Page 10 of Try Line Hearts
Oh right. You not sleeping for six months, nearly vomiting before matches, and me having to physically stop you from confessing your undying love in a hotel corridor in Cardiff.
The memory landed with uncomfortable clarity: nineteen years old, fresh into the national setup, all raw nerves and awe and a fixation he’d been too young to name and far too devout to survive. He’d barely escaped with his career intact. His faith—and his fear—had done the rest.
That was different,he typed.
Maeve: It always is. Until it isn’t.
A pause, then:
Maeve: And before you start strategizing like it’s a hostage situation—don’t. You’re allowed to date who you want, Lucas. Openly. Like a grown man. You don’t need my help hiding anything, and I won’t give it.
His jaw tightened.
It’s not that simple.
The three dots appeared immediately.
Maeve: It actually is. You just hate the answer. You’re not protecting anyone. You’re just postponing your own life and calling it responsibility.
Another pause.
Maeve: I’ve been saying this for years, by the way. You just keep hoping I’ll get tired and let you rot quietly. I won’t.
He swallowed.
I’m captain now,he typed.The stakes are different.
Maeve:The stakes are only higher if you keep pretending you’re something you’re not.
And if the job can’t survive you being honest, then maybe it’s not the holy vocation you’ve turned it into in your head.
A beat.
Maeve: I’m not asking you to burn the place down. I’m asking you to stop living like one wrong look will damn you forever.
Byrne stared at the screen, chest tight.
I know,he typed.
Maeve: You always say that. And then you do nothing.
A final message came through.
Maeve: Drink some water. Stretch properly. And for the love of God, if you’re going to fall for someone again, at least don’t do it like you’re committing a crime.
I love you. Now cop on.
The phone went quiet.
Maeve had always been like this—profane, perceptive, unsentimental in her love. A tether to the life he kept insisting he couldn’t have.
And if she’d noticed already—
He exhaled, slow and careful, and stood.
Camp had only just begun.
The rest unfolded unchanged.
