He was still staring at the wall when his phone buzzed again. This time, it wasn't the team chat — it was Joanna. Her name flashed across the screen, and despite the long day, Lukas couldn't help but smile faintly as he answered.
"Hey," he said quietly, his voice a little rough.
"Hey," she replied, her tone soft and warm. "I was watching the match."
Lukas exhaled and leaned back against his pillow. "Yeah. Not the ending we wanted."
"I know," she said. "I couldn't make it to the stadium because of that history paper I had to finish. But I streamed it while I was writing. You looked good out there, Lukas. Really good."
He gave a small, tired laugh. "Didn't change much though, did it? Still lost."
"You can't think like that," Joanna said gently. "You came on and changed the tempo completely. Everyone saw it. Even the commentators were talking about how different Frankfurt looked after you came on."
