“You know how much I love you, right?” Cerys batted her eyelashes at Xander.
He grinned. “You want me to get out of here so you can have some girl time? No problem.”
“Sorry.” He’d been waiting for Cerys all evening, and Lia had ruined their plans. “Look at me, barging in here and kicking you out of your own living room. I should go home.”
“It’s all good.” Crossing the room in three long strides, Xander squeezed her shoulder. “My Xbox is upstairs anyway, and there’s a game I’ve been waiting to play for a while. You stay as long as you need, Lia.”
“Love you.” Cerys kissed his cheek again, and, with another wave, Xander retreated up the staircase, leaving them alone. “Okay, now you have no excuse.” Cerys sat on the couch and patted the spot next to her. “Sit. Spill.”
So, Lia did. She let it all come pouring out—how it had happened in Spain (“Erin was the person you spent the night with?! Holy shit!”), how they’d agreed it could never happen again (“Yeah right—like that’s ever how it goes”), how they hadn’t been able to stay away from one another (“I can’t believe I didn’t notice”), and, finally, how it had all crumbled earlier in the changing room.
“Oh, wow. You had that whole argument when we were all stood there?” Cerys shook her head. “That’s bold.”
“Or stupid.” Anyone could have overheard them. If Cerys had noticed something was amiss… “It goes without saying that none of what I’ve told you can get back to Erin.”
“Still trying to protect her even after she broke your heart.”
“She didn’t break my heart.”
Cerys caught Lia’s eye. “Didn’t she? Because you’ve been moping all night.”
“I’m not in love with her.” Could she fall in love with her? Maybe. The more sides of Erin she got to see, the more she liked her. She was smart and funny and damn good at her job. Not to mention her multitude of skills in the bedroom. “But I am going to miss what we had.”
“It doesn’t have to be over.”
“I think it does.” Admitting it hurt, but she knew in her heart it was true. “Because I might not be in love with her, but I like her. A lot. Tonight has proved that. And I think to be happy, I would want more than what we had. And that’s something she’s been clear she won’t be able to give me.”
“I’m sorry, Lia.” Cerys pulled her into a hug. “But maybe it’s for the best that it happened now. Before you get in too deep.”
“Yeah,” Lia said, though a part of her wondered if she already was out of her depth. But she’d been through worse and survived. And saying it all out loud had helped somewhat.
Facing Erin at training tomorrow and pretending nothing was wrong was going to be fun.
“You wanna stay in our spare room tonight?”
“Would that be okay?”
“Of course.” Cerys kissed her forehead. “Let’s go get changed into some pyjamas and watch trashy movies and eat ice cream.”
“You don’t want to spend time with Xander?”
“Nah. He’ll be happy shouting at his video game. Come on.” Cerys tugged her upright. “You can have my fluffiest, comfiest pair.”
Chapter 19
The final whistle blew, and Erin sagged with exhaustion, resting her hands on her knees.
Having just completed her first full ninety minutes since her injury, Erin should have been filled with joy at achieving another milestone. Instead, she’d played her part in a drab nil-nil draw, meaning Albion had dropped their first points in the league that season.
Not ideal.
Their otherwise perfect start meant they still had a four-point lead over their nearest rivals—Wanderers—but a win for Wanderers the next time they met would make things uncomfortably close.
Erin hadn’t been able to make the difference, most of her shots going wayward. She’d struggled to focus, distracted too often by Lia’s eyes burning into her back from the bench, by thinking about the fact that they hadn’t spoken since the cup final.
Dragging her feet as she shook the hands of the opposition players, Erin marvelled at how far she’d fallen in the space of a week. She was not looking forward to the coach journey back to Manchester, even if it would only take an hour.
Returns to her hometown were usually sweeter.
