Kick Back

by K J

  Sophia lifted Cam’s fists slightly, and looked intently at Cam. “It’s amazing what you can see when you love someone. Rachel should have known better, and what she did was reprehensible. God, such a breach of trust. And beyond obnoxious. You’re a terrific person, Cam.” Sophia gave a small smile. “Well, you know, you’re not the overly irritating and dismissive reporter that I thought you were.”

  It broke the tension and Cam laughed, and took another deep breath. “And you’re not the overly arrogant and completely self-absorbed jock that I thought you were, either.” She pulled her hands away, and pointed at Sophia’s face. “That doesn’t mean I’ll go to dinner with you.”

  “Mmhmm. Okay.” A quick smile ghosted over her lips. “Thank you for telling me that. I can only imagine how…” she faded off, and Cam nodded.

  “Uh huh. Yep, destroyed.” Cam aimed a very considered gaze at Sophia. “I’m surprised at myself for telling you all that. But I actually feel okay about it.” She slid her gaze over Sophia’s shoulder, then returned it to the original position. “Huh.” Then Cam was suddenly overcome with a desperate need to cover the wounds that she’d exposed, so she shifted the attention. “What about you? Why aren’t you with someone?”

  With a quick shake of her head, Sophia unwound her legs, stood, and grasped Cam’s hand to help her to her feet. “Nope. Today’s not about me. It’s all about you and the continuation of your football enlightenment.” She collected the ball, shoved it into the bag, and grinned at Cam. “Come on. I’ll drop you home. I know you’re desperate for another Flo fix.”

  The ride home was just as fabulous as before, although Cam had to keep swapping her grip on Sophia’s waist as she waved her hands to indicate left and right turns. Shouting directions became impossible so mime navigation was the only solution. Then again, all too soon, Flo was brought to a halt on the street outside the four-storey building that housed Cam’s apartment. After handing Sophia the helmet, Cam bent her head and shuffled her fingers through her curls. She looked up to find Sophia watching her intently, her own helmet tucked under her arm. She returned Sophia’s smile.

  “I had fun today, thank you. I’ll add being able to kick a football to my resume.”

  Sophia laughed, then clipped Cam’s helmet to the back of the seat. “I knew you’d be able to do it. It’s all about coordination. I mean, I wasn’t worried about fitness, because you look like you work out.” A lovely little dip swung through Cam’s belly as Sophia cast her eye over her body. “Do you work out?”

  I like the way you look at me. “Uh. Yes. I do yoga classes and I go hiking.”

  Sophia squinted. “Hiking? Like in nature?”

  Cam giggled, and adjusted her glasses. “Yes, Soph. In nature. You should come on a hike with me.” She tipped her head. “Yes, let’s do that.”

  “Uh, no, it’s okay.” Sophia looked away, then back at Cam. “Nope.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not a big fan of nature.” Sophia was smoothing the round surface of the helmet, clearly nervous, and Cam’s giggles increased.

  “I’m not sure that nature was looking for a fanbase. Besides, you run around on nature every weekend.” She flicked out her hand. “You know, grass.”

  “That’s different. That’s clean nature.” Sophia balanced her helmet on the grip of the handlebars, then waved both hands out to the side of her body. “Your nature is kind of un-vacuumed.”

  Cam fell about laughing. “Oh my God. Right, just for that, you’re coming on a hike with me in the un-vacuumed wilderness of the National Park.” Sophia opened her mouth to protest, so Cam stepped closer, and lightly tapped Sophia’s chest. “A Sunday soon. It’s a done deal.” For a long minute, they maintained eye contact, and Cam felt her common sense and libido resume their argument. And then common sense disappeared for an unexpected tea break, because suddenly—what?—Cam pushed up on her toes, and kissed Sophia’s mouth, relishing how soft her lips were, before gently pulling away. She grinned wickedly at Sophia’s stunned expression. “I still don’t know if I like you, by the way.” But she knew her smile didn’t match her words at all. Cam turned to go, had taken a couple of steps in fact, when gentle fingers circled her wrist and tugged her around.

  “Hey.” Sophia’s voice was tentative, her eyes bright, and full of interest, and she leaned forward to reduce the space between them. Cam pressed two fingertips into Sophia’s chest, just below the ‘V’ of her shirt, and Sophia paused, glanced down at the fingers, then up, her eyes waiting for the next move. Cam smiled softly. “You said today was about me,” she said quietly. “So that was my moment, champ.” She withdrew her hand from Sophia’s grasp. “I’ll see you soon.” This time, she managed to walk away, even though every cell inside her was insisting that she return to the footpath and kiss Sophia Lindstrom senseless.

  Chapter Nine

  Sophia discovered that the unexpected kiss had sparked a tiny fire inside her belly and in places further south, which had happily smouldered for three weeks, occasionally stoked by sporadic glimpses of Cam in the crowd, and at the trainings. The fact that Cam seemed completely unaffected by the kiss, based on the quick waves she threw at Sophia as she went on with her job, was somewhat baffling.

  Also baffling was the way some of the players were dropping like flies with injuries that would normally be shaken off with a massage or touch of physio on the sidelines. Three of the second-season players in the last two games—both losses—had succumbed to hamstring strains, and the only reason Sophia could think for these injuries occurring was the pathetic state of the grounds. The hard-packed surfaces were dangerous to play professional football on, and she’d heard Craig on his phone, and in person, pleading with Carmichael from the executive team to schedule games on better quality grounds. She thought longingly of the springy grass that Cam had bounced her toes on three weeks ago. You’re thinking about her again. Concentrate, hey?

  “Hey!”

  Sophia’s head jerked and her eyes darted about, looking for the ball. There was only one person who could bellow that word with such a perfect ‘what-the-fuck-are-you-doing?’ tone. She spotted Fitz angrily waving at her, gesturing like she was marshalling a plane at the airport. Even her hair looked pissed off, so when the thwack of leather against leather alerted her to the location of the play, Sophia took off down the field, leaving her opposite number in her wake.

  Luckily, her lapse in concentration hadn’t hindered the final score—a win, thank God—but she was still on the receiving end of another glare and a verbal “what the fuck?” from Fitz as they left the field after their traditional post-game team chat in the centre of the oval. Suddenly, a gasp, and a cry of pain made both of them whip their heads around. Leigh had collapsed sideways on the ground, like a crumpled capital ‘C’, and she was clutching desperately at her calf muscle. Sophia and Fitz raced over, skidding into the grass on their knees, as Leigh continued to utter a stream of strained swearwords. Craig was only a second behind them, with the rest of the team hovering like butterflies.

  “Leigh, what happened?” His hands tried to pry Leigh’s fingers away from her leg, but she had them locked, as if the intense pressure would somehow take away the pain.

  She breathed shallowly through her teeth. “Shit. I don’t know. I…fuck…God…I was just walking off field, and…God…and it’s like a knife just went through my leg. God dammit.” Her teeth were bared, and her blue eyes, round with pain and panic, skittered about. “This…wasn’t supposed to happen,” she gasped.

  Fitz nodded once. “Okay. I’ll look after…” she muttered, tipping her head back to indicate the rest of the team, then she launched into captain-mode. Sophia glanced up to see the other players either frozen in place or shuffling their feet, various degrees of concern and uncertainty wallpapering their faces. “Okay, everyone. How about we hit the warm down area? You’ll all get cramps as well if you let your muscles seize up.” Fitz stood, then leaned down to Sophia’s ear. “You good here?” Sophia nod
ded.

  Craig, still focused on Leigh, who was breathing much too rapidly for Sophia’s liking, nodded as well. “Thanks, Fitz.” Sophia swung her gaze at the group of players trailing after Fitz, then cocked her head in puzzlement as Dominic came toddling past them onto the field.

  “What happened here?” he demanded, as if somehow a player had been sabotaged purely for entertainment purposes. His dark eyes sat like two angry black peas on his face. Craig threw a scathing glance up at him.

  “Leigh’s injured, and I can’t work out what’s wrong, so call an ambulance.” Dominic huffed dismissively, then flicked his hand at Sophia.

  “Go call an ambulance. I don’t have my phone with me. Use someone’s close by.” The temptation to place her hands either side of Dominic’s head and clap forcefully was overwhelming, but instead Sophia, after another worried stare at Leigh who had started hissing through her teeth, raced towards the boundary gate. She shuddered to a halt when a phone was thrust at her chest. Cam’s wrinkled brow came into focus, and Sophia blinked, realising that Cam had stayed well past the end of the game.

  “Use my phone. You need to be the one to call, because you know what’s happened.” With a silent ‘thank you’, and holding Cam’s gaze, Sophia spoke quickly to the general operator, then the ambulance dispatcher, shuffling the information in her head to answer his questions, finally hanging up when she was told to. She held the phone to her chest, then after a very full breath, handed it back to Cam.

  “Thanks. Again.”

  Cam tipped her head slightly in acknowledgement, her brown eyes shimmering with sympathy. Sophia took a moment, and discovered that the very idea of Cam’s presence was acting like a touchstone, helping her to gain some equilibrium. Deciding not to analyse that interesting phenomenon, Sophia jerked her thumb over her shoulder.

  “I’ll get back to…” With a tight smile, she turned and watched as Leigh, lying helplessly in the centre of the field, suddenly vomited onto the grass. Then, as she hurried back to the small group, four things happened in quick succession. Craig turned away to rummage through his first aid kit. Dominic leaned over Leigh and thrust something at her face. Leigh shook her head, but weakly closed her hand around whatever it was that he was insisting she take, and then, despite being in pain, tucked it into the top of her sock. By the time Craig had spun back, Dominic was marching away, like a marshmallow with limbs, making a beeline for the boundary. What the hell was that about? He would have passed Sophia without acknowledgement, except just as they were about to cross paths, she blurted out,

  “What did you give to Leigh?” His stride stuttered, and the glare he levelled at Sophia should have reduced her to dust.

  “Just a reminder.” He flung the words at her, and increased his pace, arms pushing through the air in his haste to get off the field.

  The rush of the ambulance arrival, Craig and Leigh’s departure, conducting her own delayed warm down, then a scalding shower, pushed all thoughts of their manager’s strange behaviour from her mind. However, when Fitz was standing at the top of the player’s walkway, stepping in for Craig with the traditional handshake and compliment, adding her own flourishes, like hearty back slaps and fist bumps, it leapt back in. “Weird thing before,” she said, releasing Fitz’s hand.

  “What weird thing? The one where you zoned out right at the end of the game, like you’d discovered that the secrets of the universe were written in the sky?”

  “No! Jesus! I apologised for that,” Sophia growled. “No, when Leigh got injured. I rang the ambulance on Cam’s phone—” Fitz smirked —“Focus, Fitz! And when I turned around, Dominic was giving Leigh something. She didn’t want it, but I think that’s because she was hurt. It just seems really off. Why would he start caring about the players when he hasn’t before?”

  Fitz’s mouth turned down, and she shrugged. “Probably gave her his phone number. Maybe he thinks he’s got a chance with an eighteen year-old lesbian.”

  “Christ, Fitz.” Sophia balled her hands, and Fitz had the grace to look apologetic. “He said it was a reminder. Just…don’t you think it’s weird?”

  Fitz huffed out a breath and clapped her on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t worry about it, mate. It’s probably nothing. Let’s wait until Craig tells us how Leigh is.” She wandered away, leaving Sophia wondering how large the echo would be if she let loose a primal yell of frustration in the concreted area. Am I the only person who’s getting paranoid about any of this? Am I completely imagining everything that’s been going on? Even the cheap vitamins that Cam mentioned sound completely far-fetched? Uncomfortable tingles settled low in her stomach as her intuition and self-doubt began to tango.

  “We’ll need to win more games if we want a chance at the finals.” Naomi’s voice slid into Sophia’s left shoulder, and she looked sideways at the young player, the team polo shirt, collar pressed into sharp edges, covering her strong torso, and her damp black hair combed into two perfect curtains on either side of her face. The sense of pride that radiated off Naomi whenever she played, trained, or wore the team uniform sent a warm glow straight into Sophia’s chest.

  “Yeah, we will,” Sophia said, then grunted. “We’ve had six games already. Luckily we won today, no thanks to me. Fitz already had a go at me for counting clouds.” Naomi laughed. They contemplated the concrete stands for a moment. “I heard there’ve been some promotional events.” Sophia regarded Naomi’s slow nod, as she slid her hands into her pockets. “You okay doing them?”

  “Yeah. It’s just a bit of fun.”

  Sophia hummed noncommittally. “What do you do?”

  “Oh, we talk to the crowd. Well, the people who come by, that is, and we sign some footballs. We put a lipstick kiss on the balls as well.” She tipped her head and shrugged. “It’s just for laughs.” She shrugged again, and Sophia’s eyebrows travelled into her hairline.

  “Naomi, the footballs are red. Nobody would see the lipstick.”

  Naomi flipped both hands randomly. “They’ve got special white footballs just for us. For the women’s league. Cool, hey?” She held Sophia’s gaze, then her smile dissolved like sugar in a puddle of water.

  “Naomi…”

  “It’s okay, Soph. I want to do this. I need to. It’s my shot to get away from…before.” She blinked, and Sophia grabbed her shoulders, pulling her forward. The hug was only brief but clearly what they both needed, because when they stepped back, they each took a full breath.

  “You okay for money and stuff? How about you swing by Hart Street and we’ll see what we can rustle up?”

  Naomi shook her head. “No, I’m good. You keep looking out for the other girls there. Seriously, I’m fine. The roommate situation got sorted because Jessica found someone before she left. So there’s still four of us. And I’m getting good shifts at the clinic. Emily says she’s happy to give me more hours because they’re busy, and Lauren says I’m great with the animals, which is nice.” She inhaled heavily. “And now it looks like football is becoming more than just my obsession. With these promotions and the—” she cut her sentence off, and clenched her teeth through a grimace, as if contemplating a difficult decision. Then she shook her head and smiled softly. “Next year will be even better because we’ll be paid, and the matches will be on TV. Next year will be epic, and I need to believe promises.” She blew out a breath. “It might even be my chance to make a name for myself. To be someone special.”

  Sophia’s heart broke. “Ah, sweetie. You’re already someone special.”

  ****

  Cam’s phone number had sat in Sophia’s contacts list for three weeks, and she hadn’t quite known what to do with it. Do I phone her just to say hi? Is that weird? She’d rolled her eyes at herself rather frequently. However, last night she’d sent Cam a confirmation text about today’s hike, and the text exchange had been so relaxed that she wondered what on earth she’d been worried about. Many of the texts had been laden with innuendo and the grin Sophia had spotted on her face as she’d finis
hed her shower had been goofy and ridiculous. Sophia steered Flo up the winding roads towards the carpark, where the entrance to the National Park trail was located, and contemplated the owner of that phone number, who currently had her arms wrapped about her waist.

  She’d flirted, almost compulsively, with Cam on the footpath outside her apartment earlier. The flirting, with the gestures, the innuendo, the eye contact, the commentary was Sophia’s anti-anxiety device, and it usually worked without any need for maintenance. Until Cam had come along and, like sand in an engine, sent Sophia’s perfectly acceptable keep-everyone-at-bay existence awry. And even though cute blushes did slide onto Cam’s skin under those black-rimmed glasses, Sophia knew that Cam was not going to flop the back of her hand against her forehead and swoon, simply from one of Sophia’s crooked smiles. It was kind of refreshing. And terrifying.

  Cam, fingers splayed, stroked Flo’s seat after they’d dismounted and locked up the helmets on the bike. Sophia laughed. “You know it’s embarrassing, this crush you have on my Vespa.”

  Cam gave a mock glare, then kissed her fingers and pressed them to the moped’s handlebars. With a quick smile at Sophia, she stared up at the sky, as if attempting to gauge the weather, shuffling her fingers in her curls, then wiggling her finger into one strand, twirling it around, then letting it go so it bounced back into place. Sophia watched the whole routine, particularly the flight of the curl, in fascination, then allowed her gaze to follow the beautiful line of Cam’s jaw and neck. Cam dropped her head and turned to Sophia. “So, I reckon we…what?”

  Sophia blinked. “Nothing. Just thinking.” Cam squinted at her, then gasped.

  “Oh God, of course. I forgot to ask. How’s Leigh?” Sophia bit her top lip and nodded seriously, hoping the thoughts that were actually in her head weren’t evident on her face.

  “She’s okay. Apparently, it was a muscle tear, so it puts her out for the rest of the season, which sucks. Craig said she was furious at the hospital, and I get that because I would be too if I couldn’t play.” Cam hummed, slid the water bottles into her little backpack, and tossed the straps over her shoulders. “Her parents picked her up a couple of hours later, and apparently she was going on about some woman named Helena and how it’s her fault or something.” Sophia flipped a hand, and shrugged. “Probably the pain talking.”