Richard raised an eyebrow, twirling his amber drink in his hand. “Tell me more.”
I shifted my grip on the water, feeling suddenly aware of how tightly I was holding it. “There’s interest,” I said carefully. “That’s all it is right now. A few conversations. Nothing that means anything yet.”
“Mmh.” Richard didn’t push, just waited. “And what doyoumake of it?”
The question caught me off guard. Most people already had their answer lined up — O’Riley, Ireland, legacy, of course he’ll go. It was that assumption that had me saying, “I think… it’s a big thing,” I said simply. “I need time to think about everything.”
Richard watched me with a steady kind of attention that made it hard to hide behind rehearsed lines. “You don’t sound eager.”
I let out a slow breath. “I’m not sure eager is the right word. It’s…” I stopped, searching for something that didn’t feel like betrayal. “I want to play for my country, for my heritage, for my grandad…” I paused because there was truth in that. I did want those things, but I just wasn’t sure it was my dream anymore.
Silence stretched between us.
“But?” he coaxed.
“I love being here,” I said quietly. “With the Knights. With this team. It’s mine, and I’ve worked hard for it.” The admission was true, and it seemed to register with him.
“I understand that.” He nodded. “When I was still playing, the game was everything to me. But there comes a moment when you start asking whether it’s just what you love or what you’re going to build your life on. Those aren’t always the same thing.”
A faint tremor rolled through me at the truth of his words.
After a moment, Richard added, “If you ever want to talk about options, what you might want your life to look like, I’d be open to it.”
I met his eyes. “I appreciate that.”
The noise of the room swelled back in around us. I spotted Teddy in the corner, noting the tension I’d clocked earlier was gone from her shoulders, replaced by that loose, grounded confidence she slipped into when she forgot she was being watched.
I didn’t realize how obvious I’d been staring at her until Richard said, “She’s going to be a big name; you’re lucky she’s on your arm tonight.”
He gave an easy grin and flames licked up my neck at the assumption.
“Oh, we’re not together,” I said weakly. “We went to college together, and now we share the stadium, but we’re colleagues.”
Richard gave me a knowing smile that I wasn’t sure of. “That’s how my wife and I met, in college.”
Jesus, was I sweating? My throat felt thick as I thought of ways to deny that there was anything between Teddy and I, but I came up empty.
Richard continued. “No matter your situation, you’re doing well in the media together. My daughter attends St. Brigid’s—the girls’ school in the city. They’ve been wanting female athlete representation for a long time now. Can I tempt you both to drop in there soon?”
I didn’t need to think too hard about it. I was already interested.Then, I pictured Teddy in a room full of girls who admired her and thought about how that could mean something to her too. “For training?” I asked.
He glanced toward Teddy, then back to me. “A Q&A, maybe? Nothing staged or over the top, just basic fun drills. But it’ll be a great insight for their futures, showing them what it takes to stand where you do.”
I knew Richard well enough to know that this wasn’t a media stint. It was something that actually mattered. It brought back all the things Teddy had shown me about how uneven this pitch still was, and this felt like a way to tilt it in the right direction. Grassroots, it was always grassroots.
“Yeah,” I said quietly, something warm filling my chest. “I could do that.”
Richard clapped my arm. “Then we’ll make it happen. You get the Valkyries’ captain on board, and I’ll get the school ready for you.”
Looking back at her, I expected to see that same relaxed posture, but I didn’t. Kaplan, an investor in a few men’s teams, voice cut through the room like a fork scraping a plate as he said her name. He was on my watch list because he’d hadmore opinions than any other investor here and a questionable reputation with it.
He stalked over to the high table where Teddy stood alone. The smarmy smile on his face made my teeth grind together. When she realized he was approaching her, she pushed her shoulders back and plastered on a smile I knew was fake.
The sudden urge to protect her swept over me, and despite what she’d said earlier in the night, I wasn’t going to let her field any more misogyny if I could stop it. “Excuse me, sir, I have to handle something. I’ll catch you before the night is over, but please count us in for St. Brigids.”
I moved fast. Teddy’s posture was still rigid, and I feared I was too late to stop this particular conversation.
“…the Valkyries have done well enough prior to being part of the league,” Kaplan was saying, swirling his wine obnoxiously, “but realistically, women’s teams have a ceiling. Sponsors know that. Durability issues, physical limits, emotional volatility—it all factors in.”
