Chapters (54)
- Cover
- Prologue
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
- Chapter Twenty-Three
- Chapter Twenty-Four
- Chapter Twenty-Five
- Chapter Twenty-Six
- Chapter Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Twenty-Eight
- Chapter Twenty-Nine
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-One
- Chapter Thirty-Two
- Chapter Thirty-Three
- Chapter Thirty-Four
- Chapter Thirty-Five
- Chapter Thirty-Six
- Chapter Thirty-Seven
- Chapter Thirty-Eight
- Chapter Thirty-Nine
- Chapter Forty
- Chapter Forty-One
- Chapter Forty-Two
- Chapter Forty-Three
- Chapter Forty-Four
- Chapter Forty-Five
- Chapter Forty-Six
- Chapter Forty-Seven
- Epilogue
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgements
- Keep Reading …
- About the Publisher
I walk right up to May, reach around her, and sweep her into my arms, one supporting her back and the other under her knees. She lets out a little squeal, but she doesn’t fight me (a relief, given her history with starting battles on the lacrosse field), just laces her fingers behind my neck, eyes wide.
‘Don’t you dare let me go,’ she scolds me, a bashful smile sneaking out as she bites her bottom lip before tucking her head in the crook of my neck and shoulder.
I carry her towards the sliding patio door as she rests her head against my shoulder with an expression of contented bliss on her face. I’ve waited years to see that look from her, that look where there’s nothing to be upset about, nothing to worry about, and now that it’s finally there, I know I’ve done my job right.
‘I won’t ever, Mrs Bradley.’
Author’s Note
While it is not yet a reality, Cross My Heart manifests the world of lacrosse as one that is on a par with the ‘hype’ surrounding leagues today such as the NFL, NHL, and more. The fictional Major Lacrosse League is, in the novel, described as a rather large-scale, fan-heavy base. In the real world, the sport is just making its resurgence. Leagues like the PLL are young, and their players balance day jobs with lacrosse ‘side hustles’. The very first women’s league, the WLL, played their very first match just a week ago, from the writing of this note.
Cross My Heart, though fiction, sees lacrosse as many players hope to one day see it: a hotbed of opportunities for players of all genders, including sponsorships and camps, as well as a truly major league entailing a full-time career.
With the burgeoning popularity of the sport of lacrosse in the United States and Canada, I would like to note that its roots are not as ‘Ivy League’ as the sport has become. Lacrosse originates in Indigenous tribes of North America as a deeply ingrained cultural tradition that was not adopted by the Europeans till much later. Originally, lacrosse was known as stickball, and this iteration is still played by many Indigenous peoples today, as is referenced in Cross My Heart.