Faulty Trust || Katie McCabe

05

"I've never been more excited about an off day," Leah's giddy voice rang out from beside me, causing me to chuckle. Her and I were headed to the golf course since we finally had an off day. It was our last bit of rest before focusing in on preseason and champions league qualifiers. Also bound to be my first appearances for Arsenal, which added a whole other layer of stress to it.

"You're just excited you've got someone to actually golf with now." I shot back with an amused look. I wasn't wrong though; Leah had always mentioned golfing to me because I had been golfing for a long time now. It was a way to decompress and relax while still staying competitive.

"That's true." She rolled her eyes. "Alex isn't exactly the best golfer." I laughed at her subtle dig, knowing she and Alex were best friends like Wally and me.

Deciding to start at the driving range for a warmup, I loaded our clubs into the back of the golf cart while Leah took our phones and such, setting them in the cup holders and jumping into the front seat.

"Am I safe with you driving this thing?" I raised an eyebrow as she turned the key. With a grin, she turned to me, and my heart dropped a little. Turning back towards the path in front of us, I gripped the handle beside me and hoped we wouldn't be flipping today.

Leah laughed loudly at my actions and drove the short distance to the driving range. It was a rich comment coming from me though, especially if you ask my childhood friend Finnigan, who had become my golfing partner in Switzerland. I may or may not be flipped the cart at one point. I'll never confirm or deny though.

Arriving at the range, Leah took the first couple of swings; she was actually quite good, as if I'd actually admitted that though. Both of us were highly competitive people, which is probably why we got along so well. We were always constantly up for a challenge, no matter what it was.

"You've been golfing for quite a while, yeah?" I asked Leah after hitting another ball. I watched as she nodded, focusing on her next shot before swinging. We watched as her ball flew down the range, bouncing as it landed among the others scattered down the range.

"Did it a lot when I was younger—your left handed?" Leah furrowed her brows, interrupting herself.

I grinned, letting out a low laugh. "Yeah, I'm left-handed, but I'm right-footed. Funny innit?" It really was though, because depending on what it was, I could be left handed or right handed. Sometimes it was fun being ambidextrous.

"I never noticed," Leah smiled. It reached her eyes, making them crinkle a bit; that's how I knew she was truly happy. It was something I had noticed one of the first times I met her; her eyes crinkled when I caught her staring at Wally.

We made it to the actual course at some point, making remarks at each other as our competitive sides came out. But it was light; conversation flowed easily as we simply enjoyed each other's presence. Talking nonsense for the most part, just whatever came to our minds in the moment. Our topics drifted to her injury, to arsenal, to family, and so on. Eventually, though, Wally came up. What can I say? I was a nosy person.

"Have you and Wally talked about that night?" I didn't miss the way Leah frowned slightly and slumped in her seat. We were sitting in the cart waiting for the group in front of us to finish up the 12th hole.

"Not exactly," she paused, thinking about her words carefully. "She's been ignoring me slightly. We still talk and what not, but not necessarily outside of training." I hummed; it was definitely unusual because Wally seemed perfectly fine. She hadn't mentioned anything, and I hadn't picked up on anything. Sometimes Wally was very good at masking her feelings, yet I'd always catch on when it got to be too much. This worried me slightly that I hadn't caught on, and Leah was feeling like this.