The Playbook

Me: Can you put a leash on your pet?

Erin: Ha! I think the term ‘you shag it, you bought it’ is appropriate here. Did I not tell you she was crazy in love with you?

Me: Actually, you left out the crazy part. Besides, I thought that was an invitation.

Erin: Everything is an invitation to you.

A second later, Kendra’s phone rings. She answers it, and I half listen to the conversation as I nurse my hangover. Five minutes later she gets off the phone. She looks at me, cheeks blushing and as she picks up her knock-off Mulberry, flashes me an awkward smile, apologizes and is out of my apartment. I sigh with relief and send Erin a thanks.

Part of me thinks I should’ve let her stay, so I could get my end away, but I know it would only make matters worse. She was one type of crazy that wouldn’t go away. Still, she’s female, and she’s hot and if I remember correctly, she was very eager to please. My cock hardens and rubs against my jeans, making it tingle. Standing up, I head for the shower thinking a big load of steam will do my head good.

Walking through the apartment taking my clothes of as I go, I sigh – this would have been much sexier if I had that hot blonde from earlier here. Hell, Darren could’ve watched and maybe picked up a few pointers.

I sit on the side of the bath naked waiting for the water to heat up, and when it reaches temperature I step into the tub. As the hot water runs down my body I rub the water through my hair, while my free hand reaches for my cock. Rubbing the tip with my index finger and thumb, it feels amazing. I grab the full length of my cock I squeeze harder and harder as I put my hand on the wall to steady myself. Gasping, I come so fast it makes me dizzy – that or the sheer amount of alcohol I’ve consumed.

Stepping out of the shower, I put a towel around my waist and head to the bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, I pop some painkillers and fall back onto my bed. I pull the covers over me, and instantly fall asleep.

Chapter Two

Jake

It’s the next morning—at least I assume only one night has passed—when the continuous ringing of my phone finally rips me from the comfort of my warm bed. Sighing, I grope the nightstand for my phone and press answer, ready to abuse whoever it is on the other end.

“What?” I growl into the phone.

“Good to see you up and about early, Jake.” Serj, my agent chuckles to himself in a way that makes my blood boil. He always manages to get under my skin, and I have no idea why.

I should be more grateful to Serj, because without him spotting me when I was sixteen I wouldn’t be where I am today. I know I owe him a lot, but the guy just irritates me so easily. Then again, most people irritate me. I guess he has my best interests at heart, but fucking hell, it's like he tries to get on my nerves. Since the day I signed with him, he’s treated me like a kid and seven years on, nothing has changed. Maybe I act like one occasionally, but you'd think the amount of cash he makes off me he'd be a little more thankful. Every month or so we have a massive blow out, he threatens to quit and we don’t talk for a few days, then he calls me out of the blue and we act like nothing has happened. It works well for both of us. We vent, let everything out, and then go on with our shit. I never understood why chicks bottle that shit up. If it were my sister, she’d still be grudging against me three months after the fact.

Of course, as much as I bitch and moan, there are times when I couldn’t have lived without the guy. He cleans up my messes—and believe me when I say there are a lot of them. He's gotten me out of some pretty serious trouble in the past. Trouble that should've landed me in prison. Trouble usually caused by a chick. But, I’ve learned my lesson, at least when it comes to relationships. They always end with one person suffering, and I refuse to ever let myself be that person again. But back to Serj. I hate that he acts like I owe him something, when I’ve done just as much for his career as he has for mine.

Maybe that's part of the problem. I don’t like owing anyone anything, because when you owe someone something, they always end up wanting it paid back.

“Yeah, well,” I mutter. Yep. That’s the extent of my retort. God, I’m good.

“This might wake you up a bit. You’ve been traded.”

“What?” He’s right. I’m wide awake now. “Where?”

“Crystal Hill,” Serj says with a sigh, naming the worst team in the whole fucking league. “You’re really that shocked, Jake? I’m shocked it didn’t happen months ago. Between the fighting, and the lawsuit—“

“The guy threatened my sister,” I exclaimed with a laugh. “He’s lucky I didn’t kill him.”

“No you’re lucky you didn’t kill him. You’re a liability, Jake. You’re a risk that nobody is willing to take.”

“Except Crystal Hill,” I retort. I wince, wishing I hadn’t been such a dick last time we played them. I vaguely remember taunting Murray—their captain—with how good his mother was in the sack. Not my finest moment—and you’d understand if you saw his mother—but it distracted him enough to let me score the winning goal.

“So when does this trade take place?” I scoff at the word, because no player they get in return is going to be as good as me. “And who is it?”

“Longmure,” Serj replies.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I chortle. “He couldn’t kick straight if his life depended on it. He can’t even walk a straight line.”

“Yeah, well the same could be said about you,” Serj retorts, his voice dry. “Besides, even if that were even true, at least he keeps his head on his shoulders. Nobody wants to play with you, Jake. You did this to yourself.”

Suddenly, I feel like I’m five again and in the playground trying to show my dad I’m worthy of his attention, but never quite succeeding. I was never good enough for him and he made that perfectly clear each time he bothered to actually turn up to my practices. Every drive home he would detail everything I did wrong – passing too much to other players, setting goals up for teammates, and letting them get the goals on their scoresheets. He stopped coming to games after that and even though I pretended I didn’t care, I hated him for it. I hated him even more for how he used to treat my mum and my sister.

My whole life I had to prove myself to him but I was not going to let him treat my mum and sister the same way. To the rest of the world he was a hero, but to me he was a reminder of how shitty life can be. He was such an arsehole that it was a blessing when he finally left us. I knew it was coming—we all knew it, but my mum and Erin were still devastated. Erin and mum consoled each other the night he walked out on us, but I went out celebrating, bagging myself a pair of hot brunette twins.