Page 27 of The Game

That smile grew wider as he turned and caught me staring open mouthed after him. He’d nudged me. On purpose. It hadn’t felt aggressive, that glide across the stretch of my back had felt like something else...Damn.

The changing room was quieter than I expected. Two players were stretched out on the floor with Bill the physio stretching out their cramp. I could hear a groaning coming from the shower, and a couple of minutes later Anderson walked through like a Neanderthal, clutching onto his towel. "That was probably the best fricking shower I've ever had," he told no one in particular.

The players slunk onto the benches and waited for Waller. They'd given everything just like he'd asked and now they had nothing left; their last reserves had been spent dragging the team back up to the top of the table. It was a far cry from the season before when they'd never strayed from the top spot.

The Lion stooped over, his shoulders curved and his hand rubbing the back of his bronzed neck. I watched his fingers knead the muscles of his neck for just a moment too long. He’d worked hard out on the field, organizing the team, keeping his attention focused and driving the play forward. I watched the fingers knead the flesh and wished I could look away, but I couldn't. I'd never noticed how long his fingers were before. I mean, I knew he had giant hands, perfect for catching a cricket ball, but those long slender fingers looked like they should have been owned by an artist, not a cricket player.

I wondered where else those fingers would be useful.

What? I told myself I hadn’t thought that. I hadn’t. I hadn’t.

Waller clapped his hands, for once actually clapping with genuine enthusiasm, not sarcasm. "Okay, boys," he glanced at me, "and girl. The drinks are on me." A stunned silence filled the room. The team had been banned from the recreational areas while we pulled them up to standard. Another reason everyone had been so pissed off.

I glanced at the wall. "I've got to get home, but you guys all have fun, you deserve it."

Pale blue eyes flickered up from the floor.

Waller turned to me. "No way, Lyssa, it's you that's got us this far, isn't that right boys?" To my sheer horror, they all started to clap, and I flushed a vibrant red before ignoring the heat and standing up to take a bow. "Come on, love, you've got to come out."

I shook my head. "I can't. I haven't got a babysitter."

Waller switched on the biggest smile I’d seen from him in weeks and sidled alongside me giving me a cheesy hug, and then Bailey joined in with the pleading. Can I just say, Bailey is much more appealing in begging mode than Waller. I flashed him a warm grin which he returned. "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

This got me a cheer and I grabbed my phone and headed away from the loud chatter that began to fill the room.

A few moments later I'd promised Scarlett extra cash, tickets to a game, an introduction to Bailey and an overnight stay with full use of the Sky box.

That girl could bargain like no other.

I hadn't not gone home for the little guy before, and I was torn. But I told myself I wouldn't be long. And I knew I wouldn't be, my priority was no longer to cricket, it was to my family.

I poked my head back into the changing room and told them I'd meet them at the bar, and received more cheers. I was shutting the door when Fredericks called me back. "Ask Gemma if she can get the girls to tag along."

"I'll see." I rolled my eyes with a skill that Scarlett would have been proud of and headed to my own room to get showered and changed.

The girls were still in there, and I threw the invitation into the room. "I should warn you that they are as frisky as rabbits," I added as fair warning. Well, it wasn't a lie.

Gemma shook her head. "No chance. It’s in all our contracts. “No fraternising with the players."

My mouth popped open as I pulled my T-shirt over my head. It was a disgusting, damp scrap of material when it dropped onto the floor. These muggy late nights were doing nothing for my personal hygiene. "It's what? Really?" Gosh. "Is that normal?" I shimmied out of my shorts as I thought about it.

Gemma nodded. "Isn't it in yours?"

I scrunched my face as I thought long and hard. I couldn't remember. I guess I just figured that I would never be interested anyway, which I wasn't. Not at all, even in the slightest. "I don't know," I said eventually, before adding. "I don't think it was ever a thing in women’s cricket."

Gemma laughed and motioned around the room. "And did you have many cheerleaders at your women’s test cricket games?"

I laughed. "No, fair point, although my friend Betsy would have loved it."

Gemma laughed, her laugh was bigger than her waist, much bigger.

"Okay, I'm going in the shower. Hope to see you at the bar. I can't be the only girl with all that testosterone."

I stood under the jets for a long time, switching the tap to cool and trying to settle myself down. This week had been the most intense I'd had since I'd gone through the trauma of leaving my own cricket playing behind me. It was amazing how quickly the brain could forget.

Dried off, with my hair twisted up into a knot, I dressed in jeans, flip flops and a casual, loose-fitting blouse. The clothes were all restrictive after living in shorts and vests for weeks on end. I had to wiggle my legs about to get them used to the denim.

The bar was packed. Some VIP supporters and guests were standing with glasses in their hands, special badges on lanyards around their necks. There was also press mingling with the players. I spotted a few I knew and gave them a wide berth on my way to the bar. "What will it be?" Bailey ducked in front of me and bent down to my eye-level. I gave him a smile, it was hard not to, there was something endearingly nice about him.