Punt: A British Bad Boy Football Romance (10 page)

“Your wife has been in an auto accident,” the woman said. “She’s at St. Thomas’s. She’s going to be fine, but will need someone to pick her up.”

“Natasha?” he asked, confused.

“Yes, sir.”

“She’s not my wife,” he groused.

“I apologize, sir. She’s given you as her primary emergency contact.”

“I can’t help,” Liam said. “We’re not married. I’m not even living in the country at the moment.”

“Again, sir. My apologies. We will try the other contacts on her list.”

Liam hung up with a growl. Natasha had been silent for months now, perhaps thinking that if she froze him out he’d realize that he missed her. Unlikely, considering that when he broke off their ill-advised engagement, she took off her engagement ring and flung it into the Thames just to spite him.

Nearly ten thousand pounds, right in the river. Still, not being attached to the social-climbing, money-grubbing girl band starlet was worth every single bit of it. Tonight’s phone call was an unwelcome intrusion, a reminder straight from Natasha to Liam.

His phone rang again, still in his hand. He answered without even looking.

“What?” he growled, assuming it was the hospital again.

“Packham?” a different voice asked. This time it was an American voice, low and rough and male.

“Yeah,” Liam said, suspicious.

“I was told to call you, let you know there’s a fight tonight. Thirty minutes. You got a pen?”

“Uhhh… hold on.”

Liam scrambled for a pen and paper, then took down the address. The guy hung up straight away, leaving Liam to pull on jeans and a fresh t-shirt. He ran a comb through his hair and put his shoes on, then paused.

What, exactly, did one need to bring to an illegal pit fight in order to save a friend’s neck?

Cash. Liam knelt by his bed and opened his floor safe, pulling out a stack of ten thousand American dollars. At a loss for what to do with it, he grabbed his leather jacket and put it on, then stuck the money in the jacket’s pocket.

When he finally walked out of his room, he stopped short. Audrey was sitting in the living room, fully dressed. Sipping a glass of wine and watching him with a great deal of interest.

“Going somewhere?” she asked.

Liam gritted his teeth. He’d already lashed out at her once today, and didn’t want to do it again, but her tone was already grating on his nerves.

“Out,” he said, moving toward the door.

Audrey popped up to her feet, tossing back the last of her wine. She followed him, picking up her purse. Liam stopped, then turned.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Going with you.”

“No.” It was far too dangerous, but he also knew by now that he couldn’t tell her that. It would only bring on a protracted argument, and he didn’t have time for that right now.

“You don’t have a choice. I’ll call your agent. I’ll call the team owners, if I have to.”

“I’m going to fuck a girl,” Liam said. The words were out of his mouth before he could hold them back. It was the only think he could think of to keep her from following him.

Audrey’s face crumpled. For a moment, he thought she was going to cry.

Instead, she just mumbled, “oh!” and sat back down on the couch.

“I’ll be back…” he said, just digging himself in deeper. “Errr, later.”

“Okay,” she said. She was looking at the floor, not at him.

Fuck. He’d really fucked that up.

Still, he didn’t have time to explain himself. He turned and headed for his car, cursing himself.

***

“
J
esus
, Mary, and Joseph,” Liam swore as he exited the fight, supporting Jack as they headed for the car. “What a sight you are, mate.”

Jack didn’t say anything as he hobbled from the nondescript Cabbagetown warehouse. Probably because his face was good and busted up, in addition to having what looked like a badly bruised right thigh and some more broken ribs for good measure.

“D’you need the hospital?” Liam asked, grimacing when he readjusted his grip around Jack’s body and Jack groaned in pain.

Still, Jack just shook his head. “You have a real shiner too. That guy got a few good blows in.”

Liam blew out a breath. He’d cut in on the fight halfway through, bullying his way into the ring and dragging Jack out. The fight organizers hadn’t been thrilled about that, and one of the door guys had taken a couple shots at Liam.

At the moment, he knew he had a black eye and a busted rib or two, but he was ignoring all that.

“I don’t look as bad as you. Or the asshole that sucker punched me, come to think of it. He’s probably still lying in the alley.”

“Yeah. You won that one for sure,” Jack said.

“I can’t believe you’re doing fights,” Liam said as he helped his friend into the passenger seat of the Range Rover. “Your sister is going to shit a brick, you know that right?”

Jack didn’t say anything, but Liam could see a flicker of remorse in his eyes. Jack would do anything to make Audrey happy, to get her approval.

Liam was starting to get a little experience with that desire, himself. He felt for Jack; Audrey was a task master, and she expected a lot of the people in her life. As well she should, because she had a big heart and worked very hard to improve the lot of others around her.

Still…

“She’s gonna be livid,” Liam said as he got in and drove toward his house. “How many more of these fights have you agreed to do?”

Jack held up seven fingers.

“God, how much can you possibly owe them?” Liam said, then waved off Jack’s look of annoyance. “Don’t even tell me. I don’t want to know.”

They rode in silence for a few minutes, until finally Jack spoke.

“Why are you doing this?” he managed through his swollen lips.

Liam looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“Are you just trying to get with my sister?”

Liam stopped at a red light, turning to Jack with a frown.

“The fuck are you talking about?”

“I see you looking at her, her looking at you,” Jack said, shifting in his seat with a soft groan. “I’m not as stupid as people think.”

“I’m not trying to… no,” Liam said, shaking his head. He gritted his teeth against the half-lie, knowing full well that he’d sleep with Audrey the second she ever gave him the chance.

Liam suddenly realized that he was essentially counting on her uptightness to keep them both from making a terrible mistake. It was ridiculous, when he thought about it that way.

“Then why?” Jack asked.

It took Liam a moment to break from his thoughts of Audrey and come back to Jack’s original question.

“You’re my mate,” Liam said, shaking his head. “What more is there to it?”

“Why, though?” Jack asked. “You’re Liam fucking Packham. I’m no one.”

Liam pulled the car into his driveway and threw it in park, then considered Jack for a long moment.

“Do you remember that time you went home with me on holiday?” Liam asked.

Jack watched him for a beat, then slowly nodded. “Yeah.”

“You were the first friend I ever had who saw me, saw my family and all that fucked up shit that was going on, and didn’t even flinch. We slept on the streets for half the week, and you didn’t have a hard word to say to me.” Liam cleared his throat, starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

“What could I say? It’s not like I’m from anywhere, like my family’s any better,” Jack said with a shrug.

Liam gave him a long look. “No one’s family is like that. Not like mine.”

Jack just shrugged. “No. Me and Aud, our parents are bad in a different way. At any rate, there’s no judging on that account. Not from me, not from Audrey. I promise you that.”

Liam snorted. “You’re the only one in the world who will ever see my mum like that. Once I got money, I had her put into a proper home. At any rate, there’s your answer.”

“That’s not really enough reason for all you’ve done,” Jack said, rubbing the back of his head.

Liam shrugged. “What can I say, I don’t have a lot of people in my life that I’m close to. You stuck with me for some reason, so I make sure I stick with you. Isn’t that enough?”

Jack didn’t seem to have an answer for that.

“Let’s get you inside, then,” Liam said.

He went around to help Jack out, then half-carried his friend into the house. Once inside, he got Jack to the couch and helped him lie down.

“Errr… honestly, mate, I don’t know where any of the first aid is kept, your sister does all that.” Liam went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of whiskey, bringing it back to Jack with a glass of ice. “Here, this is a good start.”

“You have my sister organizing your medicine cabinets now, huh? Nice life,” Jack said as he took a slug straight from the bottle.

“Wait… has she not told you…” Liam paused.

Jack arched a brow, and Liam realized that his friend didn’t know that his sister lived in Liam’s posh home. He pressed a hand to his face, then hissed. He’d forgotten for a moment that his face was insanely tender.

“Listen, Jack—” he started to explain, but he didn’t get the chance.

Audrey chose that moment to emerge from her bedroom, wearing a fluffy pink robe and a pair of god’s honest bunny slippers. She looked sleepy and disheveled, her robe slipping off one shoulder.

“Hey—” she said, then stopped dead. “Jack. Are you hurt? Where have you two been? God, Liam, you have a black eye!”

“What in the fuck are you doing in Liam’s house?” Jack growled at her, trying to get up off the couch. “Shit. I swear, when I can get up, I’m going to beat the shit out of somebody.”

“Oh…” was all Audrey said. “Well… I sort of live here now.”

“Seriously, you didn’t tell him you were living here?” Liam asked, crossing his arms and shooting Audrey a glare.

“I— I was waiting for the right time,” she said, straightening her robe and tightening the waist belt.

“You fucking asshole,” Jack howled, pointing at Liam. “You just told me that you weren’t after my sister!”

Liam and Audrey shared a long, uncomfortable glance.

“She’s living here for convenience,” Liam finally managed. “That’s her side of the house, I’m on the other.”

“Bullshit!” Jack said, leaning up just enough to hurl his whisky glass at Liam. It went wide and shattered against a wall, knocking down one of the paintings that Audrey had hung only a few days ago.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Liam said, his voice dropping low with anger. “Audrey doesn’t even have proper shoes on and here you are smashing glasses? House isn’t even a month old yet—”

“Liam,” Audrey sighed. “I’ve got this. Go ahead and clean your face up.”

The pleading look she gave him was the only thing that made him willing to take her orders. He looked at Jack, pure seriousness.

“If I hear so much as a raised voice, I will call an ambulance and have you taken to the hospital. No chance of avoiding Havershom’s fury then, mate. You hear me?”

Jack gave him a grudging nod. To Audrey, Liam said, “Leave that glass for tomorrow.”

She shrugged. Only then did he turn and head for his bedroom, stripping down and changing into his t-shirt and a pair of comfortable sleep shorts.

He sprawled across his bed but left the lights on, staring off into space and keeping an ear open for any trouble in the living room. Whatever the siblings said, they were quiet about it.

Liam checked the time on his phone, then laid back and let his eyes drift shut. A soft knock at his door startled him awake, and he sat up.

“Yeah,” he said, blinking

“Hey,” Audrey whispered, slipping into his room and closing the door. “I saw that your light was on.”

“Mmf,” Liam said. His brain wasn’t quite working.

Audrey held up a small first aid kit. “I figured you didn’t fix up your eye. Looks like I was right.”

“It’s fine,” Liam sighed.

“It’s not. If you let me do this, it will be less noticeable at practice tomorrow,” she said.

Shit. He hadn’t even considered that.

“Alright,” he said, waving her over.

Audrey knelt beside him on the bed, opening her little first aid case. She pulled out some swabs and wiped at the cut on his temple, her touch feather-light. Liam make a face at the sting of the antiseptic.

“Sorry, sorry,” she said.

“It’s all right,” he said.

She took out a butterfly bandage and put it on him with the utmost care. Watching her studious expression as she worked was almost comical. She worked so hard to be gentle with him, it was…

Well, touching.

She was ever so close, the soft curves of her breasts and hips covered by nothing more than her silly robe. Her hair was still a little damp, and he could smell her lavender shampoo.

He leaned back, trying for a little distance from her. For the first time in a long time, they weren’t fighting or vexing each other. It wouldn’t do to ruin this nice moment by getting a raging hard-on just from her simple touch.

“Take off your shirt,” Audrey said after a minute.

“Sorry?”

“I want to make sure you’re not bleeding internally or anything,” she said, her cheeks flushing pink.

“Honestly? I can’t take it off. My ribs,” he explained.

“Ah. I, uh, I’ll help.” Audrey tugged his shirt up and over his head, but the movement still hurt a fair bit.

She began to examine his shoulders, back and ribs with the same gentle touch.

“Let me know if anything hurts, okay?” she asked.

“Let’s just get it over with, alright?” he grunted. Her touching his body was the opposite of the space he needed. She was closer than ever, and kept giving him flashes of plump cleavage or bare thigh.

It was not helping his situation in the least.

“Liam,” she said as she worked. “I want to thank you for rescuing Jack. He told me what happened. I… I don’t know what he would have done if you hadn’t showed up.”

“I wish I thought that getting his arse kicked would make him stop.”

Audrey’s fingers stilled for a moment, and she heaved a sigh.

“No, I suppose it won’t.” She bent low to examine his stomach, her head of flaming red hair dipping alarmingly close to his cock, then sat up again.