When they shared the pitch together, she hoped they were going to make a formidable pair.
Lia lifted her head, catching Erin looking her way. Her lips twitched into the ghost of a smile, but it was the farthest thing from convincing.
You okay? Erin mouthed, knowing none of their teammates were paying any attention to her. To her left, Alex was locked in an argument with Cerys about which of them was would have notched the most assists by the end of the season, and on her right, Adrianna was gushing about the night she’d spent a few days ago with an Everton defender.
A small shake of her head was Lia’s answer, but Erin had already known that. It was clear on Lia’s face. Something was bothering her, souring what should have been a happy day.
Erin inclined her head toward the bathroom before climbing to her feet and slipping away from the table, fighting the urge to look back to see if Lia was following her.
* * *
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” Lia said as she stepped through the bathroom door.
Inside, Erin leaned a hip against one of the porcelain sinks. “I do have a habit of cornering you in bathrooms when you’re upset.”
Lia didn’t deny being upset, though she was surprised Erin wanted to talk to her about it. She didn’t strike Lia as the type. But she supposed Erin had done a good job of it back when Albion had played Wanderers.
She hovered a step inside the door, drinking Erin in. They’d been training together all week, but it was rare for them to spend time together without a coach or a teammate present.
Erin wore a dark-blue blouse, the top two buttons undone to reveal her sharp collarbones and the tempting curve of her breasts. It was unfair for her to look so delectable when Lia was trying so hard to put that night behind them.
But how could she when Erin looked so damn good?
“Want to talk about it?”
With a sigh, Lia drifted closer but was careful to keep a few inches of space between them as she faced the mirror. “It’s dumb.”
“If it’s upsetting you, it’s not dumb.”
Lia tapped a finger against the sink beside Erin’s, forcing herself to focus on that and not the intensity of Erin’s eyes. “It’s my father. He forgot my birthday. Again. My grandmother used to remind him, but obviously, she doesn’t even remember anymore.” She shook her head. “My dad and I haven’t spoken in months, but I thought he might reach out. I don’t know why I still let it bother me after all these years, why I let him and my stepmother get under my skin. Why I think they’ll ever stop disappointing me.”
Erin reached out a hand, her fingers brushing the back of Lia’s shoulder, left bare by the cut of her shirt. Goose bumps erupted there in the wake of Erin’s touch. Her skin burned so hot, it felt like being touched by a naked flame.
Lia’s breath caught, so affected by Erin’s closeness that it became hard for her to think. “I know it’s just a day, but I hoped they’d at least send me a message. At least remember I exist.”
“You deserve so much better than that.” Quiet and resolved, Erin’s voice was as soothing as the patterns she continued to draw across Lia’s back. “And they don’t deserve you.”
Lia closed her eyes, trying to fight off the tears that had been threatening to fall all night. “It’s easy to push it down most of the time. Easy to ignore the fact that I don’t have anyone. But on days like today…”
“You do have people.” In the mirror, Erin met Lia’s gaze and jerked a thumb toward the bathroom door. “You have a whole team of people out there who care about you. Who want the best for you. I know you haven’t been with us for long, but you must know by now that one of the team’s values is family. That family can be what you make it—and not what you’re born into.”
“And do you consider yourself a part of that family?”
Erin shrugged, dropping her hand back to her side. “Reluctantly. Every family has to have a black sheep, doesn’t it?”
Lia missed the heat of her touch acutely. “And is that why you wanted to talk to me? Because I’m part of your family?” Lia was pushing and prodding at things that would be better left alone. But she was raw and lonely, and her resolve to ignore everything that had happened and keep Erin at arm’s length lessened with every second they spent breathing the same air.
Erin’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. “I don’t think familial sums up any of my feelings toward you.”
Lia’s eyes closed because what the hell was she supposed to say to that? “Erin…” She curled her hands around the sink, tried to use the shock of the cold porcelain to ground herself.
“If you didn’t want to hear my answer, why did you ask the question?”
“I don’t know.” Lia ran a hand across her face, not daring to open her eyes. She didn’t trust herself not to lean further into Erin’s orbit. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“But you did.”
“I did.”
