Page 35

Chapter Thirty-One

C olin wiped the sweat from his brow, wondering if any more surprises were in wait.

The officials were conferring in the middle of the field, likely discussing whether or not to continue the game.

The panic he had felt as the ruffians had advanced was more than he had experienced in some time.

It wasn’t concern that he couldn’t fight them off, it was worry about what physical shape he would be left in once it was done.

When the Athletics had defended them, the Central team had been more surprised than anyone, but it was an act that he wouldn’t forget, no matter what the outcome of the game.

A man waved to the umpires from the side of the field, tall, with a hat so high that it only added to his air of authority.

The referee, who oversaw the two umpires who each represented a team, ran over to speak to him before returning, and after quickly conferring with the other men, he turned and announced the game was back on.

Chaos closed in, and Colin felt his teammates look at him, questioning if he could continue. He had taken one blow in the melee, but it wasn’t near enough to stop him.

“Stay focused!” he yelled at the rest of them, rallying them with sheer force of will. “We’ve got this!”

They took to the field, regrouping, playing with all they had within them despite the multitude of distractions.

The evenly matched game continued, the score still tied with less than a minute remaining.

Colin wiped his brow. If they stayed tied, they would have to play another game on another day, and he wasn’t sure he had it in him.

They had to win this now. He could feel the energy and bounced on his toes to try to put some feeling back into his legs, which had begun to feel like rubber.

It was as though the crowd could feel it too, for Colin heard the shift, felt the surge of momentum as the stands rallied, voices rising in a crescendo of support that he swore he could hear Lily’s voice a part of.

As Rhys passed the ball to him from across the field, his vision narrowed, focusing on the ball now at his feet, the goal waiting beyond.

This was it.

Everything depended on this moment.

It was all up to him and the keeper before him, for he knew that no one else was close enough to stop him.

Colin drove forward, each step a battle, but he would not fail.

Not now.

His teammates covered for him, shields against any potential defender.

With one final burst of strength, he stroked the ball, watching it sail, waiting for breathless eternity until time seemed to resume as it soared past the keeper.

The roar was deafening.

Colin collapsed, exhaustion and triumph washing over him like a tide just as the seconds ticked down and the game came to a close.

They’d done it.

And finally, after winning the game, when he opened his eyes and looked to the stands, amidst the chaos of celebration, he saw that familiar face watching him, the look in her eyes enough to make all the pain worthwhile.

This was what it was all about. Having someone there to support him, love him, cheer him on, and wait for him.

Even though he wondered whether he could ever stand again, and when he did, if it would only be to be carried off the field and to a jail cell.

He rose unsteadily to his feet, the world around him exploding in a riot of noise and movement.

He didn’t have to keep on his feet for long as his teammates lifted him onto their shoulders, buoying him above the jubilant chaos of the field.

His eyes held on Lily, who stood openly in the crowd, her gloved hand raised in a triumphant cheer.

For a moment, all that mattered was the connection between them, and despite her being across the entire field and all those who stood between them, it was as though she was close enough to be in his arms, like he could feel her every touch and hear her every thought.

He was finally returned to the moment by the ecstatic faces of his teammates blurred together, voices merging in a cacophony of victory.

"Did you see that, Colin? Right into the goal!" Felix shouted, slapping him on the back.

"Thought you'd never get up again!" Tommy laughed, more relief than jest in his voice.

Colin barely heard them. The throbbing in his ribs was distant, unimportant now.

As Lily cheered loudly for him, her father stood rigidly beside her, his scowling disapproval written across his face.

Colin knew what it must have cost her to break rank like this, to throw her allegiance behind a disgraced footballer.

But there she was, the center of his universe, flouting conventions with a fierceness that made him believe anything was possible.

The thought that she could love him so fearlessly twisted in his chest. He wanted to reach for her, to cross the distance that separated them, to close the gap that society had tried to wedge between their hearts.

"He's out of it, men,” the captain said, although affection laced his usual gruff tone. “His young lady has addled his brain even more than his injuries have.”

They jostled him, good-natured and celebratory, a surge of camaraderie that carried him off the field.

As they drew toward the sideline, Montgomery was standing where he always had been, but his countenance had changed. Gone was the confidence of a man who knew he was going to win and in its place was one who knew that he had been found out, had done wrong, who had nothing left to show for himself.

Colin didn’t know how Lily had done it, yet he knew deep within him that somehow, she had brought this man down, risking all that she knew.

“You’re done, Montgomery,” he couldn’t help but say as his team lifted him by the man, right past the constables who made no move toward him.

It was someone else who was running toward him, down through the stands, having broken away from all those who held her back from him – her father, the very fabric of society that had kept them apart.

“Put me down!” he called out, having to say it a few times before they finally heard him and set him on his feet – just in time for him to catch the figure hurtling herself toward him.

Lily had watched Colin borne across the field, a mixture of joy and relief blooming within her. They had done it. Beside her, her father shifted from one foot to the other, as he stared at her in confusion, as though uncertain of what to think about her.

He appeared both proud and disapproving. Likely proud that she had defended the club but disapproving because her actions had been driven by her love for Colin.

She loved her father, but she also knew that she had to do what was best for her, and not what was expected of her any longer. She could only hope that he would one day understand.

“You have done a good thing, Lily, but have you no shame? You cannot carry on like that for a man so far beneath you.”

“I have only pride, not shame, Father,” she said, turning to him with her chin held high. “I told you how I feel and nothing has changed. I love him, and I intend to spend my life with him.”

He harrumphed, the sound mingling with the roars of the celebrating crowd, but Lily’s attention was already back on Colin, even as Emmaline leaned in and squeezed her with one arm, telling Lily that at least one person in her life supported her.

Colin disappeared for a moment within a wave of jubilant teammates, only to re-emerge and hold out a hand toward her, a lifeline thrown out.

There was a sweetness to it, a rightness she had never felt before.

She had seen Montgomery’s disgrace unfold, and she knew this was only the beginning. He would never take Colin’s future from him, just as her father would never take Colin from her.

In her chest, hope slowly unfurled. Let them stare, let them talk—she would stand with him boldly, proudly.

“Go,” Emmaline said with a slight push on her back. “Go to him.”

It was all Lily needed.

She began running down the steps before anyone could stop her, until she reached the bottom of the stands, surging past all who stood between them.

And there he was.

He broke away from his teammates, his arms outstretched as she ran to him, remembering at the last moment to ease off as she wrapped her arms around him.

“You did it!” she exclaimed, pressing her face into his neck.

“We did it,” he said, before he lowered his mouth and claimed her lips – claimed her – with his.

Lily didn’t care about anyone watching them, what they thought or how they would take this. For the first time in her life, she knew the path she wanted, the life she was ready to embrace.

The game, the rules of society, they were not hers to follow. Not anymore. What she shared with Colin was different. It was their own game, untouchable, one they would play by their own rules and no one else’s.

When they broke apart, it was only to a chorus of cheers, from his own teammates. She focused on them, and the wide smile of the exhausted man standing before her.

He was more man than any she had met before – and he was all hers.

She removed her gloves, letting them float to the ground as she cupped his face in her hands, his scruffy chin in her soft fingers.

“I love you, Colin.”

“And I love you,” he said, before he kissed her again, claiming her before all those who surrounded them – none of whom mattered more than one another.