I scoffed at my thoughts. The only thing I would be getting tonight was my hand wrapped around my dick in the shower. With the memory of Kendall watching me as I worked out.
“The bleeding stopped.”
Her words snapped me out of my fantasy. I quickly grabbed some ice before snagging a few paper towels and wetting them.
“Here, you might want to wipe off your face. You’ve got a bit of blood…”
Instinctively, I reached out and wiped the blood from her face. She smiled at me, her eyes sparkling. I handed her the ice, trying like hell to ignore how that made my body feel.
“Put that on your forehead.”
“Thank you, Hunter.”
Her voice was soft and sweet. A voice any man would want whispering to him as he slowly made love to her.
What the hell is happening to me? Turn this around, Hunter. Now.
“You might want to look into a lens case to carry with you.”
Her brows pulled in, and she gave me a confused look. “Lens case?”
With a devilish smile, I replied, “Yeah. For your backup contacts. For when one pops out at the sight of a hot guy working out.”
Kendall huffed and stood. Glaring at me, she pushed the bag of ice at my chest. “You are mistaken, Mr. Owens. I was looking down at my phone.”
I searched her body for said phone. “Which is … where?”
Her fists balled up, and I swore she was about to punch me. She was probably making plans to sneak back in here tonight and do something evil to me. The thought actually aroused me even more.
Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. “You… I… You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Oh, look at that. I can piss her off even more. This was promising.
When I said nothing, she mumbled to herself, “Wood chipper. Definitely a wood chipper.”
It was my turn to be confused. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Kendall shook her head, pointed at me, and then turned on her heel and stormed out of my apartment. She slammed the door so loud I jumped. Then I laughed.
Still laughing, I made my way to the kitchen, pulled open the refrigerator, and grabbed a beer. I sank down into the leather sofa and took a long, slow pull from the bottle. Smiling, I propped my feet up on the coffee table.
“Hunter, one; Kendall, zero.”
9
Hunter
I dragged my hand over my face with a sigh. The last three days had been hell. This team was worse than I’d thought. No coach in his right mind would want the responsibility of straightening out these idiots.
I could hear the players carrying on in the locker room. They were pissed I’d actually made them run that day. A five-mile run should have been a walk in the park for them, yet each and every one of them bitched. Their last coach clearly hadn’t pushed them. That shit was not going to be happening while I was in charge. The quarterback, Josh McEvans, and I needed to have a come-to-Jesus moment. He thought he walked on water, and I was more than ready to let his ass sink.
I pushed away from my desk and headed to the locker room. When I opened the door, I saw something I’d never thought I would see.
Ever.
“What the fuck?” I mumbled as I stared at the sight before me. Were those… condoms? These assholes were actually sucking condoms up their noses.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten.
What the hell have I gotten myself into?
Drawing in a deep breath, I picked up the baseball bat I’d brought in earlier and had left right inside the locker room door. I lifted it up, restraining myself from hitting one of them over the head, and bashed the locker instead. Everyone froze, and the sight of condoms dangling out of nostrils made me gag. Internally, of course.
“What in the living hell are you idiots doing?”
Josh shot me a smirk. “Doing a condom challenge. What does it look like?”
Fury erupted faster than I thought possible. I dragged my gaze around the room, hitting every single player with a look that dared them to keep going. One by one, they pulled the condoms out of their nostrils and tossed them in the trash. Josh was the last to comply.
“You like challenges, boys?” A few visibly flinched at the term boys. “You like acting like a bunch of high school players jerking around in a locker room? No more. This shit ends right now or you can all pack up your shit and walk out the door. That includes you, McEvans. All I have to do is make a few phone calls and your time on the football field is over. Do I make myself clear?”
A few mumbles were the only response I got.
I lifted the bat and hit the locker again. “Do I make myself fucking clear?”
This time, I got the respect I deserved when they all answered back with yes, sir.
“Get a good night’s sleep tonight—you’re going to need it. Tomorrow, I’m giving you a new challenge.”
Josh glared at me but said nothing. Pointing the bat at him, I growled, “I want to see you in my office in ten minutes.”
“Yes, Coach.”
I stilled. “I’m not your goddamned coach.”
I rushed out of the locker room and made my way back to my office in the field house. I’d quickly made it my go-to office when I needed to get away from Kendall. The office up in the main building reminded me too much of her. The scent of her damn perfume was everywhere… except in her office. The woman had a weird fetish for constantly spraying Lysol in there. I was quickly beginning to hate the smell of that shit.
I opened up my email and smiled when I saw the video my father had sent me. He spent too much time on Facebook and sent me funny videos daily. This one actually hit home, and I laughed as I watched a damn sheep stuck in a tire swing try to figure out how to get unstuck. It kept running and swinging helplessly as the other sheep watched the poor bastard.
The knock on my office door caused me to look up, and I said, “Come in.”
Josh walked in with a cocky grin on his face and a chip on his shoulder. His father had been one of the best NFL quarterbacks to ever play the game. As his son, Josh had a similar talent, but he couldn’t seem to grow the fuck up.
“Take a seat.”
He remained standing. “The guys just needed to blow off steam. I thought it would help.”
I tilted my head toward the chair. “Sit down.”
“Is this going to take long? I have a date.”
Staring him down, I said nothing. He finally got the message and took a seat.
“Do you have any idea the talent you are pissing away?”
He huffed. “I knew it. I knew you thought this league is a joke. Why are you even here, man?”
My head jerked back at his response. “Is that what you think I mean?”
“What else would you mean? Mr. NFL Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. Why the hell you down in this league anyway?”
I leaned forward and rested my arms on my desk. “Do you want to know why you’re not in the NFL?”
He smirked at me but didn’t answer.
I reached for the remote and turned on the video I’d been watching earlier. There stood Josh McEvans, pissing in a fountain in the middle of Bowling Green.
His face went blank, and he looked away from the TV.
“That right there is why you’re not in the NFL. You’ve been doing shit like this since college. Dude, you could have been the first-round draft pick if you didn’t act like a child all the time. Like it or not, you are the captain of this team. You have more talent in your damn pinky finger than most guys develop in ten years of playing in the NFL. Josh, you need to be the first change that turns this team around.”
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“Listen, I get it. I had a father who dominated not only college football, but the NFL and coaching, as well. You don’t think I know what it’s like to try and follow in his footsteps?”
Josh looked down and then back up at me. I thought he might open up to me. When he didn’t
say anything, I went on.
“You need to find your path, and you need to find it soon.”
For a brief moment, it felt like I was getting through to him. Then he smirked again and stood.
“You fire me, you’ll never get your championship this year. You need me.”
Leaning back in my chair, I gave him an incredulous look. “I need you like I need a fucking hole in my head.”
Josh grabbed the bag he’d dropped on the floor earlier when he sat down. “Is that all… sir?”
I groaned internally. In a way, he was right. It would be hard as hell to find a quarterback as good as this little prick, but I couldn’t let him know that.
Standing, I pulled out a stack of papers from a folder and slid them across the desk. He glanced down at it.
“What’s that?”
“Your contract. I’ve been going over it, seeing how expensive it will be for me to fire your ass.”
His eyes darted from the papers up to me. He swallowed hard, looked back at the contract, and then stalked out of my office. Once the door was shut, I sat and dropped my head against the back of the chair before glancing back at my computer.
When I saw the video again, I clicked Forward.
Subject: I want a raise
Dear Ms. Wales,
This video currently represents how I feel about trying to get this team on track. And in case you don’t get it, I’m the fucking sheep stuck in the tire.
H.O.
It didn’t take long for Kendall to respond. I clicked on her email and stared at the response. She drives me insane, this woman. Insane.
Subject: Re: I want a raise
Dear Lost Sheep,