For a moment, Erin couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Memories of the past few months, of every agonising step of her recovery, washed over her as she sat on the grass. Everything around her melted away. Until a hand settled on the small of her back.
“Are you okay?” Lia’s voice was in her ear, a frown between her eyebrows, her fingers warm through Erin’s shirt.
Erin was breathing too quickly and focused on the timbre of Lia’s breaths, the expansion and contraction of her chest. “I’m okay.” Stretching and rotating her leg, Erin was relieved when nothing ached. “I just panicked.”
“I think that’s to be anticipated.”
As Erin shifted, pushing herself into a crouch, Lia dropped her hand. Concern still shone in her eyes.
“I’m good.” Erin rose to her feet, blinking at Shanice arguing with the referee a few feet away.
“I don’t understand why it wasn’t a yellow,” Shanice said with a shake of her head. “There was no attempt to get the ball! She wiped her clean out.”
“My decision is final, Rookwood.” The referee set the ball on the grass, awarding a free kick, if not the card Shanice had requested. “Back off before I book you instead.”
With an annoyed shake of her head, Shanice turned away. “You good, Finch?”
“I’m good.” A part of Erin was ashamed she’d reacted like that to a simple foul. Before her injury, she’d have bounced straight back to her feet and brushed herself off. But now everything was different. “Let’s see this out.”
Shanice squeezed her shoulder. “That’s the spirit. Another two minutes—let’s do this, team!”
When the final whistle blew, Erin sagged in relief, exhausted. With all the extra injury time, she’d played twenty-two minutes in total, but she felt like she’d run a marathon. It hadn’t been the return she’d imagined, but if Erin had learned anything during her career, it was that in football, things rarely went to plan.
And she’d missed the high of a win. The buzzing beneath her skin, the itch to get out there and do it all over again. And to be in another cup final, to have the chance to win the first trophy of the season—to potentially be involved in the win—was a balm to the painful ache of the last nine months.
Restless energy thrummed through her body as she shook hands with the opposition players. It always happened following a match. All the build-up and anticipation released in a burst of energy. Most of her teammates collapsed after a game, but not Erin.
Erin usually walked home rather than catching a ride. Or if they were away and had to get the bus back, she’d pace in the changing room until they had to leave, with the exhausted eyes of her teammates watching her move.
She wanted to get inside, to give Maisie a cuddle and hear her talk about the game, but she was instead dragged to do a TV interview with the BBC.
Beside Lia.
“How does it feel being back on the pitch, Erin?”
A microphone was pushed into her face, and Erin forced a smile, drawing on all her years of media training. “Good, yeah. Happy to be back out there and helping out the team.”
“And the knee’s holding up all right? You went down for a few minutes toward the end there.”
Erin forced back a wince at the reminder. “Nope, all good.”
“A dream start back—making the winning goal. How excited are you to play with Lia on a regular basis?”
Once again, Erin struggled not to react. Because she would very much like to play with Lia on a regular basis. In fact, the sooner Erin could do that, the better. The heat of Lia’s body so close to her own was intoxicating. All that restless, pent-up energy… What better way to let that out than by falling into bed once they were both back home? “I think if we can keep teaming up like we did today, we’re going to have a great end to the season.”
“And you, Lia.” The reporter pulled the microphone away from Erin’s mouth and pressed it to Lia’s. “Another goal scored today. Want to talk us through it?”
“Not much to talk you through.” Lia’s smile was full of charm. “Had to put it away after a pass like that.”
“And how are you feeling about having Erin back with the team?”
“Well, obviously, it’s our first match together. But I think it went well. I’m excited to see how much we can achieve together as a team.”
“Thank you both—good luck for the final.”
With a nod, Erin and Lia slipped away, shoulders brushing as they walked toward the tunnel. The rest of the team were already inside, and there was only a handful of waving people left in the crowd. Sparks erupted across Erin’s skin whenever she and Lia touched, Erin’s heart racing in anticipation of the possible night ahead.
“How are you feeling?” Lia hovered a step inside the tunnel, taking a moment before they rejoined the team. “Knee okay?”
