Page 67 of The Hellion and the Captain
“Reeves is a problem,” he said without further expansion.
“In what way?”
“He’s trying to create a scandal regarding Manchester Central when there isn’t one. He’s threatening to go public with rumors. They are bollocks, but they would still cause harm.”
“Unless we do what?” Tommy said, his eyes rounding upon each of them. He was a prankster, usually all smiles and games, but when it came down to it, he was as loyal as they came. They all knew it, and Emmaline wondered whether he could be trusted to hold her secret.
And yet, the more people who knew, the greater the chance there was of it coming out.
“Unless we throw our game against Eton,” Rhys said, his brows furrowed, his voice hard and unrelenting.
Lily gasped, and the usual affable Tommy went silent, although his hands on the table curled into fists. Murmurs resounded around them, and it seemed that those who hadn’t heard directly were now hearing the whispers as the message passed down the table.
“Never,” Tommy said, and the rest of them nodded along with him.
“Agreed,” Rhys said simply.
“What does he think he has on us?” Tommy asked asColin, who had obviously overheard the last bit, sat down and joined them.
“He thinks one of our players is not who he says he is.”
Rhys reached under the table and placed his hand on Emmaline’s thigh, squeezing slightly, reminding her that she was not alone in this.
“Who?” Tommy demanded. “Do you believe it? We know where we came from, who our families are, where we live, where we work.” He paused. “Well, almost all of us. There is only one person we do not know well… Williams? You think it’s something about Williams?”
Emmaline couldn’t meet his gaze, for she didn’t want to lie to Tommy. She had a feeling that he could keep the truth to himself, but she wasn’t sure how he would react. Look at how long it took Rhys to come around. Besides, she already had Rhys and Colin keeping an extra eye on her. She didn’t need her other teammates to think she needed an extra hand.
“What are you going to do about it, Rhys?” Tommy asked.
“I’ll make sure his threats are invalid, and then I will convince him that he needs to drop this vendetta.”
“Why does he care so much?”
Rhys sighed. “Two years ago, he tried to play for Manchester Central. He’s a good player, but he was rough, too aggressive, and uncaring toward the rest of the team. The day he intentionally took out Felix in practice was the day I told him he could find somewhere else to play. So he did, with the Athletics. He’s been looking for a way to take us down ever since.”
Well, that explained a lot.
“Do not allow Reeves to ruin this night,” Rhys said, although Hardy, the goaltender, was rising out of his seat, looking like he still wanted to make a few comments about it.
Sensing that Rhys had no wish to discuss it further, Tommy, thankfully, moved on, and Hardy sat down –although Emmaline wasn’t grateful for long when she realized his new topic of conversation.
“So, Emmaline, where ya been?” Tommy asked. “I feel like we haven’t seen you out in forever. And why haven’t you been at the games? You were our biggest supporter.”
“I’m still there,” she said truthfully. “You must not have noticed me.”
“Oh, we always notice you,” he said, his grin widening, and Rhys’s hand on her thigh tightened ever so slightly until Tommy continued, “How could we not, with you hollering at us what we’re supposed to be doing?”
“My parents have suggested that I… take a step back. They’d like to see me married off soon and don’t believe my presence at the football games helps my case.”
Tommy sat back with surprise. “You told me you’d never marry one of the men you grew up with.”
“I would still prefer not to,” she said, wishing he would drop it.
“Have you found someone else, then?” Tommy said as she sensed Rhys leaning even more toward her. If he came any closer, she’d be sitting on his lap.
Tommy looked at Rhys and then back at Emmaline, his expression changing so suddenly and so pronouncedly that Emmaline almost laughed out loud.
“Ooooooh,” he said, looking at Rhys and then back at Emmaline. “Rhys? You’re a good man, Captain, but Emmaline, do you ever hear anything out of him rather than a grunt or a snort?”
