Page 35 of Nailing Heat

“Fuck!” I holler out in pain.

“No!” I hear Hendrix shout.

I look back and see that she’s staring at me. She’s not worried about a one-on-one because it appears my opponent wasn’t able to get the ball away from me.

I hear a whistle blow and the refs, along with my teammates, come over to inspect me.

“Are you alright?” Carrie bends down, pushing a long brown curl from her face as her eyes search mine.

“Amelia!” I hear Mac yell.

Everyone is coming over, asking me if I’m alright or if I can stand. The Chicago player has already gotten off of me and she’s standing in front of me with her hand outstretched, indicating she wants to help me up.

“Give her a second!” I hear Cassie snap. “Let her get her bearings.”

The ref starts guiding everyone away from me. “Let’s all give her a bit of air,” she’s telling them before turning back to me. “Do you need a minute or a trainer?”

I sigh and assess myself. The pain in my knee and leg is only temporary. I think it’ll be a nasty bruise in the morning. I bend my legs and straighten them a few times to be sure before answering her.

“I’m good. Let’s finish this.”

She pats me on the shoulder and stands back up. I see her wave off Dex and the coaches. Dex throws a clipboard, and I see Jase moving his hands deliberately slow in front of him. I’m notsure what that’s about, but I’m sure he’ll tell me later. I allow the player to help me up, and I’m pulled into a group hug with several of my teammates.

“You good?” My eyes register Mac’s face.

“Yeah, I’m good. She surprised me.”

She nods. “I would contest it, but the tackle was clean.”

“I’m sure it was,” I tell her, pulling my knee up to my chest a few times to stretch it.

The ref eyes me for a moment and I nod. “Resume play,” she signals that it’s drop ball.

Cassie and a Star square up and take the challenge. Thankfully, Cassie wins, and the ball is sent up field.

“West!” I hear someone shouting from the sidelines, I look over and see it’s Dex. His face is a bit red, and his hands are on his hips. When our eyes meet, he throws his up in disgust.

“I’ve got this!” I call over to him.

Dex shakes his head and sits down on the bench.

Chapter Twelve

~DEX~

She ishurt. And I hate that she is not letting me check her. Instead, I got waved off like everything is fine. I don’t know if everything is fine and neither does she. She knows that she wants to win this game and the hell with everything else. Amelia is not thinking straight or past this game. If she would have just let me come onto the field, then I could have helped her think long-term. But no, she waved me off like a stubborn ass.

I huff and sit down next to Jase.

“You okay, mate?” His English accent sounding heavier when he’s using slang from across the pond.

“No, she should have let me check her out. That girl,” I say pointing to the spot on the field where it happened, “fell on her pretty good. I should have been allowed to check on her. She wouldn’t have had to come out because I entered the field.” I sigh heavily again and cross my arms across my chest.

He chuckles. “I see you’ve been reading up on the rules.”

I nod. “Yeah, I read it on the way here on the plane ride. I figured I needed to know things like this.”

“Well, that was a smart move and I’m sure the girls will appreciate the effort. But you’ve gotta remember that soccerisaphysical game. And the girls are going to take tough tackles like that, and they will pop up and be just fine.” He pats me on the back and adds. “It’s good that you care but they know their bodies a bit better than you do. Let her make the decision; forward-thinking aside, she made the best decision for her and the team right now.”