Danny shrugged. “I have no idea, but I’m worried that the drugging thing might be part of it.”

“Hell no.” Catie jerked him to a halt. “They even try that, you shut it down. You did nothing wrong.”

“I know. But coming on top of my bad form, I wouldn’t blame them if they thought I was covering up a habit.” He pressed his fingers to her lips. “It might have nothing to do with that. This is just me panicking.”

Catie kissed the fingers he had against her lips.

Jerking, he looked at his fingertips, then smiled. “Cunning,” he said but took her hand in his as they started walking again. “They haven’t asked me to bring along a representative, so I keep telling myself it can’t be that bad.”

She squeezed his hand. “Okay, let’s play the what’s the worst thing that could happen game.”

“Um, I get dropped from the Harriers, never claw my way back or make the national team again, and slink away with my career in shambles?”

“Could you still play rugby? If the Harriers dropped you, could you get another contract?”

Frowning, Danny took his time to answer. “Yeah,” he said at last. “I’m a good enough player to make any number of teams. I’m just off my game—and you can’t be off your game to play as part of one of the two top clubs in the country.”

“But Danny, you’d still be able to play.” Catie tried to put the value of that in her voice. “All you’ve ever wanted to do since you were a kid was to play rugby—and you’d still be able to do that.”

Danny knew what she was trying to do, and it made his heart go all odd and achy. “There was a second part to that dream,” he reminded her. “I wanted to play for my country.” For the best team in the entire world. “I wanted to wear the black jersey. That hasn’t changed, Catie.”

“Yeah, but as long as you’re playing, the dream’s alive. I mean, look at Viliame.”

Danny parted his lips, closed them. Because she was right. Vili had one of the most iconic comeback stories in the game. And he’d come back from not playing after a freak infection saw him in the intensive care unit, then in rehabilitation for months. Danny’s friend had lost most of his body weight, so skinny and weak by the time he was taken off the machines that Danny had barely been able to breathe when he looked at him.