Page 55 of Power Play
She nods, slowly. Then, quietly says, “I don’t want to mess this up.”
I kiss her forehead, her temple, her cheek. “You won’t. We won’t. It’s us, Soph. You and me. We’ve got this.”
She exhales into my neck, and I feel her soften against me, like she believes me.
And maybe for the first time in a long time, I believe it too.
The next morning, I wake up to sunlight and the smell of Sophie in my sheets.
For a second, I think I’m dreaming. Then she shifts, and buries her face in my chest, and lets out the softest sigh.
Not a dream. She’s here.
I don’t move. Don’t dare. Just lie there, soaking it in. The weight of her arm across my stomach. The press of her thigh against mine. The scratch of her hair on my collarbone.
Eventually, she stirs and blinks up at me.
“Morning,” she croaks, voice raspy with sleep.
“Morning, gorgeous.”
She groans and flops onto her back. “Don’t look at me. I definitely have morning breath.”
I roll on my side, propping my head up on my hand. “Still fit. Still mine.”
“You’re so annoying,” she mutters, but she’s grinning.
We laze in bed for longer than we should. Because some things are more important than ice time.
Like pancakes. And Sophie sitting on my kitchen counter in her knickers and one of my hoodies, flipping them like she owns the place.
“Okay,” she says eventually, biting into a strawberry and narrowing her eyes at me. “When are we telling the team?”
I pause, fork halfway to my mouth. “You want to?”
She shrugs. “It’s not like we can hide it now. You made a heart on live TV.”
“Yeah, alright, that’s fair.”
She hops down and comes over, wrapping her arms around my waist. “I just don’t want this to be a secret.”
“Then it’s not.”
“You’re not worried what they’ll say?”
“I’m more worried about you stealing my hoodies.”
She grins against my chest. “Too late.”
That night we walk into the pub together, hand in hand, and it’s as though the room falls quiet for a second. Then Jacko lets out a triumphant whoop, and Ollie starts clapping.
“Called it!” The rookie shouts. “Pay up, lads!”
I just roll my eyes and pull Sophie closer, ignoring the ribbing. Because yeah, they can tease all they want. They don’t get it. They didn’t see the way she looked at me after that goal.
They don’t know what it feels like to wake up next to someone who makes the whole world quieter. They don’t know what it means to stop pretending, and finally be real.
And if this is what real feels like? Then I’m all in.
