Page 131 of Try Hard
We hesitated, Hurley looking at both of us.
“You ready for this?” they asked.
“I’ll stick with you all night,” Brooke told me before looking at Eve. “We’ve got her covered.”
It felt like being part of the team, even if I’d be crushed if I tried to play. But the team was bigger than just the players. It was like a family—partners, children, friends… Everyone was part of this thing that was so much bigger than I was, but I got to be a piece of it. Eve had given me that, too.
Eve looked down at me questioningly, only speaking when I nodded and squeezed her hand tightly. “Let’s do this.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d thought we’d find, but it hadn’t been the group of Eve’s most emphatic supporters splintering.
Most of them were standing in the same spot I’d seen them last week. They cheered when they spotted us, holding up signs of support and ones that announced ‘no photography.’ Eve looked completely moved and overwhelmed by the gesture. She clearly hadn’t been expecting that either.
Two of them stood off in a different section of the stands, still taking photos and looking absolutely devastated that Eve wasn’t with them, but they didn’t say anything. And maybe that was a representation of the whole day—the whole saga. There was a small contingent who couldn’t and wouldn’t allow themselves to get it, but most people loved Eve and knew enough to respect her wishes, choices, and happiness.
Maybe it wouldn’t last forever. I was sure the pictures would pick up again at some point, but, if most of them thought twicebefore splashing pictures of the two of us just celebrating her local team’s wins on the internet, I knew we’d both take that.
And it seemed like those wins were going to keep coming.
The rivalry on the pitch was electric—much more friendly than aggressive, but both sides cared deeply. Standing on the sidelines with Brooke and the rest of the team’s partners and families was indescribable, second only to watching how alive and amazing Eve was on the pitch. She moved like it came as easily as breathing.
And, when the final whistle blew, she bolted from the field and straight towards me. Her smile was enormous and she stole my breath long before she whisked me up into her arms, spinning the two of us as we laughed together. It was like something straight from a film, and I really liked the ending of this one.
She slowed and I slid down in her arms to kiss her. Despite my reservations about the public, they simply disappeared into the background as our lips met. The moment wasn’t about them. It was about Eve and her success, about how much I loved her, and about the fact that we werefinallytogether. Teenage me had dreamt about these moments with her. They were even more incredible than I’d had the ability to imagine.
“I love you,” I said against her lips, as she continued to hold me a couple of inches off the ground. How she still had the energy after a whole game was beyond me, but I’d take her never putting me down, so I wasn’t complaining.
“I love you too,” she said, pulling back to grin, her eyes tracing over my face, taking in every inch of me.
She put me back on the floor and I reached down for the brown paper bag Dai from the refreshments table had slipped me earlier.
“I got you something,” I said, holding it out to her.
She eyed it and me curiously. “Am I opening it here?”
“Mm. Yes.”
She pulled the bag open, stared inside for a second, and burst out laughing. “Where did you find it?”
I held my hands up. “It was all Dai. I had to call in some contacts to reach him, but he came in clutch.”
“I’ll say.” She pulled one of the cans of Tizer from the bag.
When I’d bet her a Tizer, I hadn’t actually realised they’d be trickier to track down these days, but the amusement on her face was worth the effort.
She shot me a look. “So… do you want to tell me why I get two? I’m guessing one is for winning the match?”
I nodded, moving in to wrap my arms around her again. “And the other, I’ve actually owed you for a very,verylong time.”
“How?”
“You get that one for winning my heart. And it’s all yours, entirely. Always has been.”
She lifted me up again, pulling me into a desperate, delighted kiss.
And, when the rest of the team swarmed around us, sweeping us up into the celebrations, we both went readily, feeling like we were exactly where we were meant to be.
Epilogue
