Play Me

Hunter was immediately fierce and angry. It was raw and protective. He fisted the photographs, the pages crinkling in his hands. “Let me talk to him, Kendall.”

“I am tired of this. He needs to be gone.”

“Let me go find him. Will you please trust me and let me handle it?”

I took a deep, calming breath. “Okay.”

He turned, but I grabbed his arm. It was imperative I told him before he went anywhere. “I need you to know that I choose you. No matter what happens, I choose you. I want to balance everything where you are first in my life. I don’t want to hide our relationship. I love you, Hunter.”

He searched my eyes and then kissed me fiercely. All too soon, he pulled back. “Let me go sort this out. These pictures are not going to make it public. I’m sorry about how I reacted. It wasn’t fair. I choose you, too. I love you, Kendall.”

“I love you, too.”

29

Hunter

I pulled out my phone and sent McEvans a text as I tried to calm my racing heart. It was partly due to McEvans and the bullshit stunt he was pulling, but mostly due to Kendall telling me she loved me. I’d never in my life loved anyone like I loved Kendall, and I would do anything to protect her and show her how much I loved her. Anyone who stood in my way would have to deal directly with me. Anger started to build up as I thought about that idiot trying to blackmail Kendall.

My hands were shaking as I sent off the text.

Me: Meet me in my office. Now.

McEvans: Sorry boss, got other plans.

I stared at his text, feeling my blood boil. Who the hell does this asshole think he’s dealing with?

Me: You have ten minutes or you can start packing your bags.

By the time I got to my office, Josh was standing outside my door. I wanted to punch the smirk off his damn face. Instead, I brushed past him, unlocked the door, and motioned for him to go in.

The moment I shut the door, I grabbed him by his shirt, spun him around, and slammed him against the door.

“I could kick your ass right now I’m so goddamned pissed at you.”

“What the fuck?” Josh bit out. “What is wrong with you?”

I stared him down, furious. His smug attitude quickly dissolved, and he looked away. The bastard couldn’t even look me in the eye.

“You want to tell me why you threatened Ms. Wales?”

He had the nerve to laugh as he looked back at me. “You mean your girlfriend?”

Pushing him harder against the door, I got into his face. “No, I mean Ms. Wales. Our relationship is none of your fucking business, McEvans.”

“Yeah, well I’m about to make it my business. I’ll go to the press and turn this into the biggest scandal Wales Enterprises has ever seen.”

I shook my head and gave him a good push before letting him go. He nearly dropped to the floor. He stumbled and tried to right himself, but for the briefest moment, I saw his vulnerability. I saw the scared lost kid he really was. A part of me wanted to shake the sense into him, the other part of me wanted to punch it into him. Neither idea was the right one. Taking in a deep breath, I shook my head in disbelief. “You just don’t get it, do you?”

Josh stood there with a confused expression on his face. “What do you mean? I get it. The coach is sleeping with the team owner. That can’t be good publicity.”

With a sigh, I dropped into my chair and rubbed the back of my neck. “This has nothing to do with Ms. Wales and me. If you want to take that to the press, have at it.”

His expression turned from smug to shocked.

“So you have a picture of me kissing her. Who gives a fuck? We’re dating and have no issue confirming it. The only thing you’ll be doing is looking like some revenge-seeking crybaby because he’s not the starting quarterback. The press will eat you alive, McEvans. I’m not the coach of this team, Mac is. You’re not going to get your way with this one.”

Josh looked lost. It was the first real emotion I had seen from this kid since I got here.

“This is about you, McEvans. You’re a damn good player—why do you think we’ve kept you on the team? Do you know how easy it would be to let your ass go? All the trouble you’ve caused Ms. Wales and this team is enough to fire you. Why the hell do think you’re still here?”

He gave me a blank stare.

“You’re still here because we see talent in you. Hell, you should be playing in the NFL as a starting quarterback, but look at you. You’ve made sure that didn’t happen. What I’d like to know is why.”

“I don't know what you mean.”

“Cut the shit; you know exactly what I mean. You’ve sabotaged your own career. Why?”

A few moments passed as Josh seemed to consider his options, and then he sat down in one of the chairs in front of my desk. He inhaled a deep breath, dropped his head back against the chair, and let out a halfhearted laugh. Finally, he looked directly at me, and I swore I saw tears in his eyes.

“I was never good enough for him.”

“Your father?” I asked.

Josh nodded. “Yeah. Do you know how many of my high school games he came to? None. Not one of them. When I went on to college and the cameras were around, he would show up for the important games. He told me I got where I was because of his name. That I didn’t have any real talent.” He paused, shaking his head before going on. “That was all I ever heard from him. So, I started fucking off, playing pranks, getting into trouble. It was the only time I could ever get him to pay me any attention. Then I went too far in college, and I knew an NFL team would never pick me up. My dad makes sure to remind me what a failure I am each time I see him.”

“So in order to get his attention, you act like an asshole?”

Josh laughed. “That’s one way of putting it. Football is my life, Coach. Since I can remember, all I’ve wanted to do is play. When I started getting good in middle school, that was when my father started up. For every good thing anyone said about my game, he would say two negative things. I guess it’s gotten to the point where it’s the adrenaline rush I’m looking for. The prank pulling, I mean. It’s almost like I get a high off it, and I can’t stop myself. The last coach threatened to cut me. I was more scared of telling my father I failed than anything else, so I found out the coach was having an affair and told him I’d go public. He kept me on and never said anything about the pranks. Then all of this shit happened with being pushed back to third-string quarterback, and it scared me more than pissed me off. When I saw you kissing Ms. Wales, I figured that was my ticket back into first string.”

It was my turn to sigh. “That is some fucked-up way of thinking, kid. Listen, I get your dad probably wasn’t going to win father of the year, but do you realize you gave up a promising career just to get some of daddy’s attention? Did it ever enter your mind that if you worked hard and showed him just how damn good you are, he might give you the respect you deserved?”

He shrugged.

“Josh, it’s not too late. Get your shit together, be the team leader I know you can be, and show not only your father but everyone else that you are one of the best quarterbacks to play the game.”

Drawing his brows in tight, Josh looked away and then quickly back at me. “Do you really think that?”

“Why the hell do you think we’ve kept you on? Mac and I have been trying to teach you a damn lesson, but you won’t stop acting like a juvenile long enough to learn it.”

He nodded his head but still said nothing.

“You ever think your father treated you that way for a different reason?”

“What reason is that?”

“He was the one who was scared? Josh, your dad was a great football player, but you’re better than he was. You can still turn this around.”

Josh stood and began to pace across my office. I could tell he had a million thoughts spinning around in that head of his. This kid just needed someone to show him he was worth the time.

After a few minutes, he s

topped pacing and faced me. Arching a brow, I asked, “Why the worried look on your face?”

“There is no way Ms. Wales is going to let me stay on the team after I just tried to blackmail her.”

Leaning back in my chair, I smiled. “Let me talk to Ms. Wales. Meanwhile, I want you to pack a bag for a few nights. We’re going to my ranch after the game on Saturday.”

“Your ranch?”

“That’s right, my ranch.”

“What are we going to do there?” he asked.

“I’m going to teach you a few lessons my father taught me. We’ll leave first thing Sunday morning. Be out front of the stadium at six. This isn’t an option, McEvans. Do you want to fight the right way for your position?”

He nodded. “Yes, sir. But what about Ms. Wales?”

“Like I said, I’ll talk to her, but in the end, it will be her and Mac’s decision whether to keep you on the team or not.”

Josh closed his eyes and blew out a breath.

“Josh?”

Quickly looking at me, he replied, “Yes, sir?”

“Delete those photos off your phone right now and give me your word, man to man, you won’t pull another stupid stunt like that again.”

He reached into his back pocket, pulled up the photos, and hit delete. Then he went to his deleted files and permanently deleted them. “I only printed out the two. No one else has seen them.”

“Good,” I said with a firm nod. “You do realize I wanted to kick your ass when we first walked in here.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, he said, “I deserve it.”

“You’ll apologize to Ms. Wales tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And, Josh? No more pranks, or I will kick your ass.”

The corner of his mouth lifted as he said, “No more pranks.”

When he walked out of my office and shut the door, I let out a deep breath. I knew this kid’s issues went deeper than simply not getting his father’s attention. A few days with him at the ranch would hopefully get him to open up and let me know what the hell was going on with him.

I took out my phone and sent Kendall a text.

Me: I’m finished dealing with McEvans.

Kendall: Please tell me you didn’t hurt him.

Me: I wanted to, but no, I didn’t. I’ll tell you over dinner.