Page 19 of Try Line Hearts
Byrne recoiled like the contact burned.
Kaine blinked, something unreadable crossing his face before he stepped back. “Right. Okay.”
Carmody’s whistle shrieked.
Practice moved on.
Byrne felt every eye on him—teammates, coaches, Kaine.
He hated every second of it.
By the time training ended, daylight had bled out of the sky, grey sinking into darker grey. Byrne showered mechanically. Dressed mechanically. Breathed like it was a chore.
Everything inside him felt overheated and brittle.
He needed silence.
He did not get it.
Outside the facility doors, Siobhán Kelly waited—local press, sharp-eyed, the kind who smelled blood in water.
“Captain Byrne! Quick word about the scrimmage?”
“No comment.”
“Lucas—your connection with the new winger—”
He froze.
She’d used his first name.
“Byrne,” he corrected.
“Right—Byrne. People are impressed with you and Kaine. Some say you read each other instinctively. How do you explain that?”
“I don’t.”
“But it’s unusual chemistry for day three, isn’t it?”
“No comment.”
“And earlier—were you angry when Kaine was hit?”
“No comment.”
“Fans online are already calling you two—”
“Kaine is a member of this squad,” Byrne cut in sharply. “Not a headline.”
She leaned in—
And then Kaine appeared, voice bright and smooth as sunlight breaking cloud.
“Sorry, is this on me? Didn’t mean to steal the captain’s spotlight.”
He stepped neatly between Byrne and the microphone.
“I’m still adjusting to Ireland,” Kaine went on, smiling. “So if I look good next to Byrne, it’s because he’s doing all the thinking.”
