll be the last time I ask you that.”
Lia took a deep breath. Starting over somewhere new was utterly terrifying. What if she couldn’t settle in? What if she didn’t get along with her new coach? What if her new teammates hated her for the role she’d played in them coming in second the previous season?
What if Hannah snatched her career from her, as well as everything else?
Instead of letting the doubt get to her, Lia straightened her spine. She couldn’t let that happen. Couldn’t let herself drown, give in to the ache deep in her chest whenever she thought about what she’d lost.
“I’m sure. Tell them I’ll sign whatever they want me to.”
Chapter 2
“Let’s see it, then.” Folding her arms, Erin leaned back in her chair in the Salford Albion team canteen, watching Alex shovel an omelette into their mouth.
“See what?”
Chatter swirled all around them, so loud it nearly drowned out Alex’s reply. Two months since the last season had ended—two months since Erin’s life had turned upside down—and the entire team were back from their summer breaks, eager to catch up with one another.
Usually, Erin’s summers were spent at international tournaments or resting and relaxing at her father’s home in Marbella. That summer, she’d spent at Park Lane. Albion’s training facility wasn’t exactly her go-to destination, but her strict rehab routine hadn’t left her with much choice. The first few weeks, Erin had been the only player in the building.
Compared to that silence, the conversation swelling around them now was deafening.
“You know what. The European Championship winner’s medal.” Erin tried not to grimace as the words left her mouth. It stung. Erin had been forced to watch the competition at home, injured knee propped on her coffee table, high on a cocktail of painkillers after reconstructive surgery. A medal should be hanging off her neck. “I’m not buying that you left the house without it because I know I wouldn’t be taking it off for weeks. And I assume the media circus around here this morning is to welcome you and the others back.”
Two of their other teammates had also played with them on the national team, and Erin had seen them earlier, showing off their own medals. She wasn’t close enough to them to ask about the championships. Erin wasn’t close to anyone on the team, aside from Alex. And that was because they went way back, playing together since the tender age of fourteen.
As the first non-binary player to come through the English league, Alex hadn’t had an easy time of it in the beginning. At their first England camp, they’d bonded over the fact they were both from Liverpool, and after Erin had punched someone for calling Alex a fucking freak—making sure none of the coaches were around to see, of course—they’d become inseparable.
Sheepishly, Alex drew the medal out of their pocket and set it reverently on the table.
Erin took it, heart clenching as she ran a finger over its shiny surface. At the domestic level, she’d won everything there was to win. But internationally, glory had always eluded her. She’d have to wait at least two more years for another shot. And that was if her knee healed well enough for her to be selected for the next World Cup squad.
“Congratulations.” Erin handed the medal back before she was tempted to keep it. She managed to sound sincere—she was happy for Alex, even if the victory made her ache.
“Thanks.” Alex slid it back into their jacket. “But the media circus isn’t for us. Maybe we’ve got some fresh blood coming in.”
