Play Me

My cheeks heated and I bit my lip. Then I chuckled, feeling a little mischievous.

Me: At least I won’t have to hear this through the walls anymore.

Hunter: Admit it. That turned you on.

I uncrossed and re-crossed my legs.

Me: Would it make you feel better knowing I used the vibrator to come as I remembered your voice?

Hunter: Fuck.

Me: I’ll see you in a few.

I giggled as I gathered my things for the meeting with Hunter and Mac.

Hunter: I’m hard as a fence post now.

Me: Well, this might help. I’m not wearing any underwear.

Hunter: Get your ass over here now. This meeting needs to be over so I can go take care of something.

Me: Yes, sir.

Payback would come at some point. As I gathered my things, Amber’s voice came over the intercom. “Ms. Wales, Mr. Owens and Coach White are in the conference room.”

“Thank you. I’ll be right over.”

Before I left to walk into the conference room, I saw an email from Steven, one of the board members. Everyone was copied on it. I opened it to see a picture of the team drinking at the bar and my heart sank. Standing on the bar was our quarterback, Josh McEvans, holding a bra while some girl hung on him. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. And I had a call with the board in one hour. This was going to be terrible.

I clicked on the link, and it appeared that there hadn’t been a brawl. Thank goodness. It seemed the team had gotten very drunk and unrolled all the toilet paper in the men’s room with a group of ladies they later left with. It then went on to show a completely trashed hotel room of one of the players. I slapped my forehead. I was going to need Hunter’s bat again. These assholes had no idea how close they were to having no team.

I printed the email and the article before heading to the conference room. Furious was an understatement. My heart quickened when I heard Hunter chuckling. The deep timbre of his voice reverberated through me. His mouth had done such wicked things to me. Hiding our relationship was going to be harder than I’d thought.

I need to get my head in the game.

It was time to focus on the task at hand. If Mac caught wind of our relationship, he might never take me seriously. We needed to be a team. I had two options: go in mad or go in with the hope of collaboration. I squared my shoulders and entered the conference room.

“Good morning, Coach White. Mr. Owens. Thank you for seeing me.”

The men stood. “Morning.”

Hunter cocked his head, probably sensing how tense I was. We took our seats, and I kept the printouts of the article and the picture facedown on the table. Mac leaned back, and I sensed a bit of dread. Our last meeting hadn’t gone that well. From what I had seen over the years, coaches and the owners tended to disagree. Maybe if we got on the same page, it would help.

I gave him a smile. We needed to go the collaborative way. “How was your weekend? Did the move go okay?”

Mac took a sip of his coffee, apparently wary of where I was going. “Good. My wife and I got settled in the house. The movers did a great job. Thanks for making it a seamless transition.”

“You’re welcome. Amber handled most of it, though.” I tried to relax, but I was still humming with irritation. I had purposely kept my eyes averted from Hunter. He might worry more if he saw how worried I was, but there hadn’t been time to tell him what was going on.

“How was your trip to headquarters?” Mac asked.

He was engaging—it was progress. It also gave me the proper segue to the matter at hand. I took a deep breath. “It wasn’t good.” Both men cocked their head. And I glanced at Hunter. He leaned forward.

Here goes nothing.

“I want to create transparency between us.”

Mac waited. Humility was going to be the best way to begin that route. “Let’s face it, I don’t have the first clue about coaching. And maybe you know how to run a team, I’m not sure, but I would like to think your expertise is the former and mine the latter.”

Hunter had been the one who’d taught me this when we’d been stranded. I waited as Mac was silent for a second. From the corner of my eye, I saw Hunter smiling.

“You’re right, Ms. Wales. I know shit about managing a team, but I can coach.”

I chuckled at his bluntness. “Kendall, please.”

“Okay, Kendall.”

I took out the latest email he’d sent and motioned to it. “I read over the summary you sent, and I’m impressed with what has been accomplished. It looks like you and Mr. Owens are making great strides toward having a successful season.”

“That’s the plan.”

So far so good. I was shooting from the hip considering this hadn’t been my initial plan this morning. “I’m not sure if you have the full history yet. Before I got the team, it was operating in the red. Through cutbacks and readjustments, we are now operating in the black, but just barely. In meetings back in North Carolina, members of the board are questioning my judgement in taking over the team.”

“Really?” Mac sounded surprised. Or maybe it was just doubt due to who my father was.

It was best to shoot straight. “Yes, my last name doesn’t get me any favors. It probably makes things harder.”

He nodded. “I can understand that.”

I glanced over at Hunter, and he gave an encouraging nod.

I continued on. “While I was there, I convinced the board to give us one full season to get things turned around. It’s not that we must win, although that would be nice, but the negative press has to stop. The PR mess has started to blow back on Wales Enterprises. And they aren’t pleased. My father is not pleased.”

I hadn’t mentioned this to Hunter over the weekend. There just hadn’t been time, and I’d wanted to leave all the work stuff behind and focus on us. But as I talked to Mac about it, it occurred to me that maybe I should have said something.

“I see,” Mac said. “After talking with Hunter, I think we have policies and procedures in place to keep the boys in line.”

I turned over the two pieces of paper and slid them their way. “This just popped into my inbox as I was about to come in here. It appears the team drove to Nashville over the weekend. They made the press again—and in a negative light. It appears they thought it would be funny to unroll all the toilet paper in the bathrooms at a club and then trash a hotel room. The article also referenced a slew of women entering that hotel room.”

Mac and Hunter leaned forward with similar looks of surprises. They hadn’t seen it yet. That made me feel better. I knew Hunter would have told me, but I wasn’t sure about Mac since we hadn’t really worked together yet.

“I’m assuming from the looks on your faces that neither of you knew about this. I have to talk to the board in an hour and somehow save this team. But it’s going to take all of us working toward the same end goal to get there.”

Mac slammed his fist on the table. “Those little bastards.”

“My sentiments exactly. I’m two seconds from finding Hunter’s bat and using it on them instead of the locker.”

“Me, too,” he spat.

I loved how Hunter was letting Mac take the lead. But I could see the irritation brewing in the tense set of his shoulders.

I continued. “Between the condoms and the fountain and now this, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Wales Enterprises is getting demands for compensation for damages. One individual has contacted them saying they slipped on the bubbles created by the fountain. A mother contacted corporate saying her kid was inspired by the team, sniffed a condom up his nose, and ended up in the ER. And while, yes, Wales Enterprises gets frivolous claims all the time, they are not in the mood to deal with this from the Mustangs. Buying the team wasn’t something they were in favor of in the first place, so it’s making my job more complicated as these roadblocks appear.”

Mac stood. “Kendall, I would like to cut this meeting short if you’re okay with

that. I have some asses to kick. Josh McEvans is not going to play the first game. We might lose, but he needs to understand that no one fucks with my team or my job.”

I held out my hand as I stood. “Thank you, Mac. I look forward to working with you. I will let you know how the call with the board goes. We cannot have any more incidents. I am meeting with the accounting team and reviewing all budgets to see where we can make more cuts. The more profitable I can make the team, the better at this point. Before I do any budget cuts, I will get your input as I don’t want to hinder your job, either, and put us at cross-purposes.”

“I appreciate it. We have a scrimmage game this week. It’ll help me assess the team better before opening day. The Bears coach, Stan, just confirmed with me this morning.”

“Great idea.”

They made their way to the door, but Mac turned around. “I’ve asked Hunter, and he didn’t know, but have you figured out why the previous coach allowed them to behave like this? It’s doesn’t make a damn bit of sense.”

“I have no idea. I have wondered the same thing myself, but I haven’t found an answer… yet. My first goal was to get the team operating within the budget, which is done. Now, I’m just trying to make sure we have a team to start the season. I am working to figuring it out, though, so if you hear anything that would help, I would appreciate you sharing it with me. I will do the same.”