The Playbook (4 page)

“Mmmm that's good,” she purrs.

She licks her lips in a blatant effort to try and seduce me. Her technique is a bit of a turnoff and I know I have to seal this deal soon before she ruins it completely. I grab her by the hips and spin her on her chair planting my lips on hers. She pulls away, stunned, but two seconds later she's on me again. Maybe I underestimated her, because she tastes amazing.

“So, how about we take this back to my place?” I ask, already knowing the answer is yes.

“I'm kind of on a girl’s night out. I can't leave my friend.” She winces, as if she can't believe what she's saying. I think we both know she's blowing the opportunity of a lifetime here.

Or at least she will be if I get my way.

I glance over her shoulder at her friend who gives me a half-raised eyebrow and an eye-roll. She's curvier than Red, but that's kind of refreshing. If she smiled a bit, she'd be really quite attractive. The chubby ones are always so serious.

"She can join us," I say. Maybe a good ride would loosen her up.

"Thanks, but no," she says, making a face.

I shrug. Oh well. I’m not here for her anyway, so I don't give a shit what she thinks.

“We'll be back in twenty minutes,” I mouth at her. She looks a little shocked as I grab Red's hand and walk across the room to the fire exit, but I don't care. My head is now spinning and I know I'm probably only a few minutes from crashing, so all I want to do is get laid and now.

I push the fire exit door open and pull her through it. It's cold out but what I plan on doing will get us warm soon enough. Pushing her up against the wall, I kiss her hard. Running my fingers over her top, I feel her breasts as her nipples harden against my touch. She arches her back as her fingers struggle to unbutton her shirt.   

Impatiently, I rip her shirt clear off her body. Buttons fly everywhere as I yank her closer to me. She gasps, which just encourages me further. Pulling her skirt up over her hips, I yank at her thong, shoving it to the side. Her eyes widen with shock, but I don't care. I just need to pound my cock inside her.    

She keeps kissing me, which indicates consent to continue, so I take my cock out and thrust it deep inside her wetness, making her gasp so loud it echoes in the alley.    

My head is pounding so much it's hard to concentrate. My vision begins to blur and for a moment I think I might pass out, but then I get the release I need as I come inside her.     

Panting, I put her down and run my hand through my hair. Red stands in front of me, mouth wide open, staring at me as if she can't believe what just happened. I'm tempted to offer her my autograph, or maybe just sign her boob. She moves in to kiss me, but I quickly duck aside, with a friendly laugh.  

“This was fun, Red. Have a good night.” I slur the words as I stumble back towards the open door, and see Ash waiting there. Fucking sly arsehole probably watched the whole thing.  

"Enjoy the show?" I smirk, nudging him out of the way. "Please tell me you didn’t whack off to me boning some random chick."  

Red huffs behind me and pushes past. I shrug as Asher laughs.   

“Thanks again, Red," I call out after her. "Order yourself a drink and put it on my tab. Hell, order one for your friend too. Maybe it will loosen her up. Send her my way if she wants to ride the T Train.”  

"The T Train?" Asher guffaws.   

"The Tanner Train, but the offer wasn’t extended to you," I grin, slapping him on the back.

We walk back inside and Ash buys the next round of drinks. I should be getting home, but I’m past thinking straight and that’s never a good sign. Especially when Ash is around. As great as he is, together we’re trouble, even more so when you throw alcohol into the mix.

After the next round I try and leave, but the guys convince me to stay for a bit longer. I give in, because you’re only young once, and after the week I’ve had, I deserve to let off a little steam.

Besides, I’ve already been traded to Crystal Hill. How much worse can things get?

Chapter Five

Jake

It’s late when I drag myself out of bed the next morning. Erin grins at me as I pull the carton of milk from the fridge and gulp it down. I glower at her, trying to ignore the pounding in my head. Why the fuck is my sister in my apartment anyway? It takes me a good few seconds to realize I'm at my mother’s house instead of my own place.  

What. The. Fuck?   

“Big night?” Erin asks, her voice light. Her green eyes sparkle as she twists her long blonde hair back into a ponytail, securing it with a fastener.   

“None of your business,” I mutter, my anger increasing with her laughter. “Shouldn’t you be in school or something?”    

“It’s Sunday, I’m eighteen, and I work full-time, you twit. Remember? Not that you’d know what work is.” She pokes her tongue out at me and retreats back to her bedroom. Regardless of our bickering, we’re pretty close. To be honest, my sister is one of my closest friends. That sounds kind of sad, right?

"Oh, you should probably see this, dumpster boy."

Erin walks back toward me and tosses me her iPad.

Dumpster boy? I pick it up, no idea what she's talking about.
Oh shit.
There I am, passed out naked in a dumpster that I can only assume is outside the club I was at last night. Full-frontal nudity, everything on display. Impressive, even if I do say so myself. A tiny smirk creeps onto my lips. At least this won’t hurt my chances of scoring women—not that I need any help in that department. That's me, always trying to see the positives in every situation.

"Really, Jake? You're laughing about this? Mum is going to kill you, not to mention your manager." Her hands on her hips, she stares at me. "Did you even read it?"

There are words? I draw my attention away from the photo and read.

Another fine example of the sporting heroes that are supposed to be leading our youth.
 

Though you can hardly call Jake Tanner a role model, a little decency would go a long way.
Here you can see the young star is completely unaware he is in public and without his clothes.

I slide the iPad across on the carpet and lie back on the sofa. My head fucking kills and Erin’s nagging isn’t helping. What’s worse, I know her reaction is nothing compared to the shit my mother is going to give me.

“Erin, do me a favor?” Looking up at her with my best attempt at puppy eyes, I hope to appeal to her sympathetic side, but I’m met with nothing but laughter.

“You think I can get you out of this with Mum, don’t you?” Her grin is from ear to ear and it makes her eyes sparkle.

“You know she’s shit with technology. It’s not like it’s gonna be hard keeping her away from it. Tell her the internet is broken or something.”

“
Keep me away from what?” Mum asks. I jump as she walks into the room, joining us over at the couch. I wince. Why the fuck is she shouting like I’m on the other side of the goddammed street? Forcing myself to sit up, I turn to face her, wondering if my helpless expression will work on her. She raises her eyebrows and I smile in spite of myself. Yeah, no chance.

“Oh just some stupid article, trashing me as always,” responding as normally as I can without letting her realize how hungover I am.

She picks up the iPad and I spring up from the couch. That’s my cue to leave—the last thing I want with this hangover is to be yelled at by my mum.

Too late. Just as I near the door I hear her yell. “Jake Tanner, you get back here or I’ll drag you back by your you know what!”

I should stop and explain, but I don’t, because I have nothing. That damn article knows more about what happened last night than I do. Besides, I have a press conference I need to get ready for. I’ll deal with Mum later.

My head still pounds when I arrive at my new training ground with five minutes to spare. Early twice in the space of a week. What the hell has happened to me? I get out of my car and slam the door, ignoring the two idiots walking ahead who turn around to stare. I give them the finger and stalk past them.

Serj waits for me outside the building, his usual scowl in place.

“I don’t even know where to start,” he huffs.

“So don’t start at all?” I suggest with a wink. Bad move.

“For fuck’s sake, Jake, you’re determined to kill me, aren’t you? We’re going to deal with this, but right now I need you to park your arse in front of a room full of reporters and play nice with your new friends.”

“What’s wrong? Even bad publicity is still publicity, right?” Grinning, I slap him on the shoulder and walk with him into the building while he mumbles an incoherent response.

Once we’re inside, I’m quickly ushered into position next to my new captain, Murray Pennerson.

Murray and I don’t get along. It’s that simple. I don’t know much about him other than he has the kind of face that you just want to punch. I scowl at him from the corner of my eye and he returns my glare, his lip twisting into a snarl. Why’s he so pissed? I’m the one whose been uprooted from the top and dumped at the bottom. If anything, he should be grateful I’m at this stupid club and about to save their fucking season.

“Jake,” He says bluntly.

“Murray, nice to see you again,” I reply, not bothering to hide my sarcasm.

“Nice photo in the paper this morning. Glad to see people are figuring out what a knob you are.” A smug grin creeps onto his face.

“Yeah, your sister sure appreciated it while she was licking my balls this morning,” I quip, not missing a beat.

“You fucking—” He stops himself and curses under his breath, his dark eyes burning through me. I grin, enjoying that it’s still so easy to get under his skin. “You’re not worth it,” he hisses, more to himself than me. “You’re a useless, washed-up has-been who has to resort to public indecency—”

“You could only dream of that kind of publicity,
Murray
,” I cut in. “At least I’m worth reporting, which is more than I can say for you. How many people even know who you are? When was the last time you scored with a chick that isn’t related to you?” I ask. The anger in my voice gets more vicious with every breath.

“Wow, that hurt,” Murray laughs. “You think I give a shit what you think? You realize I’m the captain, right? Do you know what that means?” He puts his hand on my shoulder and grips it tightly.

“That you suck the coach’s dick every night?”

Murray laughs, clearly pissed off. “You really are stupid, aren’t you, Tanner? I make the decisions around here. Me and coach.” He leans closer, anger gleaming in his eyes as they lock onto mine. “I want you benched, then you’re benched. You’d better watch your back, Jake. You’ve got no friends here, remember that.”

“Fuck you, Murray,” I spit.

“Oh you’re the one who is going to get fucked.” He leans forward, his frame towering over me. I’m pretty solid, but next to him I feel like a scrawny kid.

“Only if it’s by your mother,” I retort, forgetting there are cameras pointed at the two of us. His fist comes out of nowhere and lands square on my cheek, sending me to the floor. Every camera in the place clicks frantically, capturing the whole incident.

“
Murray
! What the bloody hell are you doing?” Our coach, Karl, lunges forward, dragging him off me by the shirt.

“Why did you agree to let him come here? He’s going to ruin this club!” Murray screams at Karl.

“Murray, the locker room.
Now
! And don’t come back until you’ve called down!”

Karl glares at Murray, his eyes daring him to disobey. Murray curses, then stalks off. As he reaches the door, he turns and turn back, before disappearing into the change rooms. Coach extends his hand to me, helping me to my feet. I stand up and straighten myself out, annoyed at myself for letting him bait me.

“Don’t you dare pull a stunt like that here again, Jake, or your benched for the season. Do you hear me?” The look in Karl’s eyes tells me he is serious. I should nod and shut the fuck up, but I can’t.

“He was the one baiting me,” I protest with a laugh. “What’s his fucking problem anyway?”

“My guess is he’s fed up with little arseholes like you who think they are invincible,” he responds, raising his eyebrows.

I shrug, feeling defeated. I glance over to Serj who is rolling his eyes at me. He points to the chair I’m meant to be sitting in by tilting his head. Sighing, I take my seat, ignoring the cameras aimed at me. I just want this whole nightmare to be over. Karl sits next to me, repositioning the microphone to address the room.

“Ladies and gentlemen, apologies for the outburst a few minutes ago. That is not how we usually do things here, so I hope that won’t dampen the mood.”

He glances my way before standing and continues to talk.

“Moving forward, the reason we have called this press conference is to officially welcome Jake Tanner to the Crystal Hill Football Club as our newest striker. We are delighted to have signed him for four years, and we hope he will be very happy here.”

He glances at me just as I scoff at his words.

“Jake,” he continues, his eyes darkening, “we hope you will enjoy your time with us—but maybe not as much as you enjoyed yourself last night, hey?” The crowd roars with laughter. I’m shocked he’s actually joking about the photos, but I guess if he doesn’t address it, someone is bound to ask.

“Yeah, I know I won’t enjoy it that much,” I say with a grin. “Thanks for the welcome. I’m looking forward to my time here, and I hope I can show you that you made the right decision in welcoming me to your club.”

“Jake, what happened last night? Did you forget where you left your clothes or something?” a reporter in the front row pipes up. Laughter fills the room.
So much for addressing it so that they don’t.

“How are you going to cope with Crystal Hill’s zero alcohol tolerance when you can’t even abstain for one night?” More laughter erupts and suddenly I’m the laughing stock of the room. I lean forward towards the microphone.

“Maybe we should focus on my ability to leads this club to its first win in twenty-six games rather than what I get up to in my personal time.”

“How personal is it when you’re drunk and naked in public?” a reporter asks, a smirk on his face. “Can we hear from the club captain about the acquisition of Jake? I think we’re all curious to hear his thoughts.”

The crowd goes quiet as Murray walks across the room towards the stage. His eyes don’t leave mine as he steps onto the stage and takes the empty seat to my left.

Taking the microphone, he taps it a couple of times and lifts it to his mouth.

“I want to start by offering my sincere apologies for my outburst earlier. My temper got the better of me, and as the captain here at Crystal Hill I should be setting a much better example than I showed earlier.” He turns to face me, a forced smile on his face. I smirk, enjoying how much he’s hating this. “On behalf of the Crystal Hill players, we’re happy to have you here.”

He smiles, then places the microphone on the table. As the coach closes the conference, Murray glances at me from the corner of his narrowed eyes.

“Welcome to your worst nightmare, Jakey,” he mutters under his breath, loud enough so that only I can hear. “You’re about to get majorly fucked.”