The Playbook (a Secret Baby Sports Romance) (10 page)

I
leaned against the bar
, a half bottle of beer in my hand as I watched the crowd partying below. Some of the players intermingled with the hot chicks who were looking for that one easy ride for the night. After the big win the guys wanted to go clubbing, so we had ended up in a VIP section in the club Destination, high above the dance floor. A bevy of gorgeous young women were already waiting for our arrival at the top of the stairs.

I’d accepted a few congratulations and more than one hand on my ass, but it was difficult to get into the party mood. Gone was the need to fuck any warm body; instead I kept out of the limelight and brooded by myself. It was funny to see the way both sexes used each other for their own gains, and in the end it was rare that anything serious came of it. I was a bit surprised at how I viewed the entire mess tonight, how petty the act of a hookup seemed now that I had experienced a taste of something more.

“Dude, are you going to nurse that beer all night?” Terrence asked, his voice loud over the pumping music as he sipped on his drink. He lounged on the nearby chair with a woman on his lap—she looked like she was there for the duration. “You’ve only been holding it for the last hour.”

“What are you, the drink police?” I shot back, in no mood for joking. Let him have his booze and women, I was content to sit here and think. But I was regretting having come. I should have gone straight home after cleaning up, but the guys had talked me into celebrating the win I had very little part in, so I’d caved, thinking it would do me some good to spend some time with the boys and that perhaps a night out would clear my head. But hell, it had only made it worse.

“Chill, dude,” Terrence replied, his eyes narrowing. “What’s eating you? You pissed the coach didn’t put you in more?”

I shrugged. To be truthful, I was a little pissed about that, thinking that if I’d only gotten a minute or two more in the game I could’ve shown him what I was made of. On the ride over, the sports radio presenters had a field day with me, calling me an expensive benchwarmer and a one-hit wonder. That just added fuel to the fire, and now not only did I want to kick some ass, I wanted to show them that I was better than they perceived me to be. I could be that starter again, I just needed the chance and more than a few plays to get going.

“You know I heard that the doc is going to be gone by the end of the week,” Terrence said as we stood watching the party below us. “The boycott is in full force.”

“What?” I replied, surprised. “Why?”

“He doesn’t want her around,” he said with a shrug. “Says she interferes too much, scrambling our brains and shit. I will be glad not to have to go sit through an hour of touchy-feely anymore.”

“She’s just trying to help,” I fired back, knowing deep down that I had caused this the moment. I had said something about her messing with my head in an attempt not to face her. Hell, she was going to really hate me now. No wonder she didn’t want to talk to me. I was about to cost her her job over some stupid words I’d said without thinking it all through. Dammit, I didn’t mean to screw her job up, as well.

“You haven’t given her a chance to help you.”

Terrence looked at me funny, a grin spreading over his lips. “You’re sticking up for her. Dude, what did she do in that bed? Spin you like a helicopter?”

“Shut the hell up,” I growled. Friend or no friend, I was not going to let him talk about Lucia that way. She didn’t deserve it. Her heart was in the right place, and if they would give her even a half a chance to do her job, then everyone else would see it, as well. My eyes widened; it was as if a light had flickered into life in my head. I was a damn fool. I had thought the exact same thing, had practically bribed her into a date in order to win the bet, but had I lived up to my end of the bargain? Had I been open-minded enough to go through with a session? Had I fuck… no, instead I did what I always did: I thought about number one and to hell with everyone else. I hadn’t thought what would happen. Typical fucking jock, I thought, despising myself.

“Fine, hey, I can’t afford to get into a fight tonight, and I suppose in a way those sessions weren’t all that bad… they got me pumped up for practice—even more so than normal when I think on it,” Terrence said, holding up his drink as the girl drifted her hands over his broad shoulders in silent invitation. “But anyway, come on man, how about you just lay off of it for a while? This chick is really screwing with both of your heads. Go get yourself another girl and get her out of your system. That’s the best thing to do, right? Unless…”

“Unless, what?”

He glanced at me, his mouth partially open as if he were about to say something more. “Nah, never mind.”

I broke the stare and set the beer on the counter. “I don’t want another girl. This one is trouble enough,” I said, mostly to myself, but Terrence heard and gave a little shrug. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my keys, feeling suddenly tired. “I’m out, dude. Have a good one.”

“All right, man, see you tomorrow,” Terrence said as I walked past him, throwing him a quick wave before heading for the stairs down. Outside the club, the night was balmy and blissfully quiet. My ears felt like they’d been about to burst from the noise—perhaps out here I could actually think. I wandered over to where my car was parked and noticed something trapped under the arm of one of the wipers. What looked to be a small rectangular sheet flapped in the breeze, the edges catching the wind and furling upwards.

Not this again.

I snatched at what I now realized was an envelope, took one glance at it before I shuddered—the back was sealed, and along the edge were two kisses, ruby red lip-prints stamped upon the paper. I couldn’t deal with this, either, I thought. I quickly crumpled the envelope, and the letter and picture that was no doubt inside, with my fist and let it fall to the ground. I stood for a second with my eyes closed and pushed the envelope and its sender far from my mind.

With that dealt with and my head reasonably clear, I climbed in, closing the door hard behind me. I gripped the wheel with my hands, telling myself that I needed to point the car in the direction of home before I did something really stupid. The thought of Lucia still lingered. It was like I’d been bitten, and no amount of scratching was going to make the itch subside. I tried to tell myself there was no way in hell I was going to walk up to her father’s house, my boss’ home, just to see her. That would be the worst move ever. Do not pass go, do not collect $200; go directly to jail and kiss my NFL career goodbye. No, I had to wait until she came to me. I didn’t have any other options.

With a sigh I turned over the engine, peeled out of the parking lot, and made the sensible decision to go home. My realtor had managed to get us through the closing in super quick time, and now with the help of an interior decorator, the place was fully furnished. Except it didn’t really feel
full.
Without Lucia there, the place was like an echoey cavern. Yes, I could have all the toys and gadgets I wanted, enough to fill the whole damn house if I wanted to, but something was missing. I couldn’t even use the damn pool! I hated this, but I hated being separated from Lucia even more. Fuck’s sake, how could I let myself get so hung up on one woman after only knowing her for such a short time? It was like a prank was being pulled on me, and for a second I considered that this was probably how all my past groupies and conquests felt… How was I going to fix this? Did I even have what it took to make it right? I’d been wrong and the coach was wrong, and there had to be some way to have my cake and eat it, too.

I pulled up in the drive and shut the engine off before climbing the stairs to the empty, quiet house. Lucia had been right—it was far too big for just one person. The evening was close, and if there were any night to have a dip in the pool and forget about her, it would be tonight, but I couldn’t find enough energy to even want to strip off my clothes. Opening the door, I threw my keys into the new bowl on the foyer table—neither of which I had picked out—and walked into the kitchen. I pulled a beer out of the fridge before noticing that the pool lights were on. I walked out onto the patio to investigate, though knowing myself I probably just forgot to turn them off.

The glow from the pool wasn’t enough to obscure the brightness of the stars tonight, and the waterway looked as if it were lit up with twinkling strands. My eyes sought the gentle ripple of the pool’s surface. Water normally soothed me, but tonight I still felt restless, especially after finding the note on my car. Instead of dwelling on it, my mind drifted to Lucia again. What was she doing right now? Sleeping, no doubt, or at least I hoped so. Shame it was the wrong bed.

Suddenly I caught movement out of the corner of my eye., then heard a splash. A figure was hiding in the shadows at the far end of the pool, near the jacuzzi.

I swallowed, ready to bolt, but something made me stay. If it was
him
or a burglar, would they really be using the pool? And the outline of the person, now coming towards me, was relatively small. The hourglass shape of woman.
Could it be?

I waited, almost not breathing as the figure ducked down beneath the surface and slowly drifted forward, swimming through the water. She made it to the far edge and emerged in one smooth motion, head, then bare shoulders coming up next.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Her smile was wide; pleased at my reaction… though she wouldn’t be soon enough. But still my eyes were glued to her dripping wet naked body as she rose out of the water, slowly taking one step at a time, so I could take my time to appreciate the view. But the view was soured…

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Oh, honey. Don’t you like your surprise?” she said, her hands outstretched, showcasing every last inch of her frame. Her hands came back to her sides, trailing up her torso, then up to her huge breasts, squeezing them together. “This is all for you, Jakey.”

I had to force myself to look away—I was still a hot-blooded man after all. But here was a forbidden fruit standing before me, ripe, and ready for plucking, fucking, and everything in between.

Except the woman who was eager and very willing wasn’t Lucia.

She was my very own stalker.

* * *

“
I
sabella
,” I started.

“See, you do care, you remembered my name,” she said, almost purring the words. “You can call me Izzy, though, if you prefer. Actually you can call me anything you want while you’re fucking me.”

“It’s hard to forget when you’ve sent me countless cards, texts, and emails all signed with your name, oh and yes, not forgetting the naked pics. Mind, the team did love those.”

She frowned. The night obviously wasn’t going as she’d planned. “I don’t understand, Jakey. Didn’t you like them, too? They were for
you
. You liked me well enough when we were in the limo… And you did promise me a rain check.”

Izzy sashayed forwards, tiny droplets parting from her tight and well-maintained body before she came to a stop in front of me.

Before I could stop her she cupped my hard cock—the traitor—and started rubbing. “See, you want me. I know you do. Let’s go play…”

Where I found the willpower to stop her I didn’t know. But Lucia’s face kept darting into view in my mind’s eye.

“No. Stop. Enough’s enough. You do realize I could get you fired over this?”

“You wouldn’t!” she gasped.

“Try me.”

Her face was full of fury now; it was clear she wasn’t going to get what she wanted.

“Come on, you have to leave. Where are your clothes?”

A devilish smile appeared on her lips. “I don’t know,” she said unconvincingly.

“Seriously? Well, in that case you’ll just have to get home naked.”

I grabbed her by the elbow and started to lead her to the house. Thankfully she followed willingly without struggling. But she didn’t stop telling me all the things I could do to her, if only I would let her stay. She was giving everything up on a platter, but for some reason it no longer appealed. We reached the front door, but I stopped before I opened it. No matter what I’d said, I couldn’t throw her out like she was. I wasn’t that much of a prick.

I started to pull my shirt off over my head and her eyes widened with glee. “No,” I said, quickly putting a stop to the dirty thoughts that were no doubt whizzing through her peroxide-addled mind. “Put this on.”

She pouted but did what I said. “You’re no fun anymore.” The shirt was huge, swamping her frame and coming down to just above her knees, but at least she was covered now and less tempting.

“Did you drive or come in a taxi?”

“Taxi,” she muttered.

“Fine, I’ll order you an Uber.”

A few moments later I was letting in the car and escorting her down the steps. I wanted to make sure she was going to get in and not hide and try get back into the house. I wouldn’t put it past her to wait till I was asleep and slip into bed next to me.

Preoccupied with Izzy, I failed to notice the second car pull up the drive until it was too late. I opened the back door of the Uber for her, but before she got in, Izzy wrapped her arms around my neck in a strong vise-like grip and then proceeded to kiss me. I managed to peel her off and placed her into the car without much difficulty after she’d gotten a taste of me. She grinned, waving at me from inside the dark interior of the luxury car. She mouthed the words “See you later, call me!”