Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Sponsors were starting to catch wind that the team’s captain was problematic and causing issues, and if they kept hearing bad things, I feared that the funding we did have was in jeopardy.
How could I lead my team and be their captain when all I was doing was causing trouble?
I couldn’t even get us enough funding to go to the tournament! No matter how many fundraisings we threw or how many people we reached out to, we weren’t raising the amount of money needed to travel all the way to Germany and back. Our dream of playing internationally was fading fast.
Maybe all of those comments I received back in my hometown were right. Maybe my father was right about my place as a woman in sports. It was ten times harder to get respected, and I basically lit my career on fire just by being seen flirting with the guys, who weren’t getting a lick of backlash. Just because I was a woman, every move I made would be criticized.
Could I really sustain my career when I would always face ridicule?
With a sigh, I shut off my phone and rubbed my stinging eyes, not wanting to read another negative word about me. I had enough negative thoughts about me looming in my own head, and all I wanted to do was drown them out. There was one place that I could do that.
I headed out of my dorm and walked out into the late night, venturing to the outskirts of campus. There was a bar across the street called Finnigan’s that hosted a lot of college students, including underage ones who either knew the right people or had great fake IDs, but it was the middle of the week. So, I didn’t expect it to be a packed house tonight.
I went inside and to the wooden bar in the back, pinpointing an empty barstool to relax at for an hour or two. But the sight of a familiar guy sitting on the barstool to the right made me feel anything but relaxed.
“Hugo?” I said, my voice full of disbelief.
Hugo turned from nursing a glass of recently poured beer, his eyebrows darting up in surprise.
“Leah, what are you doing here?” he asked.
I glanced around, wondering if I should leave or not. I suffered major consequences the last time we were seen in a bar together, but did I even really care at this point? My reputation was in the gutter whether I sat next to him or not.
“Just needed a drink,” I sighed. Jourdanne helped me make a fake ID before she left, but something told me that Hugo probably had connections around here.
“Can we get another beer here?” Hugo asked the bartender, who nodded and got started on another glass of beer. “Yeah, I felt the same way. Things are… confusing.”
I tilted my head at him.
“What’s going on with you? Things aren’t perfect for you and your band of brothers?” I replied.
Hugo smirked before sipping on his beer, dragging his tongue over his top lip afterward.
“Ever since you became captain of the women’s team, nothing has been simple for us,” he told me, angling his body toward me more. Our knees brushed together, but we didn’t draw away from each other.
“I can’t say that I’m sorry. I came here to make a difference.” I reminded him before my shoulders deflated slightly. “But all I can do is make myself and my team look bad because I had a little too much fun with you guys.”
Hugo immediately frowned and shook his head, perching his hand on my knee, which made a wave of nervousness wash over me. What if people saw? It would just be adding fuel to the fire, inciting a whole slew of nasty comments and accusations.
“I’m sorry about that video. I’ve been doing everything in my power to get it removed from anywhere it’s posted. I’ve told people that it’s out of context and that we’re all drunk,” he said.
I couldn’t help but be surprised. While it tore at my career, the video was probably a bonus for the men’s team. I didn’t expect any of them to do anything about it, but to know that Hugo was trying to do damage control for me meant a lot. I didn’t want to admit it… but I could use all the help I could get on that front.
“Thank you,” I told him. “I just… I don’t think there’s any way for me to come back from this. Hell, I might have to give up captaincy just so the team has a chance at getting enough funding for the tournament. I don’t want to be the reason that they’re held back.”
“What? No, you can’t give up captaincy! Your team needs you like my team needs me. We’re the glue. We keep the ship running in the right direction in top notch condition,” Hugo said in a firm voice, leaning forward slightly so that I couldn’t look anywhere else but in his eyes. “You’re too damn good to quit, Leah. I know I’ve been a dick, but your team is good. I didn’t miss that 1-2-2 formation you guys kept pulling off.”