The day of the match was closing in fast, and Maya couldn’t shake the heavy feeling in her chest. It was being promoted as a “friendly”, a fun, charity game between the men’s and women’s teams. But she and Leo both knew the truth. This wasn’t about charity. It was a stage. A trap.

It was designed to test Leo’s ankle, test the mood of the women’s squad after all the recent cuts and most of all, test the strength of the story Maya and Leo had been telling. That they were nothing ...