Playing the Game (4 page)

I couldn’t believe how sharp the pain was in
my heart. How could I set myself up this way? I blinked rapidly,
keeping the tears at bay. I could not allow him to see how much he
hurt me. Again.

“
You’re right.”

He took my hand in his, lacing his fingers
through mine. “We can hang out when I’m in town, if you want. But I
don’t date, Aubrey. It’s not fair.”

I nodded, nibbling on my
bottom lip. He had a point but deep in my heart I really wanted him
to say that we would find a way to make it work. It struck me like
lightning to a tree. I still had feelings for him. I mean, like I
had in school. And
that
wasn’t fair.

“
I understand,” I mumbled,
somehow managing a smile.

He continued to stare at
me as though trying to find my lie somewhere on my face. He finally
sat back, still keeping hold of my hand. “So,
sweetheart
, how’s the competition
going?”

“
It’s going okay, I guess.
It can be nerve wracking.”

“
You’ll kick all their
asses,” he said with such confidence, I believed him.

That brought on another suspicion. It was my
turn to narrow my eyes at him. “You voted for me to sing the
Anthem, didn’t you?”

He laughed, his gray eyes shining. “Of
course. I convinced most of the guys on the team to vote, too. And
their families.”

I groaned as I rubbed my temple with my free
hand. “Why would you do that to me?”

His eyes crinkled as half his mouth curved
into a semi-smirk. “I wanted to see you.”

“
You could have just
called.”

“
Where’s the fun in that?”
he asked. I lifted a brow at him. “I lost your number.”

“
It’s in the
book.”

“
Your mother hates me. Do
you actually think she’d let me speak to her precious Aubrey
Rose?”

I leaned over the table,
practically snarling. “I
am
an adult.”

He met me halfway. “Then act like one.”

I shot straight up, shocked, blinking
rapidly. “I do.”

He snorted in disdain. “Who got you the
audition for this show?”

“
I got it. I’m the one who
sings, remember?” Stupid, sexy baseball player.

He rolled his eyes and I was starting to
worry that he was going to hurt his eye sight. “Who sent in your
tape?”

“
That’s beside the point,”
I said, bile rising in my throat.

“
No, darling, that
is
the point.” His smirk
infuriated me in a way I couldn’t explain. Maybe because he was
right and he knew that I knew he was right. “When have you ever
done anything on your own? Without your mother’s
guidance?”

“
I’m here, ain’t
I?”

He grunted. “Are you going to tell your
mother you met me for lunch?”

“
Maybe,” I said casually,
although I was lying. “If she asks.”

“
Sure,” he grinned. I
hadn’t fooled him. He shifted in his chair and signaled to Tess the
bartender. Smiling, she poured him a beer, hurrying back to the
table. She glanced briefly at me, asking if I wanted anything else.
I shook my head and she wiggled her way back to the bar. This time
Jess didn’t look.

“
So, I’m having a get
together at my place Friday night after the game. Do you want to
come?”

My jaw fell and nearly scraped the table.
What was with him? Didn’t he just say he didn’t date? But I guess
inviting me over for a ‘get together’ wasn’t exactly a date. Maybe
I should stay away from him. He’d already hurt me today. Spending
more time with him would surely be categorized as masochistic. But
I was weak. And his eyes were mesmerizing.

“
Sure. If I can,” I said
without conviction.

“
You mean if your mother
lets you,” he said, a touch of anger burning in his
eyes.

“
I mean if I don’t have
any other obligations. I do have a show to do.” I hardened my
voice.

“
That show is on
Wednesdays and Thursdays. What could you possibly have to do Friday
night?”

Good question. I didn’t have an out unless I
confessed that yes, my mother is the main reason why I didn’t know
if I’d make it or not. But the challenging look in his eye dug into
my skin. I’d find a way and show him that I was able to run my own
life.

“
I’ll be there,” I said,
my eyes burning as intensely as his.

His shoulders relaxed as a genuine smile
graced his beautiful lips. “Good girl.”

He called for Tess to bring him a pen and
paper and she jumped at his biding. He wrote his address down and
handed it to me, returning the pen to Tess and sending her on her
way. She glanced longingly at him but he didn’t notice. He finished
his beer, left a couple bills on the table, and stood. “I’ll walk
you to your car.”

He didn’t touch me as we walked. That was
fine with me. I didn’t know if I could handle it. When we got to my
car, I fished the keys out of my bag. He took them from me and
opened my door. Before I could step in, he whipped me around to
face him, pressing his lips firmly to my mouth. I froze, unable to
move a muscle, until he pulled away. Grinning, he gave me a
wink.

“
See you Friday, Aubrey
Rose.”

He waltzed away, leaving me stunned and
unmoving next to my car.

***

“
Help me, Gwen,” I whined
when I got home. My mother was still out doing who knew what and I
was extremely grateful.

“
What? Are you in
trouble?” she asked, anxiety in her voice.

“
I met Jess for lunch
today.”

She laughed. “Good for you. What did he have
to say?”

I relayed the whole conversation to her,
ending with his invitation for Friday night. I did omit the weird
kiss as I didn’t know what to think about that yet.

“
So now I have to go,” I
sighed. “And you know Mom.”

“
Just go, Aubrey. Damn.
She can’t control you.”

She was right but I was weak. I didn’t want
any confrontations. And my dad wouldn’t step in, either. He hated
drama.

“
I can come and go as I
please - I don't have to ask permission like a teenager. But you
know as well as I do how she hates Jess. I don’t need to hear her
rant for the next few days.”

“
Yeah, I can understand
that. Fine,” she relented, releasing a long breath. “You can stay
here Friday. I’ll run interference in case she calls. Just don’t
answer your cell unless it’s me.”

“
Really? Thanks so much,
Gwen!”

“
Well I expect you to
start growing a backbone in return. Not all at once; it’ll take
time. But I don’t want you stuck under Mom’s thumb for the rest of
your life.”

“
Okay,” I said. I’d agree
to anything to get to go to Jess’s get together this Friday. I
don’t know why I was so eager to get my heart broken again, but I
wanted to go so badly that the pain seemed secondary.

“
And,” she said,
stretching the word to three syllables. “I don’t really expect you
to sleep here, if you know what I mean.”

I knew exactly what she meant and my cheeks
burned. “Um, don’t hold your breath. Jess said he doesn’t
date.”

“
Who said anything about
dating? You really need to get l…”

“
I got it,” I shouted.
“Please, don’t get vulgar.”

“
When’s the last time you
did….that?” she asked carefully.

I didn’t want to admit it to her because she
knew of the only two times I had. Originally, I'd planned to remain
pure for my future husband but after a while, I began to think that
my idea was ridiculous. I had dated a boy from a musical I'd
starred in for an Indy production company after I'd graduated and
had allowed him to do what I’d never thought I'd ever let any man
do that wasn’t legally married to me. Twice, actually, because the
first time had been such a disappointment. The second hadn't been
much better either. But, I'd gotten it out of the way - even though
it hadn't been the smartest decision I'd ever made. The more I
thought about it, the stupider I felt.

“
It’s been awhile,” I
mumbled. “But I am not sleeping with Jess Rivers this
weekend.”

“
Of course not,” she
chided. “Just giving you the option. So tell Mom you’re coming to
spend the night with me and you can be on your merry way once the
game is over.”

“
Okay. Thanks. I really
mean it.”

“
Who loves ya,
babe?”

I laughed. No one else in the world loved me
like my sister. “I’ll talk to you later.”

I stared at my ceiling, pondering what I
would wear and if I actually had to the guts to sleep with Jess.
I’d come close in high school but it had just never happened. That
was partially my mother’s fault and partially Jess’s. I guess
neither thought I was ready. Well, if my mother would have had her
way then I’d never have been ready. She'd tried like hell, too, to
limit the time I'd had with Jess. And he'd never taken advantage of
me, either. I had only been sixteen at the time and I think he
thought I was too young. Looking back now, I realize he was right.
Sixteen is too young for such a thing. But twenty-one….

I pushed the thought from my head as I
trudged downstairs to eat dinner and inform my mother of my weekend
plans.

Chapter Four

Rehearsal Wednesday morning for Wednesday
night’s show went smoothly. Everyone always performed better
without the judges around. And the cameras.

I hadn’t really made any friends either,
which didn’t usually upset me but I knew Gwen was hoping I would.
Some of the girls would tentatively smile at me but one girl in
particular, Samantha Roper, didn’t like me much. I figured it was
because of the whole sweetheart deal since she strived to be sweet
as honey to the judges but was even more false than I. She reminded
me of the typical popular girl from all the high school stories;
pretty, rich, and a leader. She'd developed a following which
dwindled each week as more and more contestants were booted from
the show.

I avoided all the male contestants as though
they were infected with highly communicable diseases. I was still
trying to figure out my heart with the whole Jess episode and I
didn’t need another man to throw me further off balance.

So the show became work to me. It was fun,
sometimes, but mostly it was another gig. It was an attitude I
couldn’t afford to have if I wanted to win but my heart just wasn’t
in it. I tried hard, for my mother’s sake, and managed to squeak
through to live another week. It was close, though, because Richard
and Marissa lashed at me violently for not putting any ‘soul’ in my
performances.

“
I really think you should
stay home this weekend and work on next week’s music,” my mother
complained Friday afternoon. I should have seen it
coming.

“
I need a break, Mom,” I
sighed.

“
But Richard and Marissa
keep saying the same things over and over. You do need to work on
it, sweetheart.”

I cringed. I
hated
that word. The
sweetheart name was everywhere now. I couldn’t go to the bathroom
in public without someone calling me that dreaded name.

“
Maybe I’m trying too
hard,” I shrugged, hoping she'd fall for that line. “I need to
relax a little bit.”

“
But, Aubrey Rose,” my
mother began.

“
She needs a break,
Susan,” my dad butt in, shocking us both. He usually kept his nose
out of my music career and in his sports world, letting my mother
deal with it. It worked fine for her, usually.

Pursing her lips, she gave a tight nod. I
kissed my father on the cheek and ran upstairs to pack an overnight
bag. The game was over; my dad had been watching it in the living
room before he put his foot down to my mom. I wasn’t sure exactly
what time the get together was supposed to start, but I couldn’t
wait too much longer.

I raced to my car before my mother could
come up with another reason to keep me home and called Gwen to let
her know I was leaving. She wished me luck, and I knew she wasn’t
just talking about the deception of my mother.

After I hung up with her,
I called Jess. He must have recognized my number because I could
actually
hear
the
smirk in his voice.

“
You on your way yet,
Aubrey?” he asked.

“
I was calling to see what
time.”

“
Any. I’m on my way home
now. I’ll meet you there.” He hung up before I had a chance to say
anything else. I was definitely going to have to do something about
that nasty habit of his.

I’d looked up his address on the Internet to
get driving directions and was completely in awe when I found his
house. It was on the outskirts of the city, in a ritzy subdivision
where the houses were sprawled out over acres and acres of lush
green grass.

His house was a handsome, brick ranch
sitting on a very large lot. I parked in the drive behind a black
H3. Jess and his trucks. He opened the door and met me on the
porch, glimmer in his eyes.

“
I can’t believe you
actually came,” he smirked.

“
Don’t be an ass, Jess. I
can still leave.” I stood before him on the porch, craning my neck
to look up in his face.