Page 36 of The Wing
Liam crosses his arms, chews on the inside of his cheek, and stares outside. “Do you expect me to catch the ball?”
“No.” I need something to distract me. I need a rugby ball in my hands, even if I can’t play with the team, I need to feel like I’m doingsomething. I don’t want to think about my shoulder. I just want to throw the ball around before we eat dinner andattempt to get some sleep before we wake early to watch the game.
To have some fun. To remember why I play rugby. I need to do this. To see where my stupid shoulder is at in a nonjudgemental place. Where the coaches and physios won’t scrutinise my every move. I just want to play footy.
“Okay. But I haven’t held a rugby ball since PE touch rugby, and I can’t guarantee I’ll remember how to throw it,” Liam warns. He stands from the couch, leaving paper spread across it, and pads to the door leading to the garden, slipping into sneakers. “Do I need to change?”
He’s wearing track pants and a thin, long-sleeved beige shirt. “Only if you think you’ll be cold.”
Liam stares pointedly at my shorts and athletic long-sleeve shirt. “You’re going to make me run, aren’t you?”
I shrug helplessly. I don’t really know what I need, but I need to do something. “I need to stop thinking,” I say quietly.
Liam’s eyes soften. “I know.” He opens the door. “Go get the ball, baby, and let’s throw it around. And by us, I mean you.”
I find Liam outside with his arms crossed against the breeze and toss the ball to him. He flinches as it bounces off his arms and rolls on the ground. I stifle a snigger, which turns into a laugh when Liam turns a thunderous glare on me.
“If you’re expecting anything better than that, then you’re in for a disappointing time,” Liam says, bending to pick up the ball and throwing it to me like you would in netball. Thrusting the ball from his chest rather than throwing with his arms in line with his hips and following through.
I catch the ball and stick it under my arm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were goal attack,” I tease, referencing the netball position.
“Do you want someone to play with or not?” he asks, annoyance in his voice.
I hide my amusement. My head is already clearer being outside with a ball in my hands with Liam standing opposite me, hands on his hips with a tinge of embarrassment on his cheeks. I don’t want to embarrass him. I’m grateful he’s here and don’t want him to leave, so I say, “I do, and I’ll take your netball skills over nothing. But remember you’re allowed to move when you have the ball.” The opposite of netball.
Liam rolls his eyes and walks to the other side of the garden, his shoulder slightly behind mine, so we aren’t directly in line with each other. I’m on the right side of the garden. Where I would be if I was on the field.
I take a long breath, close my eyes, and when I open them, I pass the ball to Liam. My arm follows through, and my body twists slightly to give momentum, and I feel…fine.
My shoulder doesn’t twinge.
It wasn’t the greatest pass, but if Liam can catch it, my teammates certainly can. A slow smile spreads across my face, and I bounce on my toes, shaking my arms out.
“Jesus fucking Christ, I think you grazed my nipple off.” Liam rubs his nipple with a pout, holding the ball under his arm.
“It wasn’t that hard.” At least I don’t think it was, but I haven’t played with anyone except professionals since I was nineteen, so I could be entirely wrong. I cross the grass to his side and take the ball, dropping it on the ground, and run a gentle finger over his fabric-covered nipple. “I’m sorry. I’ll kiss it better tonight.” I bend to kiss him, enough that when I pull away he’s dazed, and I’m reconsidering if I want to throw the ball around when I could throw Liam around in the bedroom instead.
“Mmm, okay,” he sighs.
I kiss his temple. “Come on, it’s your turn to throw.” I pick up the ball and hand it to him and head back to my position. This is the real test. Will I be able to catch the ball from Liam,someone who I’m not even sure knows how to throw a rugby ball? If I don’t catch it, I’m gonna have a much bigger issue on my hands than anticipated.
I position myself slightly behind him so I’d be on-side in a game and wait for Liam to throw it. Liam chucks it from his hips this time instead of his chest and manages to follow through with a twist, and I launch forward to catch it. It drops into my hands with a familiar slam and sting, and I dart towards the end of the garden as if I had the opposition chasing me. I reach the fence, tap it to the grass in a try, and spin to Liam with a grin on my face.
He stares at me with a confused but amused look on his face, and I charge him. He must trust me because he doesn’t duck away or flinch, but opens his arms. I wrap mine around his waist and lift him. I spin us around, and when Liam starts laughing with me, I set him down and pepper kisses over his face.
“I caught it!”
“Yeah, you did.” Liam runs his hands up my arms and squeezes my shoulders. “How’s it feel?”
I roll my shoulders under his hands and grin. “Fucking great. Let’s go again.” I clap and rub my hands together, the itchy, uncertain sensation turning into the need to play, to push myself, and see how much I can take. Even if it’s with Liam, where I have to be careful not to hurt him and don’t have the team’s familiar plays, I need to see what I’m capable of.
I pick the ball up from the ground where I dropped it when I grabbed Liam and get back into position.
I wait until Liam is prepared to catch, roll my shoulders, breathe deeply, take a few quick steps forward, and aim the ball for Liam. The ball slips out of my hands perfectly and lands exactly where I want it to with no twinge or niggle that throws me off and causes me to question everything and overcompensate.
Liam catches it, barely, and snarls, “Fucking hell, Hemi. I didn’t realise how hard professionals throw.” He rubs his chest and pouts at me.
I frown and jog to him and brush my hands over his chest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realise either.” Especially when Coach was complaining that I wasn’t throwing hard enough, that I was hesitating. “I’ll be careful next time.”
