“But it would be so much fun!” Reaching for Lia’s uninjured hand, Maisie bounced on the balls of her feet. “And I haven’t seen Lia in ages!”
“You saw her yesterday after the match.”
“Not properly. There were too many other people there.” Turning her gaze to Lia, Maisie adopted her best pleading expression. “Come on, it’ll be fun! We have sandwiches and sausage rolls and salad and crisps and—”
“I’m not sure Lia needs the full list, Maisie.” Jessica squeezed Maisie’s shoulder. “But join us.” She held Lia’s gaze, her tone no longer phrasing it as a suggestion. “Please.”
“Um.” Lia’s eyes flicked to Erin.
She shrugged, not seeing a way out of it. Jessica was as stubborn as Erin when it came to getting what she wanted. “There is a lot of food.”
“Okay. Let me freshen up.”
“Maisie, do you want to wait here and show Lia down once she’s ready?” Jessica offered, an innocent smile on her mouth.
“Lia’s more than capable of finding her own way. She knows where I live.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that.” Jessica lowered her voice, her words for Erin’s ears only. “Watching videos my ass.”
“It’s fine.” Lia looked uneasily between the two sisters. “Come on in, Maisie.” She waved Maisie over the threshold of her apartment. “We’ll be there soon.”
Lia closed the door, leaving Erin—unfortunately—alone with Jessica.
Erin’s steps were heavy as she traipsed back downstairs. “Can we not do this?”
“Do what? Talk about the fact that you’re fucking one of your teammates? You expect me to ignore that?”
“I’d like you to.”
“Well, at least you’re not denying it.”
Arriving back at her own apartment, Erin opened the door, bending to scratch Gerrard’s head when he trotted over to her. “Why would I? You wouldn’t believe me if I did.”
Jessica returned to the kitchen and her abandoned butter knife. “How long?”
Erin sighed, knowing she wouldn’t be able to avoid the topic—at least until Lia and Maisie joined them. “The first time was in Spain—”
“This has been going on for nearly three months?!”
“Will you let me finish?” Erin snapped, not even Gerrard winding around her ankles cooling her anger. “The first time was in Spain, but it was supposed to be a one-time thing. It happened again last week, and then again last night.”
As if the sum of their encounters thus far could be counted on Erin’s hand. It didn’t seem enough to encompass how much of a cataclysmic shift Lia had brought about in her life.
“So is it a three-time thing?”
“It’s a however many times we want it to be thing.”
“Hm.” Jessica didn’t sound convinced. “And you’re okay with that?”
“You really think I’d be doing this if I wasn’t?”
“No.” Jessica’s gaze settled on Erin’s face, her lips pursed. “But this isn’t like you at all.”
As if Erin wasn’t already well aware of that fact.
“What’s so special about her?”
Erin hesitated. It wasn’t that simple. There wasn’t one thing about Lia that Erin could confidently pinpoint as the reason Erin had broken all her rules. There wasn’t one moment, even. It was a collection of moments, of conversations, of glances and touches, of each of them laying the other bare.
