Page 59 of Summer Breakdown (Training Seasons #2)

Frankie feels sick, in a good way.

Like when she saw Jasmine for the first time, when she signed the forms to create the Titans, or when she first looked after Lani and Marcel on her own.

Now, she’s standing in her office doorway, looking at her team. The one she built from the ground up. If they don’t make it to the championship, it’s not a loss. She knows that, truly and deeply. They’ve done their best; that’s all anyone can do.

“Mal?” she says, and Mali looks over, walking her way. “And Zach.” He follows her.

“You ready?” Frankie asks, when they close the office door. Zach nods. She knows he wants this as much as she does. Maybe more.

“I wanted to thank you for taking over while I wasn’t here,” Frankie says, sitting on the edge of her desk.

Zach nods. “No problem, coach.”

“Of course,” Mali says, with a smile. It’s not a fake smile. Mali would do anything for her. She’s her friend. For real. For life.

“I’m bipolar,” Frankie says. Her heart thumps, but she doesn’t regret it. “I had a depressive episode. It’s all sorted now, and probably won’t happen again for a while.”

Mali’s eyes are wide with concern. “Oh.”

Frankie smiles. “I’m not telling you to excuse my not being here; I’m telling you because you’re my friends. ”

Zach raises his eyebrow. “In writing?”

Frankie grunts. “Not in this lifetime.”

He humphs, and Mali hugs her.

“I love you,” she says. “Every bit of you. Always.”

Frankie smiles and hugs her back. “Loser.”

Mali squeezes tighter. “ I love you. ”

Frankie kisses her cheek. “I love you too.”

Mali squeezes once more. She’s strong for a one-apple-tall kinda girl. Then she pulls back. “Do we need to do anything? Watch out for anything?”

“Nah,” Frankie says, with a smile. “Just wanted you to know.”

“We’re trying for a baby,” Mali says quickly. Frankie could have guessed they were doing that the moment Mali started working here. She hopes it’s easy for them. “Well, not until next year, but…”

Frankie laughs. She looks over at Zach, who’s smiling at Mali, like always. “Okay. I’m happy for you.”

“I wanted to tell you a secret too,” Mali says, chewing on her lip. “I panicked.”

Frankie smiles brightly. “I adore you.”

Mali hums, leaning against Zach. He kisses her on the forehead. Their child will be so stinking cute.

“Ready?” Mali asks, and Frankie takes a deep breath.

Then, there’s a knock on the office door, and Jasmine walks in with green flowers tied with a big black bow.

Frankie would kill the flowers alone, but Jasmine will make them flourish.

Lani bounces in her wheelchair as Marcel pushes her through the door.

They’re all in matching rugby tops, COACH on their sleeve.

Lani gasps, her eyes wide as she looks at Mali, who has her green hair tucked under her baseball cap.

“Lan,” Marcel says, tapping her shoulder. It takes Lani a moment, but she looks back at Frankie.

“One, two, three,” Lani attempts to whisper. Frankie’s excited for whatever she has planned .

Then, they all say, “Happy final game day!”

Frankie laughs, and Lani holds her arms up for Mali to carry her.

“You look so pretty,” Lani says, her hands against Mali’s braids.

“Thank you, babygirl,” she replies. “I did braids to match you.”

Lani giggles. “I should have made mine green.”

“Let me find some scissors and you can have some of mine,” Mali replies. “We can weave them into your braids.” She takes her out of the office, and Zach follows with his arm around Marcel.

“Where’s your girl?” he asks, and Marcel groans. “Frank steal her?”

Jasmine laughs, pushing the door closed with her foot.

“That’s all we could string together without it sounding like a hot mess,” she says, as she places the flowers on the desk, then kisses her once.

“Hi,” Jasmine says, looking her up and down. “You look pretty today.”

She’s ridiculous. Jasmine saw her get dressed this morning. She helped her pick out the shorts. It didn’t even end with Frankie going down on her, as she’d hoped it would. They’re settling back into a routine, and Frankie knows it makes sense, but God, Jasmine is so beautiful.

Frankie hums, kissing her again. “Hi.”

“Ready?”

Frankie smiles. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

Ezra has never played this well in his life. Frankie can’t hide her pride when he takes the player out, but she can see the wince in his eyes. She wonders how long he’ll be on the pitch for.

The crowd is thunderous, so loud Frankie can barely hear a word that’s being said to her, but it doesn’t matter. The team is thriving. She pulls Bright off and sends Johnson on.

“God, I am glad you’re back,” Kai says, as he warms up. He kisses her on the head and runs on. She welcomes Bright back. He did well.

“You good?” she asks.

“Yeah,” he replies, positively manic.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I don’t wanna jinx anything, so don’t ask me anything else.”

Frankie laughs. It’s been a close match.

The Groundhogs are annoyingly good this time.

There’s no panic in Frankie’s mind. There are base-level nerves because she really wants this.

The team really wants this; they deserve it too.

But it’s not life or death. Either way, she gets to go home with Jasmine.

That’s the thought that flows through her mind the entire match.

The Titans go up, then the Groundhogs go up.

Consistently. M’Baku is right there, defending like his life depends on it.

Frankie wonders if he’d want to join them if they won.

Kai hates him, but Kai isn’t the coach, and frankly, he dislikes quite a lot of people.

The Titans have beaten the Groundhogs before, but they’ve studied their techniques, and it’s too close.

It’s thirty-three all with thirty seconds to go.

A draw isn’t the end of the dream. They could try again next year.

The Groundhogs have the ball, but Ezra intercepts it, and Frankie screams so loud she might rip her throat.

In any other world, a draw against them would be the best thing that’s ever happened to them.

They’re a good fucking team. It’s the best the Titans have ever played.

The Groundhogs want Zach. Whatever happens, happens. They can try again next year.

But Johnson twists a three-sixty, catching the ball with ease. Frankie waits for him to slow because of his dodgy knee, but he doesn’t. He’s barrelling in front of Zach.

M’Baku lunges at him, but Kai tosses it, and it’s gone. Zach catches it, but he won’t make it to the goal line before he’s taken down and it’s thrown out. The Groundhogs don’t need a win; they need the Titans to lose. They won’t be trying to score.

“Kick it!” Frankie shouts, but it’s no use. The fans are feral. Her throat is hoarse. He probably wouldn’t hear her, even if there was no one else here.

“Zach, kick the fucking ball,” Mali shouts from behind her. She’s been crying the entire game. It’s over. Eighty minutes has passed. The whistle blows. If it’s out, it’s out.

Frankie watches in slow motion as Groundhogs descend on him, but the Titans are there.

Ezra barrels through men with ease. Kai is taking players out at the knees.

Zach kicks it. He’s not in the centre of the pitch.

He’s fucking ages away. There’s no one to catch it, but it’s too high anyway. He’s going for the goal.

Frankie’s heart is in her chest. It might stop for a moment. The grounds are silent, both sides deadly quiet as they watch the ball spin through the air. She can’t tell from this angle if it will make it.

Then the crowd goes wild, and Frankie’s lifted by someone she’ll whack later before she’s promptly put down again and swarmed by players.

Holy shit.

The Titans are two points ahead. It’s over.

They did it. Frankie turns as the players run onto the pitch. Mali is crying, Cam is crying, Jasmine might be crying, and Frankie can’t breathe. She walks over, reaches up, and kisses Jasmine. It’s enough to knock some sense back into her .

Jasmine pulls back with a smile. “Go!”

“Catch me up,” Frankie replies, then she turns and runs. Ezra is smiling, and Frankie jumps as soon as she can.

“I can’t believe how good you were.”

He pants. “Alright. Rude.”

Frankie squeezes him tighter. “What do you say, wanna go back to the prem?”

He laughs. “Only if you’re coming with me.”

Frankie smiles brightly, but Ezra’s distracted moments later.

“Watch out, babygirl’s about,” he says, and he puts her down, but his hands stay out, and Lani is hugging him moments later.

“You were so good,” she squeals. “I saw you do the conversion.”

Ezra frowns. “That was Zach.”

“You’re very far away. I have small eyes.” He hums. “I’m so proud of you, though.”

“Don’t be gross.”

Lani laughs and pulls her arms as far around his neck as she can. It’s not that far.

“Cam-Cam has cookies for you,” she says. Cam is there moments later. Lani squeals with glee as she gets squashed between them in a hug. Frankie would take her so they can hug properly, but Ezra would glare at her.

“Hi,” Jasmine says, tapping her shoulder. Frankie picks her up, spinning her. There’s cameras everywhere, but they won’t make the front pages, so she doesn’t care. Someone will make the covers. She hopes it’s Zach and Mal.

“You did so good,” Jasmine whispers.

“Yeah?”

She drops her mouth to her ear. “Yeah. So good.”

Frankie’s hands tighten on her waist. “The press is going to catch me blushing because you’re being a fucker.”

“Tell them you’re blushing because your girlfriend is going to fuck you so good later.”

“ Jasmine! ”