I just seeher.
I tap the A on my chest once.
For her.
The gesture is automatic, pure instinct. And the second I do it, reality crashes back in.
She’s cheering for someone who doesn’t exist.
15
AFTER THE WHISTLE (KIERAN)
“Nice goal,” Mason says at the bench, knocking my shoulder pad. “That shut Reed up.”
Reed’s expression is pure poison behind his cage. “Enjoy your moment, hero. She’ll figure you out eventually.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Means clocks tick, golden boy.” He leans close, voice low. “Isabelle wants results. You really think you can keep playing hero and villain at the same time?”
It lands like a blindside hit I never saw coming.
“Eyes up,” Coach McCarthy barks. “You play for the crest, not your egos. Next line.”
Reed shoulders past, heading back out. “Keep that jersey on her, O’Connor. Wouldn’t want her to forget who she belongs to.”
I don’t answer.
Because he’s right. And wrong. And I’m so far in over my head I can’t see the surface anymore.
The game ends in noise and bodies and raised arms. We win. I don’t feel it.
The horn sounds as I slide into the boards. My teammates mob me, but I can barely feel it through the guilt pressing down on my chest.
I look up at the stands one more time.
She’s jumping, cheering, completely unaware that every moment of this—the jersey, the goal, the gesture—is built on a lie that’s going to break her.
And I’m the one holding the hammer.
The locker roomafter a win should feel electric. Instead, it’s just loud—music, laughter, the hollow celebration of a game won but something else lost.
I’m still in half my gear when my phone buzzes.
Three texts. Liam.
LIAM
Cabin this weekend. You confirmed, right?
Erin and Sophie are excited to meet your girl
Bring her Friday night. Nonnegotiable, rookie
I stare at the screen until the words blur.
Liam and Erin want to meet her. My siblings who know me better than anyone, who’ll see through this in five minutes flat. Along with Sophie, Dmitri, Nate, Eden, Finn, and Jessica—people who’ve known me since I was a kid trying to keep up with my brother’s shadow.
