Evie grinned, utterly unrepentant. “I got us that final try.”
I shook my head, smiling despite myself, as I peeled off my kit and headed toward the showers with the rest of them, the air already thick with steam and laughter. Someone argued over who’d had the better tackle count, while someone else insisted they’d definitely been robbed of player of the match, and Delanywas loudly declaring that hot water should be considered a human right after eighty minutes of defense.
By the time we were clean and changed, the locker room looked like a tornado had passed through it, and we looked like a team that knew exactly what it had earned. Hair was still damp, clothes pulled on over tired bodies, makeup applied with varying degrees of success.
We spilled out toward the foyer together, still laughing, still riding the win.
The men’s team was already there, lined up near the entrance like they’d been waiting for us, a chorus of cheers breaking out the second we appeared.
There was clapping, others whistling. I caught sight of familiar faces, all grinning wide, and then I realized they were in blue.
Every single one of them was wearing a Valkyries jersey, and my jaw dropped.
I never would’ve guessed that sharing a stadium would’ve resulted in this. I thought it was going to be full of frustrations and awkward encounters. This was something else. This was a team supporting another team, and I suddenly felt stupid for ever doubting that rugby would foster that bond between us all. I’d been so caught up in leading that I’d forgotten how much I could learn from my teammates, from others.
“Oh my god,” Lola’s hand flew to her mouth, then she immediately burst out laughing. “You didnot.”
Jake grinned, tugging at the hem of his jersey, turning to reveal her number. “We absolutely did.”
“Figured it was only fair,” Ramirez called out, showing Evie’s number. “Top of the table deserves proper representation.”
“Is that my number?” Delany demanded, pointing at Nate. “You didn’t earn that.”
“I wore it with respect.” He smiled.
I was still scanning the line, still taking in the ridiculousness of it all, when someone shifted, and everything in my body paused.
Connor turned just enough for the number on the back of his jersey to come into view.
My number, stretched across his shoulders like it belonged there.
He didn’t need to say anything for it to feel intimate, or risky, or quietly brave. Standing there in my jersey, in front of both teams, he was claiming something he’d never claimed out loud before. Even if I knew he wasn’t going to kiss me in front of all these people, our people, it didn’t matter. My pulse kicked harder as pride tangled with something more fragile, something that wanted to believe in the permanence of moments like this, even when I knew better than to trust them too easily.
He walked over, smiling, his hands twitching to reach for me.
“I wanted the captain’s name on my back tonight.” He leaned in, breath brushing my ear, and the line we were straddling as co-captains, friends, whatever this was, was as thin as ice, especially with the crowd around us. “Was hoping it might earn me something later.”
The rush of heat to my face almost sent me to the floor. I planted my feet and looked up at him, steeling my need to press my lips to his.
“Well…” I said finally, forcing the calmness out. My eyes flicked for a second to Micah, and she was assessing me in a way that made it feel like there was a spotlight above my head. So I tried deflecting with sass. “I hope you’re all enjoying wearing the team that’s ahead of you on the table.”
“Smack talk from the captain,” Jake interrupted, slapping Connor’s shoulders, looking between us. “I swear, you two would be great fuck buddies. All that tension makes me feel it, too. Such a waste.”
I froze, and my eyes bugged out like a cartoon.
The laugh that followed didn’t reach me. It stayed distant, caught on the sudden spike of heat that had nothing to do with embarrassment and everything to do with how exposed I suddenly felt.
It was just Jake being Jake. I knew that. I’d heard worse out of him before. My gaze flicked to Connor, who was still smiling, easy, unfazed on the surface, like the comment had rolled right off him. Not an ounce of tension in his shoulders. And that—more than the words themselves—made something cold slide into my chest.
Because what if that’s how he saw it?
My stomach twisted as the realization settled, the panic slow and unwelcome.
If he’d felt the same jolt I had, he was hiding it better than me. I forced my shoulders back, trying to calm myself before the spiral could take hold properly.
This wasn’t the place. I’m not sure I was ever going to be ready to freak out over whatever this was between Connor and me, but I sure as shit wasn’t about to do it in front of our teams.
“You good?” Connor asked, as the rest piled out of the door.
