“Oh, my. Are you two together?”
Swallowing hard, Erin dropped her hand to her side—only for it to be snatched up by Lia, who slotted their fingers together like it was the simplest thing in the world.
Maybe it was.
“Yes, Grandma. We are. That’s why I asked Erin to come—to introduce you to her. Is that okay?”
“Why wouldn’t it be okay, sweetheart? Does she make you happy?”
Lia glanced toward Erin, a soft smile on her mouth. “Yes.”
“That’s all that matters. Come here, both of you. Give me a hug. And then let’s go for a walk, shall we? I’ve been cooped in here too long.”
* * *
Boos and jeers rang across the stadium as Albion walked onto the pitch, and Erin revelled in it. Sure, cheers and screams and shouts of her name were nice, but she thrived on hostility, too. Used it to push herself harder, further, basking in the antagonism.
And there was no greater antagonist than Wanderers.
Their closest rivals, already brushed aside in the League Cup. Already knocked out of the Champions League, too—unable to make it out of their group. At least Albion had gone two rounds further.
They would probably be Albion’s opponents in the FA Cup final, if they both won their respective semi-finals. A rematch of last year’s final, the day that had changed the course of Erin’s life.
But first, the league.
Following their draw against Liverpool and their loss to Wolfsburg, Albion had rediscovered their form and won their last four games in a row—helped massively by Erin and Lia’s pitch-perfect strike partnership. Between them, they’d scored ten goals. Barring a miracle, the Golden Boot was all wrapped up, and the trophy would be heading home with Lia at the end of the season.
And the league trophy could be wrapped up by the end of the day, too. With two games left to play, Albion had maintained their four-point lead over Wanderers. If Albion beat them today, they couldn’t be caught, and they’d lift the trophy on the final day of the season at their home ground.
If Wanderers won, the title would go to the wire for the second year in a row.
Hence the jeers from a nervy crowd, culminating in a pressure cooker of an environment that Erin knew she’d thrive in. With Erin slowly getting back to her best, Ayla had started her in the last three matches, and she planned to repay Ayla’s faith.
As they lined up for the team photo, Erin glanced to her left. Lia had been jittery since they’d woken together that morning, and the deafening noise of the crowd booing her name when it was announced couldn’t be helping.
“Hey.” Erin nudged Lia with her hip, wishing she could wrap her in a hug and tell her it was going to be okay but unwilling to risk it in such a highly public environment. “You’ve got this.”
“We’ve got this.” Lia corrected her with a soft smile, meant for Erin’s eyes only. “We’re going to win today. I can feel it.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” She was putting on a brave face—her eyes darted around the crowd, her fingers knotted together and her boot scuffing the grass.
“Well, if we do, you should clear your evening.” Lowering her voice, Erin leaned as close as she dared to murmur into Lia’s ear. “Because you know how much I like winning, and I’ll want to celebrate accordingly.”
“I look forward to it.”
Buzzing with anticipation, Erin joined her and the rest of the team in shaking hands with all of the Wanderers players before she jogged over to join the team huddle by the halfway line.
Lia slipped in beside her, fingers warm at the small of Erin’s back as they all leaned in to listen to Shanice’s speech.
“We give them hell today, right team? We’re winning this. They’re not in good form, and we are fucking fantastic. They’re going to try and rile us up”—Shanice glanced at Lia—“you most of all, but don’t let them. Try and get in their heads instead. We’ve beaten them twice already this season. What do you say we make it a third and snatch another trophy off them? Let’s go!”
With a cheer, the team took their usual positions on the pitch.
Wanderers had the ball first, so Erin took her stance at the halfway line. The centre circle separated her and Lia, and as the referee raised the whistle to her lips, a look of determination crossed Lia’s face.
Erin had seen her like that a few times before, and, oh, she was deadly and devastating once she got going.
