call it what you want

5. raven haired retriever

Apparently they were getting a new player from Mexico the next day which nobody thought to inform Victoria of. Dani Rojas was his name and Vic was, to be completely honest, terrified to meet him. She was just now getting comfortable with the boys on the team and adding one more to the mix would throw her all off.

"How's Jamie doing?" Ted asked, Vic looked away. She hasn't seen or spoken to Jamie since the interaction in the locker room and she really didn't want to face him again. Vic had no way of knowing if he was telling the other boys about last night when he found her sobbing her eyes out. She really really hoped he didn't.

"Says he can't practice today. Says he's hurt." Beard responded, eyebrows raised.

Dumbass.

Ted didn't respond but instantly headed to the door entering the locker room.

Something had happened with Ted and Michelle last night when her and Henry left, Vic didn't press the issue but the hints Beard had been dropping her were far from good.

From her spot on the desk she could hear Ted screaming at Jamie about missing practice.

There were times when Ted reminded Vic far too much of his brother, and it made her nauseous. On the rare occasion when Ted would scream at his players back home it would remind her all too well of her father, when he would scream at her for getting tired at practice. She tried her hardest to keep up with the boys but sometimes, she just couldn't do it. And he would scream at her, telling her to get back out there and stop being a baby, that she was weak, a pussy.

She wasn't a baby, but she was a child.

Vic knew Jamie wasn't actually hurt but no one deserved to be screamed at like that, even the team's resident douchebag.

The moment Ted returned to the room with the other coaches Vic got up walking straight passed him out onto the pitch. She could see Jamie looking at her out of the corner of her eye but didn't stop for a second.

Out on the pitch she stayed silent, trying to shake the memories of her childhood off. A yelling could be heard coming from the tunnel as it got closer she could finally make out what the voice was saying.

"Dani Rojas, Rojas! Dani Rojas!" The boy emerged, jet black hair flowing in the wind behind him as he ran in circles, the rest of the boys watching in awe. Eventually he stopped in front of the coaches. "Hey! Hello, coaches!" He shook each off their hands excitedly before landing on Vic. "Hello hermosa!" He took her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it, "Lovely to meet you!" She couldn't help but smile at this, this was a gesture she had only read about in books and seen on tv but never thought she'd experience.

He moved over to Ted. "Thank you for the opportunity!"

"You are a spirited fella Dani." Dani continued jogging in place. "Just go on out there, and get the striker spot for us, okay?"

"Yes! Just like back in Guadalajara, you say it, I do it, Coach." He began running backwards, a huge smile on his face. "Football is life!"

Dani proceeded to run around high-fiving all the boys on the pitch, the moment he got to Jamie he swatted him away. Vic rolled her eyes with a smirk. Dani was a ray of sunshine on this dark and dreary pitch.

The moment he got passed a ball he began flying, faking it past Colin, passing it over to Sam who passed it back, causing Dani to nail it into the goal.

Jesus.

All of Jamie's goons who stayed on the sidelines with him immediately booked it off to congratulate Dani who was in Sam's arms at this point.