“Tonight,” he said and left with a wave.
Maia swallowed hard.She loved Henry and felt she had known him forever, which made no sense.She picked up her pace, pushing her frenzied thoughts aside to join her team.
“Is that your boyfriend?”Jan asked.
Maia noticed several girls paying close attention.“Yes,” she said, not embellishing her answer.
“Is it serious?”someone else asked.“He’s old.Does he have money?”
“Not that old.I met him when I moved to Middlemarch,” Maia said, trying not to sound defensive, but it was a touchy point because it worried Henry.Thank goodness they hadn’t stated their opinions when he could hear.She’d hate him to decide he was too old for her again.
“But he’s rich, right?”another woman asked.
“I’ve no idea,” Maia snapped.“Why would you ask that?”
“Do you call him Daddy?”
Maia didn’t see who uttered that gem and was relieved when their coaches approached.
“All right, listen up, ladies,” Cameron said.
Maia was glad of the interruption, although knowing her teammates, they’d return to the conversation.She was coming to know her team.Even the standoffish ones were more accepting of her, but someone had stolen her clothes and locked her in the changing room.Now this.Her relationship with Henry was none of their business.
The questions came as soon as they had tickets and passed through security.
Maia forced a laugh she wasn’t feeling and raised her hands in a stop signal.“Henry and I are new, and I don’t want to jinx our relationship.I like him.”She made a buttoning motion across her lips.“No more questions.”
“But he’s old.Age-gap romances are fine in books and movies, but they don’t work in real life,” one girl said.
“At least he’s experienced,” another quipped.
The teasing continued in the same vein, but Maia remained stubbornly silent and mentally pushed away their age-gap comments, even though they worried her.None of their business, and they were wrong.When they tumbled off the plane in Auckland, the women were in high spirits and eager to play the Auckland team.
Maia felt fantastic when she jogged onto the field.The referee blew his whistle, and the game began.It flowed, and it was clear they had gelled; their set-piece plays on point, and everything going well.The tries came quickly, and each successive one spurred her team onward.When the final whistle blew, they’d won by twenty points.
Amanda jumped off the bench and hugged Maia hard, beating the other reserves into squashing Maia by a hairsbreadth.
“That was such a great game.You played so well.”Amanda pulled away and hugged the other players, her face ablaze with triumph.“Those girls didn’t think you’d win.I played some of them in grades when I was younger.They’re arrogant and won’t take this well.”
Great.Something else for Maia to worry about—pissed rugby players coming at her.
“Excellent game,” a woman said from behind her.
Maia turned to spot the other team’s captain with her hand outstretched.She immediately smiled and accepted the sportsmanlike gesture.“Thanks, but you made us work for the win.The game could’ve gone either way at the start.”
“We’ll beat you next time,” the captain said, grinning.
“We’ll work hard to stop you.”Maia stepped forward to shake hands with the other team members, who stood behind their captain.
“You played an inspired game,” one woman said.“We couldn’t keep up.”
“Yeah,” another agreed.“We’ll be more careful next time.”
“I look forward to it,” Maia said, meaning it.She glanced over her shoulder and found her team gaping in shock.What the heck?Maia glowered at them and jerked her head, silently ordering them to fall into line and act gracious winners.They glanced at each other before slowly moving.Maia puffed out a relieved sigh when she heard murmurs behind her from her teammates.
Most of her team had disappeared to their changing rooms during their last games.Admittedly, it had been cold and raining.If appointed captain again, she’d line up her team and show they were gracious winners or losers.It showed sportsmanship and set a good example for younger players.
After the hand-shaking, the two teams parted, but Maia called her team together.“Thanks for the awesome game.We did everything right today.Let’s make it a habit!”
