And if Lia was the one who won this for them, Erin would worship her between her thighs the whole night long.
* * *
Not for the first time that afternoon, Lia was drenched in champagne.
Her shirt was sticky with it, her damp hair curling around her neck and her trainers squeaking on the slick changing room floor. She was sick of the smell of it, the taste of it heavy at the back of her throat.
But when you scored a hat trick against your former side to win the Women’s Super League trophy, being doused in alcohol was your reward.
She’d become part of an exclusive list, and not just because of her goals. She’d won back-to-back league titles with two different teams. And she’d all but guaranteed herself another Golden Boot.
“Drink up!” Adrianna pressed the champagne bottle toward Lia’s mouth.
“I’m all good, thank you.”
Adrianna wandered off to see who else she could offer a drink to, and Lia breathed a sigh of relief.
Exhaustion was her primary emotion. It would take some time for her to process the last ninety minutes. The game had passed in a blur of frantic end-to-end action before a brilliant pass from Erin had split the defence and gifted Lia her first goal.
The urge to run over and shower her in kisses to show her gratitude had been astounding, but Lia had reined herself in. Later, she kept promising herself. Later, she’d have Erin all to herself, and she could show her how much she’d appreciated her brilliance today.
Because, although Lia had gotten the glory by having her name on the scoresheet, Erin had played magnificently. She had adapted to her deeper role within weeks, turning into a creator of goals more than a goal scorer, and if she was that good already, Lia couldn’t wait to see what their future together would be like.
Both on and off the pitch.
Her gaze was drawn to where Erin stood with her family in one corner of the room. Her father and stepmother had surprised her by flying in from Spain for a few weeks, hoping to see Albion wrap up the title.
Lia had kept her distance since the final whistle, when they’d enveloped Erin, along with Jessica and Maisie. She wasn’t sure how much Erin had told her family, and she didn’t want to intrude.
But it left her adrift, bereft, as all around her, her teammates were embraced by their friends and family members. The close proximity of Albion and Wanderers meant that a lot of them had come out to watch.
Unfortunately, her grandmother hadn’t been well enough to join them. And watching Erin’s family, knowing she would never have that closeness with her own, made an ache settle heavy in her chest.
As if sensing Lia’s mood, Erin caught her eye across the room. Her smile was wide, her eyes bright, a pleased flush on her cheeks. Victory was a damn good look on her.
“Careful.” Cerys sidled up to Lia, sliding her arm around Lia’s shoulders to pull her close. “Control your heart eyes if you don’t want anyone else to catch on.”
Lia’s cheeks warmed. “I do not have heart eyes.”
“Uh, yes, you do. It’s gross.”
“You’re one to talk! I’ve watched you and Xander make moon eyes at each other so many times over the years.”
“Ah, so you admit it.” Cerys poked Lia’s nose. “You were making them.”
“Shut up.”
Cerys gave a delighted laugh and squeezed her tighter. “So, what’s the plan tonight? You coming out with the rest of us, or are you disappearing into your love nest again?”
“Ew. Never say love nest again.”
“Isn’t that what it is? From the sounds of it, you can’t keep your hands off each other. Hey, on a scale from one to ten, how good is she in bed?”
Lia craned her neck to look Cerys in the eye. “How much have you had to drink? You do know she’ll kill you if she overhears you, right?” Since Cerys’s icy threat to Erin the night she and Lia had gotten together, the pair of them had been civil to one another once Cerys had begrudgingly accepted their relationship.
But Lia wouldn’t exactly call them friends. And Erin was still so twitchy when it came to their teammates.
“No one’s paying attention to us.”
