Pitched Off- Leah Williamson

Chapter 3

I arrived early to the training center for practice the next day. Juggling both my practice bag and a tray full of coffee. No better way than through liquid caffeine to make friends.

"You're earlier than expected." Katie greets me as I enter the locker room. I smile and nod towards the tray in my hands.

"Fancy a coffee?" I offer the tray towards her. To which she eagerly jumps up and grabs one.

"Oh, may you be blessed forever you amazing soul" she says through sips of the warm coffee. I laugh at her obvious love for such a simple thing. "How do you feel, Y/LN, has it finally set in?"

I walk over to my space in the room and set down my bag as I think about the question she just asked. "Honestly? I don't think that it ever will." I pulled out the pictures I had packed in my bag, along with some tape to hang them up. I scattered the images around my space, faces of friends smile back at me, making me feel at home.

"Also, just for future reference, next time you get me coffee, could you get me a latte with no sugar?" She flashes me a cheeky smile.

"So, me getting you coffee will be a regular thing?" I questioned playfully.

"Just letting you know." She smiled and took another sip of her drink.

"Latte no sugar... noted." I laugh.

Being with Katie was so easy. Being with her made it easier to hide away the fears that have been slowly creeping up into my mind. Questions of my ability. New team. New people. Let's not mess this up.

"Anyways, Katie, I never really thanked you for your help with the whole getting adjusted to the new team."

"You don't need to thank me for that Y/N. Everyone is about to start pulling up for practice, and I still need to fully wake up and get ready." She tells me before standing up and stretching out her limbs.

7:45 in the morning and somehow that woman has a smile on her face and a delightful happiness in her tone.

She's perfectly organized and focused.

She's... oh she's so strong.

I watch her out of the corner of my eye as she takes off her shirt to put on her training shirt. Her abdomen contoured with muscles, forming abs that I want to reach out and trace with my hands. My focus on her beauty gets shaken when the Dutch players enter the room together, Viv, Jill, and Daan. I take one last moment to savor the image of Katie in front of me before beginning to get ready myself.

7:45 in the morning and I am fixating on a teammate in a way that I shouldn't.

I screw my eyes shut, shaking the image of Katie from my head before turning my attention to prepping for the practice ahead of me.

---

It's hard to keep the image of Katie out of my head as I go through the motions of practice. Luckily, I manage to focus, except for when during a water break, she sprays the water from her bottle all over her head. I watch the water trail down her face, down her neck...

Suddenly I'm startled out of my concentration on Katie as someone steps in front of my eyeline, blocking my view of Katie. My eyes shot up to meet her face.

"Leah." I say after clearing my throat. She stands in front of me, stoic as ever. We are in matching training kits, yet she wears hers so proudly, where I feel like hiding in mine.