Chapter 178: polo club team

Chapter 178: Chapter 178: polo club team

Damian paused.

"About Vivienne."

Anthony didn’t seem particularly surprised.

"What about her?"

Damian hesitated.

"You two really ended things?"

Anthony nodded.

"Yes."

"And everything’s all right?"

Anthony glanced at him.

"Damian."

"What?"

"What do you think?"

Damian frowned slightly.

"I don’t know."

He paused.

"Maybe you changed your mind?"

Anthony shook his head.

"No."

His answer came immediately.

"I don’t think I ever really had anything to change my mind about."

Damian remained quiet.

Anthony looked toward the field.

"I’ve known her since we were children."

"We grew up around each other. I knew we’d eventually be engaged. Eventually we’d marry."

He gave a small shrug.

"But that’s about as far as it went."

Damian listened.

"I never really spent enough time with her to develop..."

Anthony searched briefly for the right word.

"Feelings, I suppose."

A faint smile touched his lips.

"If anything, I was more accustomed to the idea of her being my future wife than I was to actually being with her."

Damian nodded slowly.

That sounded exactly like the Anthony he’d always known.

Anthony had never looked at Vivienne as someone he had chosen.

She had simply been part of a future that had been decided for them long ago.

"Then you’re okay with it?"

Anthony gave him a slightly puzzled look.

"Of course."

A brief silence followed.

Then Anthony looked down at the reins in his hand.

"It’s strange."

"How?"

"She’d been part of my life for so long."

He paused.

"Now suddenly, we’re not going to be married."

He gave a small shrug.

"I suppose I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel about that."

Damian almost smiled.

"You don’t have to feel anything."

Anthony laughed quietly.

"That’s what I thought."

A sharp whistle sounded from across the grounds.

Both men turned.

--

Coach Richard Langley stood near the edge of the field, a clipboard tucked beneath one arm.

"Everyone, gather around."

The players gradually assembled.

Damian and Anthony joined them.

Langley looked over the group.

"We’ve all read the Sports Festival announcement."

Several players nodded.

"You know that only sixteen teams will be allowed to register for polo this year."

A few murmurs immediately broke out.

"Sixteen?"

"That’s fewer than last year."

Langley waited until the noise settled.

"And each club or society may register only one team."

More murmuring followed.

Someone near the back muttered,

"Last year we had more room."

"Exactly."

Langley glanced down at his clipboard.

"Which brings us to the reason I called you here."

He looked up.

"Last year, this club finished third."

The mood shifted.

Everyone remembered.

Langley’s expression made it clear that he remembered particularly well.

"We are the Polo Club."

His voice remained calm, but the irritation beneath it was unmistakable.

"And we finished third."

A few players lowered their eyes.

"Not because we lacked capable players."

Langley looked across the group.

"We had them."

He paused.

"Some of our members chose to represent other organizations."

That was exactly what had happened.

The Student Council had taken the championship.

The Strategic Management Society had finished second.

And the university’s own Polo Club had been left in third place.

Langley tapped the clipboard lightly against his palm.

"I have no intention of repeating that result."

He looked around the group.

"This year, the Polo Club will register one official team."

A few players straightened.

"I want our strongest players representing this club."

One student raised a hand.

"So we’re not allowed to play for our societies?"

"That isn’t what I said."

Langley looked at him.

"You’re free to represent your own society if you’re not selected for this team."

"But if you’re selected..."

He paused.

"You ride for the Polo Club."

The meaning was clear.

No scattering the strongest players across different organizations.

No watching Polo Club members compete against one another while wearing different colors.

Langley continued.

"I don’t care which society you belong to."

"I don’t care what position you hold there."

"If you’re one of the strongest players in this club, I want you on this team."

His eyes swept across the group.

"We are not finishing third again."

Several players exchanged determined looks.

Langley lowered his clipboard.

"Last year, the Student Council took the championship."

His gaze briefly settled on Anthony.

"The Strategic Management Society took second."

Then he looked toward Damian.

"And we took third."

His mouth tightened.

"It was embarrassing."

Nobody laughed.

"I intend to correct that."

His gaze settled on Damian.

"Blackwood."

Damian straightened.

"Yes, Coach?"

"You’re one of the players I’m selecting."

Damian nodded.

"Understood."

Langley’s gaze shifted.

"Ashford."

Anthony looked over.

"You too."

Anthony sighed quietly.

"I assumed as much."

"Good."

Langley looked back at the group.

"The remaining starting positions will be decided through trials."

"Four starting players."

"One reserve."

A hand immediately went up.

"What about the reserve?"

Langley looked at the student.

"What about it?"

"If there are only four players on the field..."

The student hesitated.

"The reserve hardly ever gets to play."

Several of the other boys murmured their agreement.

Langley nodded.

"I know."

Another student spoke up.

"Then shouldn’t the reserve position be based on the same trials?"

"It could be."

Langley paused.

"But I’m making one concession."

The murmuring stopped.

"The reserve position will go to the strongest female player in the club."

A few heads turned.

Langley continued before anyone could object.

"You boys are all desperate for those four starting positions."

A few players laughed.

"And frankly, I have no interest in spending the afternoon watching you fight over who gets to sit on the bench."

More laughter broke out.

"So the four strongest players will start."

He tapped the clipboard.

"The strongest female player will serve as reserve."

That seemed to settle the matter.

Nobody objected.

Everyone already knew who was likely to take that position.

Evelyn Sinclair was the strongest female rider in the club that year, and she was more than capable of stepping in if necessary.

Langley looked around the group.

"Any objections?"

None came.

"Good."

He closed the clipboard.

"Then that’s settled."

The players immediately broke into conversation.

Several of the male students were already discussing which societies they might represent if they didn’t make the four starting positions.

Others were comparing the likely strength of the various teams that would enter the tournament.

Damian pulled on his gloves.

Anthony stood beside him.

"So," Damian said, glancing toward the field, "looks like we’re playing for the Polo Club."

Anthony gave a resigned sigh.

"Apparently."

Damian looked at him.

"This is the first time we’re playing on the same team in university."

Anthony glanced over.

Then a faint smile appeared.

"We’ve been playing together since we were children."

"Exactly."

Damian adjusted the strap of his glove.

"And now we’re finally doing it again."

Anthony chuckled.

"Don’t get sentimental."

"I wasn’t."

"You sounded like you were."

Damian laughed.

"Good luck, then."

Anthony raised an eyebrow.

"To us?"

Damian shook his head.

"To them."

Anthony followed his gaze toward the field, where the other players were already discussing the teams they might face.

Then he laughed.

"Fair enough."

They turned toward the field together.

They had been playing on the same side since they were children.

For the first time in university, they would do it again.

And this time, they would be wearing the colors of the Polo Club.

The club had finished third last year.

Neither of them intended to let that happen twice.

--

Tbc