Jess’s expression hardened – and then I knew the news was going to slay me. “A friend of mine in the agency says that Brett Barker is already considering… alternate possibilities for the latest contract.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who?”
“My source itself is reliable, but the information… we’re not exactly–”
“Not another word that doesn’t answer the fucking question,” I told her in no uncertain terms. “We both knew this could be a possibility. So tell me… who is it?”
Jess took a deep breath.
“Alistair Pritch.”
My heart plummeted into my stomach. Pritch was a defender on our team, and a fiercely competitive one at that. His role was to protect the goalie and ensure that the football didn’t dare progress into the goalkeeper’s box… and he was very, very good at it.
He was also my singular proper rival in the sport – the one person who kept me on top of my game by sheer necessity.
“Pritch…” I responded blankly.
“That’s right,” Jess bit her bottom lip. “Alistair Pritch is in the running. My source tells me that he’s the favourite contender for the contract.”
It wasn’t just a simple rivalry between players. The National Team drew in the best football players from the entire country, from various leagues and teams. It just so happened that his and my teams were, for most of our careers, bitter rivals through and through.
The goal for the National Team, as with any represented country, was to blur oppositions and contests to string together the best of the best.
Of which I was the king.
But Alistair… Alistair Pritch was the wicked chancellor to my reign. A viper in the grass, he followed orders and obeyed my directions… so long as there wasn’t any foolhardy alternative that would propel himself into the spotlight.
The crowd loved him, too. I might be Lightning Lex Lambert, but the world knew Alistair Pritch as The Renegade. Pritch was clever; his disobedience was a wildcard for my game plans, but he made decisions that I had to begrudgingly call sound. He’d never make it look like he was actively rebelling against me – it was always a spur of the moment, completely reflexive maneuver.
And it had helped win more games than I was willing to admit. Pritch was always keeping me on my toes, and always forcing me to stay sharp.
Our rivalry was legendary.
And now he was trying to rip my contract out from under me before I could even sign a page.
“I’m going,” Riley muttered as she pushed past me into the hallway, fully dressed. I could only give a distracted, dumbfounded nod as she disappeared around the corner and stormed off.
What the fuck is her problem? I thought to myself absentmindedly. I just got the worst fucking news of my week…
“So, who the hell was that?” Jess asked curiously, glancing down the direction my partner for the evening had disappeared.
“That was… Riley,” I commented.
“Oh yeah? Why the sudden change? Thought you were going to lay low and, you know, avoid causing any sort of scandal while you were here…” She side-eyed me with a grin as I led her back into the hotel room. “Just couldn’t keep it in your pants, yeah?”
“It was a little different from that,” I recalled apathetically, still sucker-punched by this new tidbit of information.
Alistair Pritch, of all fucking people? Although, it made sense, in a way that made my blood boil…
“Oh yeah? Different how?”
I didn’t give any thought to the answer, which is probably why it was a particularly honest, straightforward one.
“Riley impressed me.”
“She… impressed you?” Jess seemed shocked. “This is new. Impressed you how, exactly?”
“The girl had no idea who I was, and she took charge,” I thought aloud. “Such unwavering confidence. The girl knew how to stir me up, and she kept me on my toes.”
“And you just let her scamper off like that?” Jess asked, cocking her head to the side.
“What are you getting at?”
My best friend shrugged. “I don’t know. For a minute there, it almost sounded like you respect her.”
“Maybe I do,” I answered noncommittally.
“Doesn’t sound like any Lightning Lex Lambert that I know,” Jess chuckled, pulling out a chair from under the obligatory writing desk and seating herself.
“Yeah, well. Maybe I’m trying on something new,” I answered, stepping into the bathroom to wash my hands in the sink. I raising my voice over the hot, running water. “You know. Seeing how I like it.”
“Well, pissing off your something new isn’t such a good idea!” She called out loudly from the other room.
“What do you mean, pissing her off?” I asked, wiping my hands clean with a stiff, rough hand towel as I strolled back into the main room.
“What, you didn’t see that look on her face?” Jess sharply took in a breath for emphasis. “She was livid. Doesn’t surprise me, though…”
“You’re speaking cryptically,” I simmered. “You know that I don’t like cryptic. Get on with it.”
“How does it look to you?” She asked. “She’s half-asleep, all cuddled up to you or whatever, and then some strange woman answers the door. You get up, you get into some hushed, heated conversation, all mysterious and shit, and then when she tries to make a show of storming off, you just let her? You realize that she was mad, and you didn’t even bother trying to stop her.”
I didn’t like the sound of that.
“That’s not what it was at all.”
“Context, Lex,” Jess shook her head. “She doesn’t know who you are… unless you told her.”
“Didn’t tell her a thing,”
“Right. So, she doesn’t know who you are… she doesn’t know who I am… and she’s totally in the dark as to the secrecy. Hell, it probably looked like I’m some jilted ex-wife or some shit, coming to bother you.”
I hadn’t considered that.
“Fuck me,” I grumbled.
I glanced down at my pajama pants.
“I’m… not exactly equipped for this right now,” I muttered. “You’re my publicist. Go catch her.”
“I barely saw the chick,” Jess shrugged. “Besides, I wouldn’t know where to start. I’m not exactly private eye material, you know.”
Grumbling, I pulled upon my wardrobe and whipped out a few choice garments. “Fine. I’ll handle it. If I’m lucky, she might come to me.”
“You think so?” She asked, that mischievous smirk on her face again. “I dunno…”
“If not… there was a Japanese girl who wandered in with her last night. I’ve seen the bartender speaking with her from time to time – I think they’re friends. I can probably follow up on that lead and track her down, but only if I have to. I don’t want to force it, after all.”
Dwelling on these thoughts, I buttoned up my long-sleeved top, swapped the pajamas for slacks, and whipped a blazer over my shoulders. My publicist made and poured herself a cup of coffee, and then spat it out in my bathroom sink.
“Ugh! This is fookin’ disgusting!”
“There’s that chav coming out,” I teased.
“Don’t you start with me,” Jess squinted an eye and gave me a defiant glare. “You know I’m not a damned, dirty chav.”
“Could’ve f
ooled me.”
She looked like she was going to burst a blood vessel, but relaxed. I recognized that look – she was deep in thought, considering something that we’d both overlooked.
“What is it?” I asked, stepping back into view. I was suited up and ready to tackle the day, even if that involved tracking down a wayward lay to straighten out some things.
After all, the sex had been pretty good…