Page 31 of Take Her On

She wanted to be annoyed at Jamie for jumping on her in the hallway, for kissing her mid-sentence, but the feeling wouldn’t muster.

“I still find you severely annoying,” she said anyway, even if a little breathless.

Jamie chuckled low in her throat, shaking her head. “Alright, Skip.” Her mouth pulled up at the corners. “We should probably get back. Before I left, I heard Aiysha put you down to sing a Madonna song with her.”

Maya groaned. At least if Aiysha was up there with her, it wouldn’t be so bad. She could sing most of it. “As long as it’s not one of those eighties ones,” she said, more to annoy Jamie than anything else.

“Why are you fighting it so hard? Just admit you like it, and lean into it.” Jamie grinned, then without another word, she turned, leading her way back to the team, her words lingering in the air between them. Was she talking about the music or something else?

Lean into it?

Easier said than done.

Chapter Nine

Jamie

Jamie hadn’t seen Maya since Friday night. Not in the cafeteria, nor around campus, nor about the town. Her sudden disappearance didn’t really surprise her, though. From what she’d gathered about her captain so far, it seemed she’d do anything to avoid addressing what was going on between them.

Kissing her hadn’t been part of Jamie’s plan, but she couldn’t deny she found Maya attractive—she was a human with functioning eyesight, after all—and Jamie was curious.

Getting the inside scoop and being able to see her perform from this end of the field was impressive in a whole other manner. Jamie had only known Maya’s grumpy, serious side, but when she’d caught glimpses of her with her guard down, her real smile lit something in the pit of Jamie’s stomach that made her feel like a teenager again.

No, Jamie shouldn’t be focusing on the fuzzy feelings in her chest, but after the shitshow last season, she deserved a bit of excitement, and Maya supplied that in buckets.

Maya was also possibly the most stubborn person Jamie had ever met, which was really saying something after playing with some of the Harriers.

But even with her stubbornness, she surely couldn’t deny the fact that she’d kissed her back. The memory of her warm mouth brushing across Jamie’s lips rolled her stomach. She replayed it again and again. The tantalising smell of her perfume, the taste of her tongue, the way Maya’s eyes dipped.

She didn’t know the best way to get Maya to listen to her, but finding the woman seemed like a good start. Luckily, today, she knew exactly where she’d be.

It was the first game of the season, so as soon as her lecture finished, Jamie headed straight to the sports building, distant cheers from the practice fields echoing in the air. She pushed through the door into the home changing rooms, greeted immediately by the unique aroma of liniment, deodorant, and old socks.

Maya stood with her back to her, long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She glanced over her shoulder, and when they locked eyes, Jamie’s heart pinched. She swallowed, finding her words lost somewhere in Maya’s fiery stare and clenched jaw.

“Have you been avoiding me?” she finally asked.

Smooth, Jamie. Smooth.

Maya sighed, waiting a few seconds before turning around. Her gaze roamed over Jamie’s black Millton University tracksuit, and Jamie wondered what she saw. Her stoic face and squashed mouth made her very hard to read. She’d make a killer at poker.

Maya bent down to fish a blue shirt out of the bag by her feet and slotted it over a hanger. “I don’t think we should have this conversation now,” she said.

At least she acknowledged that there was something to talk about.

“So, you have been avoiding me.” Jamie watched as she unpacked the contents of her kit bag. Shin pads. Her white Adidas football boots that she’d worn all three seasons Jamie played against her.

“I’ve just been busy. It’s not purposeful.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Where you are or aren’t is of no concern to me.”

That statement hit Jamie square in the face. “Why are you being like this?” She took a step towards Maya, begging her to stop pretending to do things. “Look at me.”

Maya shook her head defiantly, but then her dark eyes flicked to hers.

Jamie inhaled. That feeling swept around her once more as Maya’s eyes moved across her face and rested on her mouth. She wanted to kiss her again but wasn’t convinced she wouldn’t receive a fist to the face. That wouldn’t be the best way to start the season.