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“Rude.”
“You told me I was early when I was on time.”
Lauren laughed, and felt Carly’s ribs move as she laughed too. That was the part that got her.
“So,” Lauren said, working back down towards the hamstring for the last few minutes, “Jax asked me to ask you something.”
“I know. Jax asked me herself. On Saturday. Twice. And Jenna has texted me a photo of Sunday’s team sheet with a question mark in the number five shirt.”
“That sounds like Jenna.”
“It was a very large question mark. She’d drawn it in red.”
Lauren pressed slowly into the back of Carly’s thigh, feeling the cable start, at last, to give. She kept her voice light. “And?”
“And I’ve been thinking about it.”
“In your competent silence.”
“In my competent silence,” Carly agreed. “I’m not match fit.”
“Nobody in that team is match fit. Jenna ate a full English before kick-off last week. I watched her do it.”
“I haven’t played a competitive game in two years.”
“You volleyed a ball into the top corner at your first training session to show off.”
“That was…” Carly stopped. “Fine. That was showing off.”
Lauren was grinning, which had no place in a professional setting, and she was enormously grateful Carly was face down.
“I can hear you smiling,” Carly said.
“You can’t hear a smile.”
“I can hear yours.”
Lauren pressed her lips together hard and finished the stretch. “Last bit. Breathe out for me.”
Carly breathed out. The hamstring went further than it had at the start. Not all the way. Further.
“There. That’s better. Go easy on the sprints tonight.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“You won’t, but it’s on record.” Lauren wiped her hands and turned to face the wall while Carly sat up. The table creaked. The beer mat shifted under the wobbly leg.
“You’re good at this,” Carly said behind her.
Not flattery. A finding, like the video.
“I know,” Lauren said, and let it stand without sending a joke after it. Then, because her mouth had its limits: “Safest hands in the league.”
“I remember.” There was a pause, and the soft sound of Carly pulling her hoodie back over her head. “Put my name down.”
Lauren turned around. “For what?”
Carly was sitting on the edge of the table, hair mussed, cheeks pink from the face cradle, more relaxed than Lauren had ever seen her and more nervous than she’d ever admit.
