Always on My Mind (Stanmore FC Soulmates #2)

13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the weekend’s worst losers.” Peter O’Riley’s greeting was met with scowls as the women’s team joined the men on the practice pitch.

Jamie narrowed her eyes at him. None of them needed a reminder of their tough loss to Chelsea in their season opener over the weekend. That five-nil final score haunted them via headlines and social media. Comments were made about Jamie in particular since she had gotten an offer from Chelsea and had turned it down. Speculations about her supposed regret made her turn off her phone. Not to mention the slew of texts from her father about every step she went wrong.

“Fuck off, O’Riley,” Paige replied, throwing up her middle finger for emphasis.

“You’re not angry at me,” Peter shot back, his voice laced with sarcasm. “You’re angry at yourselves. For getting absolutely fucking embarrassed on your first match day in top flight football.”

Jamie glanced at the touchline, wondering if the men’s manager might call the forward off, but found Donny deep in conversation with Rebecca, both of them with their phones in their hands. Jamie shot a glare in Peter’s direction.

“It’s early in the season,” she said. “We have all the coming matches to prove ourselves.”

“Yeah, to prove yourselves all the way back to relegation,” he scoffed.

“Chelsea are the defending champions, it was always going to be an uphill battle,” Neriah chimed in.

Jamie found herself charmed by how united they were. After the match, there had been some bickering in the dressing room about missed opportunities. But like people not allowing outsiders to disparage their family, this squad would not let some fuckboy get between them.

“Oh, please,” Peter said. “Just admit you’re shit.”

“Shut the fuck up, O’Riley,” Jordan interjected before Paige could charge at him. “You can’t talk shit when you hit the crossbar three times in our latch match.”

Peter gaped at his goalkeeper. “That was unlucky.”

“Aye, a bit like your face,” Jordan replied. “Now leave the women alone and work on your aim.”

Jamie hid her snicker behind her hand as Peter stalked off. Jordan offered a wave of apology to the women and jogged to his spot in front of his goal.

Rebecca approached as the squad stretched. She appeared alarmingly similar to when she announced they were training with the men.

“Alright, managers and staff have been called up to the owner’s office,” she said. “Something about furthering integration of the men and women’s team. So, the captains will be running this morning’s training. I want you all focused on set pieces and forward passes. Monika, can you handle that?”

Monika nodded. Jamie glanced over to where the men were gathered in front of their manager, who was likely giving them the same news. She dreaded thinking what training would be like without managerial supervision. Peter would have the comfort to continue his taunting. They would have to ignore him. Hopefully, he would get focused on himself after the rebuke from Jordan.

Her wish was not granted. With the managers gone, Peter became relentless. Every time they took a water break, or even got within earshot, he hit them with a snide comment. A sarcastic “what a shot!” when Zahra skied the ball from a set piece rebound. A pained “oohh” when Jamie crashed into Eliana trying to head the ball past her. A pitying “it was a good try” when Neriah missed a shot from around twelve yards. Finally, after Jamie went down while challenging Salma for the ball, and she had to fix her hair when she got up, he said the worst one of all.

“See, this is why women aren’t fit for football.”

Anger flared inside Jamie’s chest, and once her ponytail was secure, she rose herself up to her full height and rounded on him.

“The fuck did you say?” she demanded.

His mouth curled into a sneer. “I said women aren’t fit for football.”

“That’s it.”

Jamie charged at him, and before he could react, she slammed her palms into his chest and knocked him to the ground. He blinked up at her in shock while the others surrounded them.

“Women are fit for that ,” she spat.

Peter scrambled to his feet and loomed over her, his face within inches of hers. With a tilt of her head, she could have touched her nose to his. Instead, she glowered up at him, imagining burning a hole through his smug face with her ire.

He raised his hands to push her back, but she was faster and slapped them away to get another push in herself. He stumbled backward, but didn’t fall. He tried to move toward her again, but Jordan held him back. Monika did the same for Jamie.

“Let him go,” she said, for only Jamie could hear. “He isn’t worth it.”

“Yeah, but he won’t be able to run his mouth if I stuff his boots in it,” Jamie replied through clenched teeth.

Honestly, Jamie was proud of herself. Three months ago, a man getting her face that way would have sent her into a panic attack. Thanks to her work with Lila, she was confident enough to assert herself more.

“Just as well,” Peter said loudly. “You’d only lose again.”

Jamie whipped around and lunged at him. “Alright, you and me, O’Riley, let’s go!”

Her teammates jumped in to restrain her, while the men did the same for Peter, though he and Jamie continued to spout obscenities at each other as they struggled. Each set of teammates yelling to calm them down. Normally, Jamie was able to ignore this stuff. People were always saying women didn’t belong in the sport. But Peter got under her skin. He was one of those guys that deserved a fist in his nose to teach him some respect.

When her muscles protested another go against her teammates, Jamie settled down, her chest heaving as she caught her breath.

“Something tells me that wasn’t a friendly huddle I just saw.”

Jamie turned her head to see Tessa approaching, camera bag slung over her shoulder, and a gorgeous smile on her face. Her brown eyes danced with amusement behind her glasses. Only in Tessa’s presence did she feel the least bit embarrassed. But knowing Tessa, Jamie realized the feeling was unfounded.

“Fucking O’Riley,” Jamie said.

“Say less,” Tessa replied, rolling her eyes.

“Where’s Nelle?” Neriah asked.

“She’s ill, so it’ll just be me today,” Tessa told her. “Though perhaps I should keep the cameras off if there’s to be a brawl. Not exactly the image the club wants to portray.”

“If he says ‘losers’ one more time, I’ll give you a warning before I start swinging,” Jamie said.

Tessa blinked. “That’s what he said?”

Jamie nodded. “And that women aren’t fit for football.”

“If he’s so confident, why don’t you all play a match against each other? You could come after hours, use the practice pitch, and settle the score once and for all.”

“I like that idea,” Jamie said with a smile tugging at her lips. She glanced around at her teammates. “What do we think?”

“I don’t know about y’all, but I wanna shut that man up,” Neriah said.

Murmurs of agreement followed, but they deferred to their captain, Monika. She faced them with a determined furrow of her brow. She nodded, and it was all the permission Jamie needed.

“Oi! O’Riley!” she shouted, and the entire men’s team turned to look at her. She met Peter’s gaze among them. “Men’s team versus women’s team. Tonight. For all the glory. You in?”

Peter smirked. “You’re on!”

The match was set for ten o’clock that night. The September air cooled Jamie’s skin as she walked out onto the pitch. Under the lights, she always thought it was as if the sun were out, and only the temperature reminded her of the late hour. She and her teammates warmed up the same way they would for a real match. Oddly, Jamie found herself more nervous for this than she was in the opener against Chelsea.

The men emerged from their dressing room, and Jamie could hear them grumbling as they walked out and began their stretches. Behind them came their appointed officials—Tessa and former men’s team player, Ethan Knight. Jordan suggested their former teammate because he was “annoyingly ethical” and Tessa was chosen because well, everyone liked her.

Without the usual music playing, the warm-ups went by in eerie silence. Then Tessa and Ethan summoned the captains to the center of the pitch. Jordan and Monika met them, their teams in school circles behind them.

“Alright, let me lay out some ground rules,” Ethan said in his deep, Southern drawl.

Jamie had seen him in several interviews, but his voice always surprised her. He sounded straight out of a cowboy movie. He played for the Chelsea men’s team, and whenever he scored a goal, the crowd sang “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.”

“I understand this match is unofficial, but y’all still have your regular seasons, so no malicious play or violent conduct,” he warned. “We don’t need nobody getting injured over this. Also, we don’t have cameras. There’s obviously no VAR or anything. So what Tessa and I say goes. We gotta trust what we see, and so do you.”

“Also, to save everyone some time, we’re only playing two thirty-minute halves,” Tessa added. Jamie took a brief moment to admire Tessa’s legs in the shorts she had on. “Ethan will decide on any stoppage depending on what happens during the match. We won’t do cards, only fouls and penalties. Any questions?”

They all shook their heads, Monika and Jordan shook hands, and then everyone took their places. Jamie watched Tessa jog to the touchline and had to force herself not to stare at Tessa’s ass. Jamie thanked every deity she could think of that Tessa was not a real official. Otherwise, she’d never get through a match.

Ethan placed the ball and blew the whistle for the kick off. Monika beat Peter to the ball and passed it back to Zahra who passed to Jamie. The men pressed, forcing the women back to Eliana in goal. Eliana kicked a straight shot to Jamie, who tucked her shoulder to avoid Luka, the defender marking her. With him out of her way, she had a clear path toward midfield and she dribbled through it as fast as she could. Zahra was ahead of her, so she passed, and Zahra took control easily, directing the ball up the right side of the pitch. Osahar met her but she beat him with a nutmeg and pressed on. Monika made a run up the middle, careful to stay onside until Zahra passed, then the striker sprinted toward the goal. She took one touch, and with her second, she sent a rocket past Jordan into the back of the net.

“Fuck yeah!” Jamie cried, hurtling forward to celebrate with her teammates.

They hugged and high-fived Monika through cheers and laughter. Jamie could hardly believe they’d scored on the men’s team within the first two minutes of the match.

“Offside!” Peter yelled as he charged toward Tessa.

Jamie didn’t even think before she ran after him. His face was within inches of Tessa’s when Jamie arrived, and she yanked him back by his jersey. She planted herself between him and Tessa.

“Don’t you dare start in on her,” Jamie warned.

“What, is she your girlfriend?” Peter mocked.

Jamie stepped toward him. “I’ve put you on your arse once already, O’Riley, I’ll do it again.”

Tessa stepped between them and put her hands out. “O’Riley, I had a clear view, it wasn’t offside. You all agreed to the terms, and I say the goal stands. Question me again and I will fucking lay you out.”

God, Tessa was hot when she was threatening.

“Fuck off,” Peter scoffed, and stalked back toward the middle of the field.

Jamie moved to follow him, but Tessa caught her wrist.

“Thanks for coming to my defense,” Tessa said, and Jamie noticed the way her cheeks got pinker as she spoke.

“Of course,” Jamie replied. “Though you handled him pretty well yourself.”

Tessa smirked and nodded. She released Jamie and then met Ethan’s gaze in the center of the pitch. Jamie jogged back out to join her teammates for the restart, but her skin still tingled with Tessa’s touch. She decided it was good luck.

The first ten minutes passed with no luck for the men, except for their defense and Jordan’s remarkable saves. Jamie had to admit, he was one of the best keeper’s she’d ever seen, in the men’s game and the women’s.

As Zahra made another run up the side, Kamil, one of the men’s defenders, tried to poke the ball out from under her feet and into touch. She leaped to avoid the challenge, but as she did, her chest met his shoulder. The contact must have dislodged her pin, because her hijab came loose and began to slide off her head. In her panic, she tripped over the ball and careened across the grass.

“Shit!” Kamil cried as he slapped his hands over his eyes and turned his back, letting the ball roll out of play.

“LOOK AWAY!” Osahar bellowed at his other teammates. “COVER YOUR EYES AND LOOK AWAY!”

Jamie and the other women all surrounded Zahra, who got herself to her knees and searched the grass for the pin.

“Oh no!” she cried.

“I’ve got one in my bag by the bench,” Jamie said. “Back in one second.”

The group closed in the gap she left and she hurried over to her bag to retrieve the box of pins. As she jogged back toward Zahra, she looked up and saw the men. They all had their backs turned with their hands over their faces. Even Jordan, acres away in the goal. Peter too, at midfield and not in direct line of sight. All of them respected it. Respected Zahra. And in that moment, Jamie felt they respected all the women.

Smiling, she made her way back to the huddle and helped Zahra.

When Zahra was decent again, Tessa whistled, and they all took hesitant looks at first. Kamil was the first to approach a watery-eyed Zahra.

“I’m so, so sorry,” he said. “I didn’t see anything, I promise.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” she assured him. “But thank you, anyway.”

He nodded and let her be. Hector on the other hand, came all the way from the other side of the pitch. He moved to put a hand on her shoulder, but stopped himself before he touched her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, with such tenderness to his voice that it almost brought Jamie to tears.

Zahra nodded, a smile forming on her lips. “I am. Truly.”

“I’ll punch Kamil if you want,” he offered. “Just say the word, and I’ll—”

Her laughter stopped him. “I appreciate it, but really, it’s not necessary.”

“Okay. Offer stands, though.”

She giggled and shooed him back to his side of the pitch.

The sting was gone from the match after that. Not that the men had much of it to begin with, other than being disgruntled at Peter for instigating this whole thing. Peter and Jamie did not come to blows again. Not even when the women scored from a bicycle kick Neriah put into the net from a corner. His deep frown and narrowed eyes told them he wasn’t happy, but that was nothing they didn’t get from other players after a goal anywhere.

Jamie scored the third goal. Monika took a shot that ricocheted off the post. With one touch, Jamie redirected it to the opposite corner. It bounced right past Jordan’s outstretched hands.

The men got one back before the end, putting the final score at three-one. When the whistle blew, the women all ran together and cheered. Peter was silenced.

“Whoo!” Neriah cheered. “Man, what a slaughter! And we just mowed the pitch with you from one end to the other!”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Okay, slaughter is a strong word.”

“Face it, O’Riley,” Jamie teased. “You guys are good. But we’re better.”

He looked at Jordan, who was shaking hands with Eliana. “You didn’t let any get past you on purpose, did you?”

“Did I fuck?” Jordan returned, affronted. “They won fairly. I’m going home to my wife now.”

Chuckling, Jamie made her way over to Tessa and pulled her in for a hug. Tessa stiffened at first, but leaned into it, wrapping her arms around Jamie’s waist.

“I want to kiss you more than you know,” Jamie murmured into her hair.

Tessa pulled away and met Jamie’s gaze. “You won’t, though.”

Jamie’s breath caught in her throat. Tessa’s tone was difficult to read. Part of it was accusatory, the other protective. Jamie also detected some disappointment. Maybe she hadn’t made as much headway as she thought after their kiss in the locker room and the poems. But those things were all private. Jamie hated it, but she understood. She swallowed and nodded, all the triumph from their victory gone in an instant.