Page 15

“So this is it, then?” she asked, holding out her arms.

Paige hugged her tight. “Don’t be dramatic. You’ll still see me.”

“It won’t be the same, though, will it?”

Paige smiled gently. “You’ve got this. Remember?”

Blatant, but not unwelcome.

Lauren turned the words over again—she’d lost count of how many times that day—but if they’d been hard to swallow before the run-in with Carly, they were impossible now.

Paige let go and grabbed her bag. “Have some fun and try not to worry about that woman from City. Focus on the present. Help Jenna recruit a new defender.”

Recruitment. Defender.

Lauren’s heart slammed the back of her ribs like a shot she’d read too late. She’d been so busy marinating in her own shame that she’d missed the obvious.

Jenna was trying to recruit Carly.

“I’m such an idiot,” Lauren muttered, dragging a hand down her face.

“You’re being dramatic again.” Paige squeezed her arm. “Why don’t you stop by during the week? I don’t have any plans, so we’ll have a proper chat.”

With that, she waved and headed off to find Becky.

Before Lauren’s nervous system could catch up, Jenna was tugging at her sleeve.

“This isn’t a good idea,” Lauren said, swatting her away.

They couldn’t walk into a conversation loaded with history Jenna knew nothing about, but Jenna was like a persistent horsefly: cheerful, determined, and impossible to shake.

“It’s a great idea.”

“It’s not. I—”

Lauren stopped short.

Carly stood near the exit, shoulders squared. Beth was beside her, on guard.

Jenna planted herself in the gap between them. “I know you said you aren’t interested in signing, and I respect that, but you have to meet Lauren, the new keeper I was talking about. We poached her from City Rovers over the summer.”

At the mention of City Rovers, Lauren squirmed.

“We’ve met,” Carly said, without so much as flinching.

“So much for being on best behaviour and not flirting,” Jenna said, nudging Lauren in the ribs.

“I haven’t been flirting with her.” Lauren willed the ground to open. “We used to play together.”

“No way! When?”

“At City.”

Jenna’s head snapped towards Carly, confusion written all over her face. “But I thought you said you hadn’t been playing.”

“Not last season,” Lauren cut in, desperate to control the narrative. “Years ago. Back when we were kids. Beth was our manager.”

“I didn’t know that!”