Chapter 21

Liam

I walked down the hall at the stadium, heading to Coach’s office for a meeting. I figured he wanted to check in about my status. I knew he spoke regularly with Tim and Dr. Monroe. As far as I was concerned, if he wanted to put me on the field sooner than the agreed upon full three months since my surgery, I was ready. It was over a month and a half since Olivia worked her magic on my knee, and I felt good. When I did my PT, there was no lingering pain. The only time I noticed anything was when I first woke up. It was like I needed a bit of grease to oil the joint, and a hot shower did the trick. I’d tried to cajole Tim into bumping up the timeframe, but he was a stubborn bloke, or so I was learning. He insisted my knee needed to be ready for the potential for abrupt motion and was starting on me on a new series of exercises to simulate what my knee would go through during play.

My footsteps were the only sound as I walked along the concrete floors. I loved being in stadiums when they were mostly empty. The spaces felt like hallowed ground then, when the crescendo of the crowds was nothing more than a distant echo, but the feeling I got from playing beat like a drum inside me in the quiet. Coach’s door was open, but I paused beside it and rapped my knuckles. He looked up from his computer and waved me in.

“Come on in, Liam. Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the chair on the opposite side of his desk.

I sat down and leaned back in my chair. Coach angled his head to the side, his perceptive gaze holding mine. After a moment of quiet, he spoke. “I hear from Tim that you might be ahead of schedule with your recovery. He tells me you’re pushing him to clear you to return sooner.”

I nodded. “I feel good. Can’t help but try, eh?”

Coach grinned. “Perhaps not, but you’re waiting. I’d rather have you in tip-top shape than back a little early. Anything else isn’t worth the risk. I appreciate how much work you’ve put into your recovery and also the help you offered Matt. He’s not you and never will be, but whatever you said to him before our game the night before last helped.”

After watching a few challenging practices, I’d taken Matt aside and given him some feedback on how to navigate with the team. Being the playmaker was more than raw physical skill. It involved a deep, tactical understanding of how your particular team meshed. Alex had also gone out of his way to ease the pressure on Matt. I took a breath and nodded. “I’d like to take full credit, but Alex has done his part too. Matt’s under gobs of pressure. He’s holding up well, all in all.”

Coach nodded and picked up a slinky on his desk, idly stretching it back and forth in his hands. He was quiet again for a few beats and I wondered just what he wanted to meet with me about. “I’m sure you’re accustomed to it, but you were in the news last weekend. It doesn’t appear that kind of gossip interfered with your playing back in Britain, so I hope it doesn’t here.”

I was flummoxed and had no clue what Coach was referencing. “Come again?”

He tugged his laptop towards him on the desk. Pulling up his computer screen, he clicked through it and then spun it around, tapping his finger on a picture. I leaned forward to see a photo of Olivia and me from our dinner last weekend. I happened to be facing the window, so it was easy to tell who I was. Olivia was angled away with her face in shadow. A bolt of anger shot through me. I’d learned to ignore this bullshit, but it wasn’t fair to Olivia and I knew she was probably freaking out.

“Bloody hell,” I said, leaning back and running a hand through my hair. I’d never enjoyed the nosiness of the media and certainly didn’t want Olivia to get nervous over this.

“Anyone special?” Coach asked, only his eyes giving away the hint of a smile.

Only the most special woman I’d ever met. But I wasn’t about to say that aloud. Olivia had been politely sidestepping me when I tried to see her again. It had been four days since waking up beside her last Sunday, and I was about out of my mind with missing her. The usual me would’ve already moved on, but the usual me rarely actually slept with a woman. There was sex, but I typically made my way to my own bed. I could only wonder if she’d seen the photo online.

My face must’ve given something away because Coach nodded slowly. “So she is someone special. Well, from my experience, that’s a good thing.”

I couldn’t help but be curious about what he meant. I wasn’t accustomed to being tied up in knots inside. Especially over a woman. “What do you mean?”

Coach gave me a considering gaze and then shrugged. “The life that comes with playing soccer internationally, or any sport for that matter, isn’t easy. It’s wearing and the fawning attention from the media is nothing more than an annoying distraction. Actually finding someone you care about is a good thing no matter what, but in this life, it gives you something you don’t have otherwise—a center for your life and something more important. A woman you love becomes the biggest play of your life, no game will ever come close.”

I stared maybe a few beats too long, my heart banging hard and fast against my ribs. I didn’t quite know what to think. I wasn’t so stupid as to pretend Olivia wasn’t special, but love? I swallowed against the emotion tightening my chest and throat. When I didn’t say anything, Coach continued. “Also, you don’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d fly solo forever. You come from a close family, and you have a good head on your shoulders. No need to fill me in, but if she’s special, don’t be stupid and let her get away.”

He winked and spun in his chair when his desk phone rang. “Hang on,” he said, quickly picking up the phone. He nodded at whatever the other person said and then glanced to me, covering the phone with his hand. “I need to take this. Unless you’d like to talk more, we’re done. Stick to the PT plan you have and no pushing too hard. Got that?”

I nodded and stood. “Mind closing the door for me, Liam?” he called out as I walked through it. I gave a thumbs up, closed the door behind me and walked down the hall in a semi-daze. I was mentally spinning in circles. I don’t know why what Coach said knocked me sideways, but it did. I supposed it was that even though I had enough sense to realize the way I felt about Olivia was like nothing I’d felt before, I hadn’t had anyone ask me aloud what she meant to me. I needed to see her. Now.