Page 29 of The Hellion and the Captain
“I did not.”
He turned to Lily, who squirmed uncomfortably.
“Lily!” Colin said, apparently just realizing the truth of the matter.
Emmaline held up a hand. “I only very recently took Lily into my confidence, but I made her swear not to say a word,” she said. “She didn’t, only for your own good, Colin, for she knew you would feel obligated to tell Rhys. I put her in a tough spot.”
Lily looked so sick to her stomach that Emmaline instantly regretted having put her friend in such a position.
“I cannot say that I am particularly pleased about the situation,” Colin said, although he kept his arm around Lily, “but Lily and Emmaline have been friends since they were children, Rhys. I can understand Lily’s need not to share.”
“Emmaline kept all of our secrets last year,” Lily said morosely. “Although it was hard not to tell you, Colin.”
“You all know the danger that Emmaline has put herself in,” Rhys said, looking around at them incredulously. “She’s injured right now.”
Lily’s gaze swung to Emmaline. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Emmaline said, waving a hand before her. “He’s exaggerating. I’m fine.”
Before she knew what was happening, Rhys leaned over and poked her in the ribs.
“Ow!” she yelped, before swatting him on the shoulder with as much strength as she could muster. “What was that for?”
“Thought you were fine,” he said smugly, and she glared at him before returning her attention to Lily and Colin, who were watching them in fascination.
“Just a little rib bruise,” she said, attempting to shrug it off.
“So, what now?” Lily asked.
“I suppose that is up to Rhys,” Emmaline said when no one else answered. “Of course, I would prefer that he keep this to himself. Nothing ill came from this.”
Lily and Colin waited, and she knew that they would keep her secret, if Rhys agreed to as well. They would protect her.
She leaned forward in her seat, staring at Rhys, needing him to understand, not just for her own sake, but so that he would realize she hadn’t used him, hadn’t intentionally deceived him.
“I love football,” she said, losing all aggression from her tone. “I love it from deep in my soul. Similar, I’m sure, to how the rest of you on the club feel about it. I played with my brothers as a child, but then we grew up, and they went to school and played there, while I was left with nothing to do but kick a ball around, with no meaning, no intention. I became interested in the sport. I saw every one of your games. I know everything there is to know about football, but still, itall feels empty. I tried to play on a women’s team, but my parents found out and would not allow me to continue. That, and the team didn’t want the spectacle I would bring once they knew who I was. So, I disguised myself to play for a team no one would suspect. And I made it. I was good enough. And oh, I finally felt like myself again out there on that field. It awakened a part of my soul I thought I had lost forever. I know I am not a man like the rest of you, but I felt like part of a team again, like I was finally back where I belonged, when I had been searching for so long to find that feeling somewhere else but always came up empty.”
She stopped and took a breath.
“I know this is over now,” she said, blinking as she tried to fight back the tears at what she had lost before it truly came to fruition. “But whatever you decide, I just want to thank you for giving me this opportunity.”
Chapter Ten
For fuck’s sake.
The way her eyes had lit up, the way she had spoken from deep within her soul – it did something to him. Something that he didn’t like. Awakened a place inside of him that he tried to keep shut off.
“Rhys,” Colin said softly, looking at him in supplication.
“No,” he said, already knowing what Colin would say.
“Perhaps—”
“No.”
“Shedidfit well. She’s good, and getting better.”
“It won’t work.”
