Page 14 of Couple Goals

But wait, whoisshe? Her face does seem kind of familiar, but why? Adriana skips over to them.

‘Well, hello!’ Adriana says brightly.

Maeve swallows and quickly looks at the floor. Adriana coughs politely, in the universal language of, ‘Maeve, why aren’t you introducing us?’

‘Hi, I’m Kira,’ the player grins confidently.

‘Oh, ofcourse!Kira Choksi! The star goal-scorer for the Vixens, Coach’s old team! And what are you doing here today?’

Kira tilts her head.

‘I’m your new player. Coach wants me to join the Tigresses with her.’

Adriana looks from Kira to Maeve. So, this cutie that Maeve clearly has the hots for… is not only going to be a fellow teammate, but surely a rival for the captaincy.

‘Oh shit!’ says Adriana. She didn’t mean to say it aloud. Maeve pinches the bridge of her nose.

‘Er, sorry, I mean, I’m Adriana!’ she offers her hand out. ‘But you can call me Addy.’

Maeve frowns at her curiously. She knows that normally, Adriana likes people to earn the right to call her that.

Kira glances between Maeve and Adriana, clearly sensing thatsomethingis going on between the two of them, but not knowing what exactly.

‘Addy, great to meet you.’ Adriana notes Kira has a hint of an American accent, as if she’s travelled around perhaps. ‘Your hair is incredible. Like, wow. How do you get it to bounce like that? Are you doing the curly girl method?’

Adriana beams. Sheknewshe liked her.

‘I really don’t think we have time to go into all that now,’ Maeve says sharply. ‘Coach is expecting us to all be on the pitch, and we’re here to fetch them. PerhapsAddycan go into her hair regime with you after this morning’s session.’

‘Buzzkill,’ Adriana teases affectionately, which elicits a laugh from Kira. Adriana tries to grin at her friend and telepathically say, ‘We will be debriefing later!’ but Maeve, to Adriana’s surprise, tenses her jaw, and strides on ahead.

On the training pitch, the team cluster around Coach Hoffman and Kira. Adriana notices the other players eyeing up Kira warily. She stands there, stretching casually – if anything, it seems like she enjoys the attention, a peacock wanting to show off their feathers.

As Adriana goes to slot in next to Maeve, she walks away, ostensibly to put her water bottle down on the side, not returning to the same position, instead standing further back away from Adriana. What is up with her this morning? Adriana can’t work out if she’s being paranoid, or if her best friend is being off with her? But why?

Adriana doesn’t have a chance to speak to Maeve or move across to be next to her, because Coach Hoffman claps her hands sharply together,commanding immediate silence and attention from everyone.

‘Players, good morning. I have a couple of important announcements and introductions to make before we start our training this morning. Firstly, I’d like you to meet the new member of your team and our first summer signing. This is Kira Choksi.’

As Coach Hoffman gestures towards Kira, her eyes crinkle, and she gives Kira a proud smile. Adriana feels a tiny flicker of something like jealousy and admiration, all in one. It’s obvious that Coach is very fond of her fiery protegee, and Adriana is amazed by anyone who has won her respect.

Kira stands tall, arms folded confidently, looking boldly out at the team, instinctively making eye contact with everyone.

‘Hey y’all, it’s good to be here,’ she says. ‘I look forward to us winning a lot of matches together.’

Kira grins as her eyes meet Adriana’s, and she gives the air a little punch. ‘Go Tigresses!’

On someone less confident the gesture might have seemed lame, but Adriana can’t help smiling back at her, and punching the air back in return. A few other members of the team do so too, laughing a little.

Adriana glances over to the rest of her teammates, mentally clocking who is smiling back, and who isn’t, as it shows maybe who is feeling on edge about more changes to come during the summer transfer window. Rival striker Milo has their arms folded competitively – which is no surprise because it’s clear they’ll be competing for the same position – and Maeve – Maeve is looking several feet above Kira’s head rather than at her actual face.This is highly unlike Maeve, who would normally be doing anything she can to be a teacher’s pet for the new coach and prove herself as a welcoming captain.

‘Kira is the first player I wanted to bring in when I accepted the job,’ Coach explains. ‘She was our MVP at Loughborough Vixens, and scored the most goals in the league last year when we won promotion to this division. So it was pretty easy to convince the new owner of the Tigresses that she was worth every penny to secure her transfer.’

Adriana wonders how many years they’ve been training together, and thinks of her relationship with Maeve, how their friendship and coming up through the academy and then into the team has made them so close that it’s hard for anyone else to break through. She knows from her own experience how deep those relationships go with shared history.

‘And, talking of our new owner–’ says Hoffman.

As she says this, she gestures towards the side behind where she and the other players are stood. Adriana is surprised to see someone in the technical area to the side of the pitch, a tall man she hadn’t noticed before, next to Kevin. A strange man always arouses Adriana’s curiosity, but especially one who is being let onto the pitch before training. Why is he staying on the sidelines if he’s the new club owner? If she was a powerful billionaireshewouldn’t be hiding in a technical area, that’s for sure.

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