Page 119 of The Assist
“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen myself look that happy,” she says quietly. “I didn’t even realise how much I felt until I saw it like that. Until someone else captured it.” I reach for her hand, and when she lets me take it, I don’t let go. “I hate that they used it like ammunition,” she says. “Something real andgood, and now it’s evidence.”
I run my thumb along the inside of her wrist, feeling her pulse thudding fast under her skin.
“I’m scared, Dylan.”
“I know.”
“I worked so hard to get here,” she says, the tears finally breaking loose. “I busted my arse every single day to be taken seriously. To prove I wasn’t just some girl playing at being a physio. And now it’s all falling apart.”
I shift forward, and pull her into me. “It’s not falling apart.”
She buries her face into my chest, and I hold her like I’m trying to keep her together with sheer force. “You know whatI thought when they showed me the photo?” I ask. She shakes her head against me. “I thought,Fuck, I hope she doesn’t blame herself.I hoped you’d remember that day, and how good it felt. How easy it was and how happy we were.”
She sniffles. “I do remember.”
“I’d go back and do it all again, Mia. Every second. The sneaking around. The awkward glances. That first night I stayed over and you kept making me peer out the window in case someone saw my car outside your flat.”
She laughs, it’s wet and tired and snotty, but it’s a laugh.
“I’d take ten more Danny complaints and a hundred photo leaks if it meant I still got you.”
“You’re such a sap,” she mumbles.
“Don’t tell the guys,” I whisper into her hair.
She exhales a long shaky breath, then she pulls back enough to look at me. Her eyes are red but clear now, like the storm’s passed. At least for tonight. “Will you still want me,” she says softly, “if I lose everything?”
I cup her jaw. “You’ll still have me. That’s not negotiable.”
She leans into my touch. “I don’t know what happens next.”
“We deal with it. Together.”
I lift her into my lap and we sit like that a while; her head tucked into my shoulder, my arms around her waist, while the world outside keeps spinning and threatening to crush us. But in here, for now, we’re safe. We’re solid. We’re us.
And I know one thing for sure. No matter what they throw at us next, I’m not letting go.
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
DYLAN
Istep through the doors of the rink and I can feel the shift in my chest. Not in temperature. In mood. The stiffness in the air. Like everyone’s holding their breath.
Phones slide into pockets as I walk past. Conversations stop mid-sentence. Some of the guys give me nods like nothing’s changed. Others don’t meet my eye. No one says a word, but I can hear it ringing in the silence.
Mia’s not down here yet, even though I brought her in with me, she said she needed to go upstairs first. So her usual spot in the physio room is empty. I want her to walk through that door and shut everyone up with one of those no-nonsense looks that makes even Jacko sit straighter.
But she hasn’t yet. And I can’t say I blame her for hiding upstairs for a bit longer.
I make it to the changing room and dump my bag, sitting heavily on the bench. Murphy’s already there, taping up his stick, chewing gum like it owes him money.
“You seen it yet?” he asks without looking up.
I glance sideways. “Seen what?”
He hands me his phone. It’s a post from one of those fan gossip accounts with thousands of followers. A side-by-side of the photo from the beach and a blurry zoomed-in screen grab of Mia in the stands during my last game. The captionreads,“Physio or girlfriend? Dylan ‘Diesel’ Winters in hot water over alleged romance with club staff. Sources say the team is divided.”
I clench my jaw so hard my teeth hurt. The comments are worse.
