She turned to me, one hand already on the handle. “Don’t freak out.”
Don’t freak outimplied this was manageable, like my heart hadn’t just started beating against my ribs with something close to panic.Don’t freak outwas the worst thing you could say to someone before pushing them into the unknown.
“Iamfreaking out,” I whisper-hissed. “Why are we here? Why would you bring me here without telling me what’s going on?”
She opened her mouth to answer, then seemed to think better of it. “Just… trust me. Please.”
Her brown eyes pleaded with me. I’d spent my entire professional career listening to her, trusting her, and she knew I wouldn’t say no. Even if I wanted to march back to my laps and run all this weird energy off, I didn’t.
I nodded slowly, and she pushed the door open to reveal a room full of press.
There was a collective swoosh of bodies shifting in tandem to face me just as my cheeks hit fireball temperature.
Please don’t take a picture of me like this, I internally begged. Thankfully, the universe was on my side and no one did, they allturned to face the front where Connor was behind the podium, Knights and Valkyries branding lining the wall behind him, Coach Knox sitting to the left of the podium too.
What was going on right now?
Whatever this was, whatever came next, it was already happening, and thanks to my best friend, she wanted me to be in on it.
Connor’s focus locked on me as he began to speak. “Thank you all for being here today. I appreciate you taking the time to hear this,” he said calmly.
I stepped closer, breath stuttering on the inhale.
“Change,” he began, “isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it’s necessary. Sometimes it’s overdue.”
My heart pounded so hard it felt like it was bruising me from the inside.
Oh god.
This was where he says it.
This was where he tells them, tells me everything that’s been silently whispering around us as rumors up until now. I fought the urge to run, to disappear and let him tell everyone without hearing it firsthand. But I think I owed it to myself to be here. I owedusthe honesty of being present to it. If things were going to end, I needed to make peace with that and let him move on. There was a part of me that wished I’d have said something sooner, but he deserved to live his dreams.
Every muscle in my body pulled tight as he looked away from me, and I prepared myself for the moment the ground shifted beneath my feet.
Connor continued. “For a long time, we’ve talked about growth within sports. We all want to achieve a status that improves us professionally. There are goal posts we set ourselves and all season we aim to achieve them.”
My hands curled at my sides, nails biting into my palms.
“This season, it was my goal as captain to push my team to the playoffs.” He huffed a laugh. “Well, we all know that didn’t happen.”
A few murmurs of laughter echoed in the room.
“I want you all to know that I have been dedicated as captain, but I’ve also grown and learned so many things. I can contribute a large part of that to the Valkyries for showing us mercy and grace when we needed it. But I’ve been shown a different side to rugby this year, too.”
I swallowed, my throat burning as my mind raced ahead of him, filling in the words he hadn’t said yet. My feet began tracing backward steps. I kept my eyes forward, afraid that if I looked at him, if I let myself see his face, whatever was holding me upright would give way.
I needed space. A door. I needed to—
“Teddy,” he said clearly, the room going quiet enough that the sound of my pulse seemed deafening, “has shown me remarkable leadership this year, something that I believe will continue to inspire many people during her career. I’m incredibly grateful that I’ve had the time to learn from her and the Valkyries.”
The air stuck in my lungs, just as I knew that final blow was coming…
48
Connor
My entire body relaxed when she walked into the room. Micah agreed to get her here for me this morning, and I was ready to reveal everything that was happening next. Coach was on my side, had been from when I approached him. My team was sitting front row, too. This was it.
