Page 16 of The Hooker

The doors close and the lift dings when it reaches Daisy’s level, letting me into the nondescript beige hallway. Somehow, Daisy crept up on the level of importance radar in my mind to surpass rugby to be on par with my family. Footy will end for me one day soon. I don’t want to throw an opportunity away for my life after footy because of complications now. I’ll make sure she’s okay, and then I’ll be on my way to prepare for tomorrow and figure out how to talk to management about us. About my side of us, at least.

I reach her room and knock on the door softly.

The door opens and what I see on her face causes me to push the door wider, enter the room, and close it behind me.

CHAPTERSIX

Daisy

The knock on the door forces my gaze from my phone and I open it numbly. Jamie’s broad shoulders fill the doorway, and I blink at him. What’s he doing here? He’s never come to my room on a trip before. And I haven’t for him either. It’s a line we haven’t crossed, going into each other’s hotel rooms. We may be close friends, but it seems strange going to a player’s bedroom. Especially when there are usually roommates.

He scans me quickly and frowns. Some of the anxiety must show on my face, and I step back when he opens the door wider and enters my hotel room for the first time. The door snaps closed in the quiet room. He’s lucky it’s my turn for a room to myself, so we don’t need to worry about a roommate.

“What’s the matter?” he asks, staying close enough to feel his chest on my crossed arms when he breathes.

“Nothing.”

“Then you walking like a zombie to the lift and barely recognising me just now is nothing? Barely able to smile in training, is you fine?”

I shake my head and step away from him to move deeper into the room. The feel of his shirt is distracting. His scent is heady, some sort of bergamot spice thing, different to the generic soap they use after games, and it’s going straight to my head. I collapse on the foot of the bed, and he crouches in front of me, on the—probably disgusting—hotel carpet.

“I’m fine, really. Sage called. Apparently, Westley decided now would be a great time to eat a sock.” I pinch the bridge of my nose in an attempt to stop the inevitable headache. “He’s at the vet. He’ll be fine, but…”

“But you want to be with him.” Jamie rubs his hands on my knees in soothing circles.

“Yeah. I love this job and still can’t believe I work for the freaking national rugby team, but sometimes I miss home.”

“I get that. Especially when you miss big family moments. When my oldest sister gave birth, I didn’t meet my nephew in person until he was six weeks old.” He scrubs a hand through his hair. “She was pissed.”

“I bet you made it up to her.”

“Yep, but I would have loved to be there to support her and the family. Like you want to be with Westley, even though you know he’ll be okay.”

I pull at a loose thread in my jumper, a large cable-knit in sky-blue Poppy designed for me. I keep forgetting to ask her to fix it. “Sometimes I think about leaving. Joining a physio practice and having a nine-to-five, but this is the dream, you know?” Jamie rises from the floor and sits beside me on the bed and I bounce from the force of it. “But then I feel like an idiot. I’ve wanted this for so long. I don’t want to throw it away because I miss my dog and family.” I huff and cross my arms tightly to stop myself oversharing and ignore the heat in my cheeks. Jamie’s my friend. He would never use what I say against me, but it’s hard telling someone I might want to leave the national team.

“I know exactly what you mean. Don’t tell anyone—” he waits for my promise “—but sometimes I look forward to retirement.”

I swallow a shocked gasp. “You’re retiring?” He is one of the oldest on the team, but he still has a few years left in him if he wants to continue.

“Probably next season or the one after. I think if I do more than another two seasons, my body will cark it.” He looks at me ruefully. “You’re my physio. You know exactly what’s happening to my body and how long it takes to recover when I get injured.”

He’s not wrong. While he hasn’t injured himself in a while, I practically tape his whole body before a game and training. “Getting out before rugby takes your body isn’t a bad idea. Don’t need the concussion effects.” We share a quiet look, filled with the terrifying knowledge of what multiple concussions can do to a rugby player and their family. No one wants that.

“Well, if you leave before I retire,” he says in a bright voice, “I’ll refuse the new physio and hunt you down at your new practice.”

I laugh and scoot up the bed until I’m leaning against the pillows, already feeling the tight knot of anxiety loosen having him here. “So I’m not allowed to leave until you do?”

“Who would drive me home from Eden Park?”

“A taxi?” I reply in a saccharine voice.

He joins me at the pillows. “But they won’t be as pretty as you. And they won’t know our handshake.”

Breath catches in my throat, and I force myself to inhale. He thinks I’m pretty?

Jamie stares at me. His warm brown eyes are dark and completely focused on me. He leans closer and I hold my breath, staying completely still, waiting to see what he does and if it involves kissing me.

His breath brushes my cheek, and my eyes fall closed. My heart beats through my chest, and my hands shake slightly. His lips land on the corner of my mouth, warm and soft, and then he pulls away.

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