Of Course I Love You

Shirley Shirley

Christen POV

"Five minutes until the game you ready Pressy?"

"Yeah Ash. I'm gonna fucking murder Shirley". I felt a strong pull at my shoulder as she looked at me like I was crazy.

"Why?"

A loud scoff escaped my mouth. "Well first I've always hated her. You know that".

She raised her eyebrow at me in suspicion. "Yeah Pressy...but now it seems to be a whole new level".

Ugh. I hate how she could see right through me. "Yeah, she Tobin's ex-girl-"

"HAH you're totally jealous she has the hots for Tobs!"

"Shut up"

"Hey now don't tell my girl to shut up". I turned to see the love of my life now standing beside us. Damn she always did look good in a uniform. The way the shirt outlines her strong arms and-

"Press! Did you hear me?"

Tobin smirked at me like she knew exactly what I was up to. She sent me a wink. Yup definitely busted.

"No sorry...what did you say?"

"I said let's go it's almost game time".

Oh shit. "Right right lets go".

"Nice one cap". Tobin's hand met my ass as she teasingly jogged ahead of me and onto the field.

Tobin's POV

Am I freaking out? Yep. Am I about to play against my psycho ex? Yep. How am I? might you ask, a fucking train wreck.

"Heath? You good you look like you've seen a ghost"

"Yeah Carli I'm just a little nervous. It is my old team and all".

"Understood. Well show them you never needed them. Show them they should miss you. You got this".

For some reason this very pep talk really motivated it. I mean it was from Carli Lloyd, the living legend.

Ashlyn's POV

You know, being the goalie is a lot of fun. For instance I get to watch the whole entire field at once. Like right now, the game is about to start and I can tell Tobin is glancing awkwardly between a glaring Christen and a smirking Cruz. This was about to be a rock fight.

The ball was played back to our defense. Abby controlled the ball and sent it up to Rose. Rose sent it up to Pinoe but Pinoe lost it on a bad first touch. UNC was a very talented team but I knew we had way more composure and camaraderie than them. Shirley was amazing, probably one of the best players we will play against, but she was selfish and very dirty.

The whole game we seemed evenly matched and Tobin seemed completely out of it. Shirley was in her head for sure.

0-0 at the half. Half time we talked team dynamics and how to counteract their attacks on net.

I grabbed Tobin and pulled her to the side.

"Look Heath. I get it but don't let her beat you mentally. She's killing you out there and I can see you're playing scared. Get out of your own head and fucking play". She sent one of her massive smiles at me and pulled me in a tight hug.

"Thanks Ash".

I watched her look to Christen on the other side of the locker room and I saw it. The fire in her eyes. The spark that she needed.

The second half started and Tobin played completely different. She was confident and amazing with the ball. She sent through balls and amazing passes but neither team could find the back of the net. Tobin had the ball and was about to go past Shirley when she absolutely laid Tobin out. Tobin fell to the field and stayed on the ground. The crowd was silent as Christen ran at Shirley.

"What the fuck was that Cruz". Press pushed her and I thought a full brawl was about to go down but Kelly was quick to pull her away from Cruz.

The ref threw a yellow card in the air against Shirley but she only smirked.

We all huddled together as Tobin was checked by the trainer for a concussion.

"I'm gonna rip her fucking head off"

"Press. Show her who the hell shes messing with. We need a goal. Let's fucking go guys! They can't compete with us. Cruz knows that so she plays dirty".

Tobin stood up claiming she was fine.

"You sure about this Heath?"

"Yes coach just put me in"

"Alright Heath. Let's go"

Tobin's POV

I really got hit hard like damn my whole body hurts. I knew she did it intentionally. I look into my favorite pair of green eyes and saw her laced with concern. I sent her a light nod and she smiled.

There were only a few remaining minutes in the game so I got to it. If Shirley wanted to play, let's fucking play. It got really physical with barely any time left and I knew we had to do something. Shirley had the ball and I went full speed ahead. I knew she preferred her right foot so I ran until I had the space to tackle her for the ball. I slid into her to take the ball as she fell.

"Come on ref that's a foul". But the game continued. I ran with the ball and as a defender tried to strip the ball I quickly megged her. I had the ball racing towards the corner. I saw Christen making a cut towards the net so I used my instincts and sent it. The ball soared through the air. Press used her head to knock the ball into the back of the net. Holy shit. We scored.

She raced towards me and jumped in my arms as I held her tight. This moment couldn't be any better. I never wanted to let go but there were still a few seconds remaining but not enough for them to score. As time ran out so did our bench as we celebrated our win.

Fuck you Shirley Cruz.