Mate Not Wanted (7 page)

“And we have a flag up. Offside. Too bad for the Thunder Prowlers!”

Pierce rolled his eyes. He took a swig of beer and tried to relax into his seat.

“Looks like the Thunder was ready for that wind. The center has manifested a shield to help stave off all that hot air.”
The announcer guffawed and Pierce could only groan.

“Oh! An attempted bicycle kick! And too high! The goalie almost lost a finger trying to stop that goal! Remember folks, goalies can only use their powers to stop plays within a certain distance. Once players are in the goalie box, everyone has to go normal. Oh and we have an accusation of diving. Oh! It’s a yellow card. Let’s hope that that’s the only one!”

Only twenty minutes before the half. Pierce wasn’t sure his heart could take much more.

“We have a free kick for the opposing team. The wall is set up! Ref has blown the whistle and—”

The chanting from the crowd grew to a fever pitch. The team captain took the shot. The crowd’s chanting lowered and rose as the ball sailed through the air. Too high! The ball sailed over the goal and out of the goalie’s reach.

Pierce let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. The whistle blew and the first half was over. With a shaky hands, Pierce took a sip of beer and smiled weakly at the rest of the people in the box. He wished that Ryan was here to see it, watch their dream come true right before their eyes and celebrate along with them.

Pierce loved that they were truly testing the bounds of the rules. The werewolves and feline shifters especially were taking advantage of their abilities. They used their great speed to dodge opponents, running so fast they were a blur.

“And another offside call for the Vultures! That offense is too fast for their own good. And that water spell is back into play. Oh, and the center has used an ice spell. Let’s see if this helps the Vultures.”

It had taken months and years of playing in private, hiding from the public, to figure out the dynamics of the game and change the face of football. So far he’d accomplished his goals. As he entered the owner’s box he felt a sense of apprehension despite the jubilant party atmosphere in the space. Weston had already started drinking—well, drinking water, since Pierce refused to let him break the rules after his heart attack—but he was still in good spirits.

Matt had the game’s Facebook page and Twitter accounts up to post updates and monitor what people were saying. Once he figured out the kinks in the system Matt would train the media department and choose who would go to what games. All of that went over Pierce’s head. It was the smiles and good-natured bets going on between Mack and Weston that made him smile.

Eddy was watching the action and eating some wings with a small smile on his face, which made Pierce feel as if he’d been a success. Everyone was truly invested in this now. Even Matt seemed unable to tear himself away from the action until the halftime show kicked in.

“It’s a success, sir.” His voice shimmered with excitement. If he’d been in his rabbit form, his ears would have stuck up and his whiskers would have been twitching nonstop with his tail wagging. “Everyone can’t wait for the second half, and I, for one, need another beer.” He got up and grabbed a Stein rather than a small plastic cup.

Pierce shook his head. He’d never seen Matt drink so much before. They’d have to go out for a celebratory dinner with both teams to party properly. He slipped out his cell phone and dialed Ryan’s number.

“What?” the cheetah shifter growled.

“What’s wrong? Pull you away from a beauty?” Pierce teased.

“You know goddamn well that I’m waiting for the second half to start. I’ve got a hundred quid on this game and you damn well better tell me who has the better players. I can’t tell, even if I manage half of each team. Why are you calling? You gonna brag about this being a good idea? ’Cause I don’t care.” Ryan paused in his tirade and Pierce heard him take a few deep swallows. “Besides, I got a lovely on each lap. One gorgeous lady and one sweet-assed lad. Both of whom have promised to do lascivious things to me if their respective team wins.”

Pierce rolled his eyes. “Trust you to find bed warmers even while watching the game. I won’t give you inside info but I will say I’ll expect your call after the game for a full-depth analysis and news of new additions. We need to fill those rosters.”

Ryan grunted. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll get you the names. No worries. Gotta go. Need more beer.”

The call ended before Pierce could say anything back. All he knew was his best friend and first investor was pleased and just as eager as he was.

Madison. Her name drifted through his mind, but he brushed it away. Not now. Not when there was the second half to deal with. Disaster could still happen. He looked over at Matt who’d taken his seat and pulled his laptop and tablet toward him. His gaze bounced back and forth between the two screens.

Matt would be taking on a lot of responsibility besides being Pierce’s PA. They had only a skeleton crew and were in the process of trying to lure big names in the sports world over to their team. Matt had done the footwork, gotten a list together and made the calls himself. Pierce could see that he would be perfect to take over for him during the times he was away or when he was ill.

Ryan loved bouncing around the world too much to settle down in an office. And his other best friends and investors liked being where they were. Settling here in town was out of the question. It would all be up to Matt, whether the young man was ready for it or not. Pierce would train him unofficially first before throwing him in at the deep end.

As the whistle blew for the second half, Pierce could feel the tension climbing back up his spine and filling his limbs. His right leg began to bounce as he reached out and took a pull on his beer. The stands were packed, much to his pleasure, and he hoped it would stay that way. For now, all the teams would be playing in this stadium until they got permission to build in other cities.

All too soon, the second half started. The next forty-five minutes would determine if this truly was a success.

The Thunder Prowlers weren’t going to sit back. Their goalie had decided that water was going to be called for. He used his witch powers to make the box around the goal into a series of mud puddles. The ref took out a yellow card and issued a penalty, demanding that the goalie withdraw the spell and only use it when someone was getting close to the goal. Pierce chuckled. Lei would be pissed. The goalie withdrew the spell and the game went on.

“Too bad for the Thunder Prowlers. Uh-oh. Looks like the Vultures are taking advantage of this ruling and their two forwards have partially shifted into hawks. This is going to get messy. Let’s see if the ref will…and he did! Penalty against the Vultures. No flying! Free kick for the Thunder Prowlers. The wall forms and…goal!”

Pierce let out a whoop.

“We have the score two to two, folks. This just got interesting.”

The face-off came again and the Vultures got a one-up on the Prowlers with a sneaky bit of complicated footie. One forward remained in human form and the other partially shifted into a panther.

“And they’re getting down the field. This could be a goal folks. The goalie isn’t even trying a spell. The defense is on the attack…but no! Kirks has passed the ball to Mueller! Mueller to Robins, Robins back to Kirks. This partial shifting is madness! The goalie is trying a wind trick. No dice! And…goal!”

“Aw, fuck!” Pierce shouted. He threw a pillow down to the floor.

“The Thunder Prowlers have the ball and they’re not letting it go. Tight formation. Tight passing. The defense is trying to break through. No dice! From Torsten to Denver, to Keene, back to Torsten. The goalie is going for a wall of ice. And goal! With a hat-trick over the wall! Insane, folks, insane!”

The score was tied. Pierce loosened a few buttons and downed the whole bottle of beer. He shifted in his seat. His tiger wanted to be out there, among all the excitement.

The Vultures got the ball back with a few interesting shifts. The bears on defense for the Thunder Prowlers managed to keep the ball, but only by their fingernails. The goalies decided to try dueling earth spells.

“And Torsten is lining up for another shot and GOAL! Even with the grounds being turned into a series of hills! The Vultures’ coach is demanding a foul call. He’s claiming Deeks did an illegal hit on Toomes! And the ref says no! Play will continue.”

The rest of the game became far more aggressive with shoving, fights, and a few punches thrown. Yellow cards were given all over the place. With three minutes to go, the ref called a penalty against the Thunder Prowlers, which gave the Vultures a free kick.

“Tanner lines up. The wall is formed and goal! The score is tied! Overtime. First to score wins.”

Pierce found himself downing beer after beer, feeling a light buzz in his system, but it did nothing to calm him down. If anything, when overtime was signaled he thought he would pass out from lightheadedness. He jumped up and began to swear and pace. “Motherfucking, referees. Perfectly good call. That should have been a free shot.”

Weston laughed. “Not likely. Good call in my view.”

Pierce snorted and Mack threw a pillow at him. “I agree with Weston. Good call. Now shut up and sit the hell down, mate. You’re making me want to shift.”

Mack had a glint in his eye. Pierce figured that Mack just wanted to strip down naked and streak the field to give the fans something to cheer for.

“Keep your clothes on, Macky. Wait until the auction.”

“Why wait with so many birds in the stands, eh?” Mack took a pull of beer and turned to say something to Eddy, who let out a gruff laugh.

Even Eddy was having a good time. Everyone was. Pierce was tempted to ask Weston to call Madison and ask if she was watching, but he shook his head and took a tug on his beer. He allowed the cool liquid to distract him from fantasies of Madison watching, getting just as excited as he was about the sport. No time to think about her. So far so good, but they still had overtime to deal with.

He rubbed his hands on his denim-covered thighs and tried to eat a hot dog piled high with fixings. At least his stomach had calmed down enough for him to try to down something. He barely tasted the spiciness as the game resumed. Pierce sat as if in a trance, his gaze glued to the pitch, his body working on autopilot as he waited for something magical to happen. They had enough highlights to satisfy all the sports programs, but he wanted an icing-on-the-cake moment.

He didn’t have to wait long. The Thunder Prowlers made it down the field when one of the Vultures tackled Keene, who ended up limping off the field. The ref stopped the game, a yellow card was issued, and a free kick was declared. The fans went wild.

Torsten lined up. The wall was formed. The goalie got ready. Torsten kicked and it went over the players. The goalie tried to get a hand on it. The ball sailed over his shoulder, just out of reach, and straight into the back of the net.

“Goal! Goal! Thunder Prowlers win! The crowd is going insane!”

Pierce allowed his body to go limp. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes. If all the games could be like this one…He found himself wishing once more that Madison was watching and had loved the game, that she would accompany her father next time.

Matt tapped him on the shoulder, breaking his trance. Matt’s eyes sparkled, and a look of pride was on his face.

“Everything looks good, sir. Twitter is on fire with all sorts of hashtags for players and teams and moments. And our Facebook page has been flooded with compliments. Everyone seems to want to see a game up close, and the next game is already sold out. I’d say it was a success.”

Excitement buzzed in Pierce’s body. He couldn’t wait to see the final numbers and tally up the sales for tickets for the next games. They’d passed out coupons for discounts for the match at the end of the month. Lei would be over the moon with this win and Cable, the coach for the Vultures, would be pissed that he’d lost the opener. It didn’t matter though. They were all winners in this. The league was a success.

“I say we celebrate at Tanner’s tonight, on me. Matt, let the teams and the staff know and tell Tanner’s to open up their banquet rooms. I want their best of everything.”

Pierce brushed his fingers over his stubble as memories of past celebrations drifted up in his mind. He knew exactly how hard players could party. Whether they won or lost, they could really destroy themselves. It wouldn’t do to have them wasted in practice tomorrow. He knew Lei would be hard on them if they arrived hung over. Cable would be a barking maniac, whipping his boys into shape for the next matchup.

Tomorrow he also had to deal with Caddie Larson and her demand for a women’s league. She’d promised names, but had yet to deliver on contracts and assurances. She didn’t even have a practice space lined up, much less a plan for how to lure in advertisers who wouldn’t exploit the players.

Pierce shook away those thoughts. He’d deal with Caddie later. Tonight was a time for celebration.

“Everything is set up, sir.” Matt grinned. “And I made sure that they had extra security for the fanfare. As soon as I sent in the request it appeared on Twitter.” A bright ruby flush appeared on his cheeks. “Sorry, sir.”

Pierce chuckled. “Nothing to worry about, Matt. Word would have gotten out anyway. Let’s go.”

Weston gave Pierce a hug. “Sorry, Pierce. I’d love to but I can’t. Lizzie would kill me if I didn’t come home directly. I don’t want to give the girls too much to worry about. If I’m a good boy I may even get sugar in my dessert.” He clapped Pierce on the back, shook hands with all those left in the room, and then took his leave.

Once Weston was gone, Pierce felt as if the ghost of Madison went with him. As he took in his friends, downing the last of their beers, smiles on their faces, joy in the atmosphere, he couldn’t help but allow the thought of Madison to rise up again. This time he found himself wondering what it would have been like to have her here to celebrate with him. Would she approve of Tanner’s or would she want a more intimate setting with just the two of them?