Page 33 of Always on My Mind

“Mine are a tie between Bad Bunny and Kristen Stewart,” Neriah said.

“Thank you for that extremely bisexual answer,” Tessa joked.

Neriah chuckled and shrugged. “I am what I am.”

She went down the hall, and Tessa continued the interviews. She hoped Jamie wasn’t overthinking the moment with Neriah.But Jamie was who she was. And that meant she would be kicking herself for hours, all while coming up with a list of male celebrities to use instead in case she ever got that question again.

When the interviews were over, Tessa approached Nelle about the footage.

“Hey, d’you think we could leave out Jamie’s answer and Neriah saying it’s gay?” she asked.

“No worries,” Nelle said. “I want to post the interaction between Paige and Jordan. It shows the men’s team and women’s team are friendly, which is what our owner wants.”

Tessa let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t want Jamie to get an earful from her father for something Tessa came up with.

“When the women are done for the day, could you get some b-roll footage from their dressing room?” Nelle asked. “I think some before and after shots could be cool for the opening match day post.”

“Sure, no problem,” Tessa agreed.

She followed the team out the tunnel and walked to the women’s facilities.

Chapter 11

Jamie let the hot water roll down her body, her head against the tile of the shower wall, still kicking herself for saying Hozier. He was the first male celebrity she thought of because she listened to a couple of his songs on the way to training that morning. She appreciated the man’s talent, but she didn’t have a crush on him. While they were watching game film of their first opponent of the season, Chelsea, she Googled “hot men.” She scrolled through list after list of dreadfully boring white men that she somewhat recognized from movies and other sports. None of them were Hozier, though he did appear on a list of male celebrities that lesbians have a crush on. Why, why,whyhad she said that?

Her dread had led her to take a second shower. After everyone was gone for the day and she had the dressing room to herself, she stripped out of her sweats and let the water wash away her shame. If they put that clip on social media, her dad would call her screaming.No daughter of mine is a gay footballer, he’d shout. That was his favorite line any time a hint of a rumorstarted. Queerness would limit her sponsorship opportunities, and she needed to be recognized for her talent, not as an LGBTQ+ icon.

Thankfully, Tessa had been there. If she hadn’t changed the subject, Jamie knew she would have talked herself into a hole. Any time someone came close to discovering her identity, she panicked. Her ears rang all through her first shower. It was the first touch of her anxiety returning since she’d seen Tessa again at the housewarming.

Her heart rate returned to normal for this shower, at least. For some reason, a shower always helped. Whether it was the sound of the water or the heat from the steam, she didn’t know. It just worked.

The alarm on her phone went off, letting her know it was half past seven. She needed to get home if she was going to eat dinner at a reasonable hour. The hot water tap squeaked as she turned it off, and the room went quiet after she tapped her alarm. She wrapped a towel around herself and padded back to the dressing room.

Motion from Paige’s locker made Jamie’s heart skip a beat, but she saw that it was only Tessa, taking some pictures on her phone. Tessa turned the camera, as if to get a panning shot of the room, but when she spotted Jamie, she dropped her phone and screamed, followed by a cry of, “Sweet, suffering Jesus!”

Jamie flinched, taken aback by Tessa’s alarm, but quickly relaxed as Tessa recovered, swearing under her breath as she picked her phone back up. Jamie held back a chuckle.

“Sorry, I didn’t expect anyone to be here after hours,” Jamie said.

“What are you even doing here after hours?” Tessa wondered.

“Just. . . ” Jamie trailed off, but decided to be honest. If the goal was to get Tessa back, she needed to let her in. “I was brooding about the celebrity crush thing.”

“You don’t have to worry. We’re not going to post it. Nelle wants to use Paige and Jordan instead.”

Jamie’s shoulders dropped with relieved tension. “Oh, good.”

A pregnant pause hung between them.

“Thank you for earlier,” Jamie said. “For stepping in with Neriah. You saved my neck.”

“It was no trouble.”

She noticed that Tessa wasn’t looking at her. For a moment, she was confused, as it wasn’t in Tessa’s nature to be shy. But then she remembered she was only wearing a towel. Memories swam to the front of her mind of Tessa’s hands in her hair, on her skin, between her thighs. Heat rushed to her cheeks, and she glanced at the floor. Her body longed for Tessa’s touch again. Even shaking her hand earlier had driven Jamie crazy. Now, standing before her in only a towel, she could too easily picture herself kissing Tessa, letting that towel drop to the floor, and having an orgasm right up against the wall.

She shook her head. “Er, Tessa?”

“Yeah?”

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