I’ve watched her team before in college, in the games last season too, but seeing her on a professional stage gave her a light that shined so much brighter.
For the Valkyries to come away with the win on their first league game was a huge boost for them. I couldn’t deny it fed that hungry beast inside me to win, to compete, to feel the mud coating my skin and the adrenaline spiking my blood. Our first game was next week, and it couldn’t come fast enough.
“Fuck, if we played them, I think we’d lose,” Jake said, bringing me out of my trance.
I huffed a quiet laugh, leaning back in my seat at last. “Absolutely.” My eyes never strayed from the woman who always captured my attention on and off the pitch.
Jake followed my gaze. “You watched her the whole match.”
I didn’t bother denying it. “Hard not to.”
The noise in the stadium swelled, and they deserved every single moment.
“You like her,” Jake said, contemplating. I side-eyed him and, once again, I didn’t deny it. I did like her, and I wasn’t sure when I’d gotten to a point where I was okay being obvious about it. Or maybe my best friend just knew me well enough. Either way, he was right; I liked the fire inside her. I liked that she rarely looked for permission in anything she did, on and off the pitch. She took up space, she tried hard and never gave up.
The team moved toward the sidelines, laughing and leaning in close to fans pressed against the barriers. Shirts were held out to be signed, young girls and boys all looking at these women with stars in their eyes. Teddy was right there in the middle of it all, and I still couldn’t tear my eyes away. She smiled and entertained every single person who caught her attention andeveryonepaid attention to her.
This was what it looked like when something clicked. When people saw themselves reflected in a team. It affected me. Therewas a quiet pressure at the back of my mind, not fully formed yet, but impossible to ignore.
For the first time, the question wasn’t about how long I could keep playing or how much more I could give on the pitch. It was about what came after the whistle.
Rugby had given me everything—discipline, purpose, belonging—and I wasn’t ready to let it go. Not even close. But watching it take root in someone else, I understood there was more to it than performance or legacy measured in caps and trophies.
This wasn’t just about me anymore. It was about access. Visibility. Making sure the next generation didn’t have to ask for space the way we had.
Maybe being an ally didn’t start with grand plans or declarations.
Maybe it started smaller.
With showing up. With listening.
With earning the trust of the fiercest woman I knew.
***
“Dude, why are we waiting? I want to get my ass to the bar,” Jake said to Bobby, who was waiting for his girl to come out.
Bobby checked his phone for the fourth time in a minute. “Micah said they’re finishing media stuff. She’ll come out in a second.”
I nodded like I hadn’t positioned myself here on purpose. I was clocking every Valkyries staff member who walked past, every laugh that drifted down the hallway, every second that stretched too long.
“I’m heading to the bar then,” Jake mumbled, typing on his phone. “Nate and the guys are over there.”
Not soon after he left, the door opened, and Micah walked out with Teddy by her side. Micah ran straight to Bobby, curling herself around him, but my attention was on Teddy. Her hair was damp but loose around her shoulders, falling in dark rivulets, skimming her collarbone before trailing down toward her elbows. She’d changed into a Valkyries zip up that was navy and white.
She slowed when she saw us. Or me. It was hard to tell, but her gaze landed and stayed. Those light turquoise eyes settled on mine, and something in my chest shifted, subtle but immediate, like my body had registered her before my thoughts caught up.
The sounds around us kept moving, voices and footsteps passing, but my attention stayed fixed on her, as it had been all day.
The pulse under her porcelain skin thrummed a frantic beat. How her breath changed, how she’d taken in air and forgotten to let it go again. The distance between us stopped meaning much after that because I was drawn closer by some invisible force.
“Great game, sunshine.”
Her eyebrows lifted, surprise passing quickly across her face. “You watched it all?”
“Every second.”
Those two words suspended in the air, and I knew it gave me away a little too much.
