Page 89 of Couple Goals

‘Mmm, it smellsdelicious,’ Kira swings off her jacket, putting it over a chair. ‘What’s this secret dinner you’re cooking me?’

‘Well, I wanted to make something special,’ says Maeve, flustered, tucking her hair behind her ears. ‘I made Adriana this apology galette the other day, and it didn’t… er, end so well, so I wanted to rewrite that memory.’

Kira sniffs contentedly again. ‘Wait, is that miso? And aubergine? Ilovemiso and aubergine! How did you know?’

Maeve laughs. ‘You said the other night on the phone when you called after training, when you were talking about that restaurant, remember? So I started there…’

Kira kisses her. ‘You’re so thoughtful, thank you. I wanted to bring wine, but I know neither of us are big drinkers, so I got us a couple of non-alcoholic wines to try. A white and a red. Shall I pour you some?’

Maeve takes both bottles laughing.

‘I love that we keep trying to outdo each other, even when it’s about thoughtful gestures.’

‘There’sa rivalry I can get on board with,’ Kira chuckles.

She pours them each a glass of cold white wine, and they toast. Maeve holds Kira’s beautiful golden eyes, feeling at peace.

Then Kira takes a breath, and Maeve’s hand over the table.

‘Before we eat, there’s something I need to tell you.’

Maeve’s stomach flips with anxiety that it has all been too good to be true. Just as she feared.

Kira touches her cheek affectionately. ‘Hear me out,’ she says gently. ‘So another team have come in with an offer for me.’

Maeve’s eyes widen.

‘Already? Kira, that’s incredible.’

‘I had other offers in the summer before I signed for the Tigresses, because I was prioritising staying with Serena as my coach. But this is an offer which would mean me stepping up a league. For the Leeds Ravens. Their striker has just been injured, and I’ve made a pretty big entrance scoring for the Tigresses in the games so far so…’

Kira might be playing it cool, but she’s grinning proudly, running a hand through her hair.

Maeve’s chest is a rollercoaster of emotions. She’s glad that she doesn’t feel jealous – all the processing around the Adriana getting the captaincy has helped with her concentrating on her own career not on comparing to others. In fact, the overwhelming feeling is of sheer pride. It’s amazing a WSL club have come in for Kira. Maeve has no doubt she’ll continue to rocket up the tables. But the bittersweetness is that she’s disappointed at Kira moving to another city when theyjuststarted dating and put their stupid rivalry aside.

‘I’m really pleased for you. You absolutely deserve it. The Ravens will be lucky to have you,’ says Maeve, trying to show she means it.

‘It’s also a good thing for the Tigresses,’ says Kira. ‘Because, well, it’s a big fee, which will go to help improving the squad. And I feel really excited about it, as an opportunity. I think it’s the best thing I could do for my career. Serena has been so incredible for me. I mean, she’s basically been like a parent to me for years with my own family not living here. But I’ve realised that maybe that’s going to stop me from growing and learning new things under a different coach.’

Maeve smiles and nods again, but her hands are shaking a little. This dinner now feels a bit more like a big check-in conversation than a date. Is Kira preparing to end things all over again?

‘Plus, there’s someone in the Tigresses team who keeps distracting me in training…’

Maeve glances up at her. Kira meets her eyes steadily, and smiles, reaching out to take her hand.

‘In fact, the only drawback to all of this is that I… right now, I kind of just want to spend all my time with you.’

Maeve feels her shoulders lighten. She bites her lip, smiling back at her.

‘But you know…’ Kira continues. ‘The train from Leeds to Manchester is only fifty-six minutes.’

Maeve laughs properly then, and leans across the table to kiss her. That had been exactly what she was about to look up. She’s so relieved that Kira still wants to make time to see her, enough so that she’s looked it all up already. That Kira is already thinking about how Maeve will fit into her future is enough for her to feel at ease again.

‘I want to see you as often as we can,’ says Kira. ‘We can alternate visiting each other, maybe? I know you’ll be recovering until Christmas, but then– I know our careers are a priority for both of us, and it’s early days for us dating but I… I really think we can make it work. You’re already so important to me.’

Maeve takes a second to close her eyes, to actually let herself process this information, to let the sensations move through her body. Kira’s eyes flick over Maeve’s face. ‘But I just said a whole lot at about a hundred miles an hour,I’m sorry. I should let you talk. What do you think?’

Maeve puts her hand on Kira’s knee, and clinks her glass smiling to hers.

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