Erin swallowed, hating to be read so easily. Hating that, even now, when Lia was looking at her like she barely knew her, all Erin could think about was the softness of her lips and the heat of her skin.
So much for getting Lia out of her system. Instead of dousing the flames, she’d added fuel to the fire, the inferno blazing so brightly, it was hard to think.
“I know, okay?” Lia ran a hand through her hair. “We agreed. One night, nothing else. Forgive me for needing a second to process seeing you again for the first time after. I should’ve known it was a mistake.”
“What?” The last thing Erin wanted was for Lia to regret it.
“You don’t think the same? You were so ready to see the worst in me, Erin.” Tears shone in Lia’s eyes, quickly blinked away. “After everything we’ve been through. You don’t trust me.”
“I…” Erin didn’t know what to say. Because, yes, while she’d trusted Lia last night with parts of her she’d never let any of her other teammates see, Lia was right. She had jumped to conclusions. She hadn’t given Lia the benefit of the doubt. Instead, she’d marched over to yell at her for something she hadn’t done.
She’d shattered whatever had been building between them because she was too jaded to see that Lia would never hurt her like that, knowing how much Erin valued her privacy. “I’m sorry.”
“You know, considering you say you don’t do apologies, I’ve heard those words from your mouth almost too many times to count.” Lia gave her a sad smile. “But it’s not enough this time. I think I need some space. Maybe you were right—maybe colleagues is all we’re meant to be.”
Erin flinched, hating having her words thrown back at her by the one person who had made her question that philosophy. All of her philosophies. Deep down, however, she knew Lia was right. If things had already gotten so messy, it was best they stayed away from one another.
Still, she couldn’t resist asking: “Is that what you want?”
“I think it’s what I need.”
The words hit like a killing blow, but Erin refused to let it show. This was why she kept her distance from everyone. Her feelings couldn’t get hurt if she never put herself on the line. Not that she had feelings for Lia. But she’d gotten used to having her around, to having another friendly face other than Alex to banter with. And what the hell was she going to tell Maisie?
“Okay. Well, you’re in luck because they’re sending me home to recover back in Manchester. My flight’s this afternoon.” Her father was taking her back to the airport. It wasn’t quite the quality time Erin had been hoping to spend with him in Marbella, but at least she’d had dinner with him and Alex before she’d gotten reinjured.
Lia managed a jerky nod, already backing away toward the clamour of the restaurant and the safety of their teammates. “I hope your recovery is quick.”
“Thank you.” But Lia was already gone, disappearing around the corner and leaving Erin alone.
She leaned her head against the wall behind her and sighed. That morning, she’d woken boneless and sated with the taste of Lia still on her lips, worried her biggest challenge would be keeping what had happened between them from showing on her face whenever their eyes met.
Now the memory was soured, and she had no one to blame but herself.
Chapter 14
A week passed before Lia’s path crossed Erin’s again.
The rehab programme Erin had been put onto kept her out of Lia’s orbit, instead spending long hours in the gym and on an alternate mealtime schedule to the rest of the team. She hadn’t even been involved in the one team briefing they’d had since arriving back in the UK.
One week since their eyes had last met. One week since Lia had walked away, saying she needed space. And one week where Lia’s head had been filled with nothing but thoughts of their night together.
Frustratingly, not even Erin’s attitude the morning after had dampened the thrill that went through Lia when she spotted Erin hobbling through the hallway at Park Lane with one heavily bandaged leg. Whatever Cerys was saying to Lia about the movie she’d watched with her boyfriend last night faded away as her gaze found the back of Erin’s head.
Despite everything that had soured between them, every fibre of Lia’s being wanted to race after Erin and ask how she was feeling, how her recovery was going, how they could try and fix what had splintered between them.
Which was a huge problem.
“You should definitely watch it if you get a chance,” Cerys said, her voice cutting through Lia’s thoughts.
Before she had to scramble for something to say—and agree to watch something she couldn’t name even if a gun were pressed to her temple—Adrianna skipped over to them, eyes gleeful as she held her phone aloft. “Have you seen the news?”
Lia had the uneasy feeling she wasn’t going to like whatever “news” Adrianna was so elated by. “No?”
“Here.” Adrianna brandished her phone in Lia’s face.
Cerys leaned over Lia’s shoulder so they could read it together.
The first thing to catch Lia’s attention was Hannah’s name—and the fact that she’d left Manchester Wanderers to sign for Real Madrid. But it was the reason for Hannah’s transfer that made Lia’s mouth drop open.
