Dirty Players, #1 Page 2

  With Zoe, it was never enough. Now, we were just fooling around, that was how it started. She’d barged into my life, insistent on getting me to join her team. I’d resisted, even though I didn’t have any other offers, not because I didn’t like the idea, but because I wanted her to keep coming to look for me. It only started out as a game. She was pretty, and I didn’t know she’d keep coming back, but then the more I saw her, the more I wanted from her, the more I wanted her, and one day, I just took what I wanted, and Zoe didn’t push me away. In fact, she fell into it with such enthusiasm.

  Six weeks later, and my fascination with her was only growing.

  “Come out with me.”

  She shot a frown at me. “What?”

  “You don’t have anything else to do today, right? Then come out with me. Besides, you still have something you want to talk to me about, right?”

  “Like what?”

  I shrugged. “I want a second chance. With the team, that is. I’m not sure your dad will see me or talk to me, and it’s a bit of a problem.”

  She sighed, then crumpled the tissue and pulled her panties on right before going to toss the tissue in the bin. “Honestly, you and me both, but Dad’s hard to talk to sometimes, so I’m not sure how useful it will be even if you do get to see him. He still won’t take my application as General Manager seriously, so I don’t know what to do about him. I want to work with the team, too.”

  Zoe fixed up the rest of her clothes, her mood growing dark.

  That was one thing I’d come to learn about Zoe since I met her. The one thing she seemed to love more than anything was the sport. The reason she approached me at all was because she knew I used to play football and I was good at it. It was my ticket out of this tiny town back when I graduated high school, but I came back in the end and mostly in disgrace. I had a reputation, a bad one, and it had surprised me when Zoe approached me even after she’d heard the stories about me, which was another reason I didn’t take her seriously at first.

  Somehow, word got around that I was a player. It wasn’t made public so I wouldn’t ruin my former team’s reputation, but it wasn’t exactly a lie, either. There were too many women I either dated or slept with since I left for college, some one night stands, and others I’d been with for maybe a couple weeks. Then there was the booze, and the drugs. The latter might be the biggest mistake I ever made in my life, but it wasn’t as if it was a conscious decision I made.

  I’d been too full of myself back then. I was an idiot, and when I went to a party this one time and someone gave me something, I took it without knowing or questioning what it was, because I was usually drunk off my ass at those parties, anyway. He kept giving, and I didn’t refuse. I didn’t even realize it was messing with me until it was far too late.

  The only good thing about me was that I could run, and I was the best running back in my high school and on my college team, and even when I joined the pro league, my level didn’t drop. Because of everything else, though, after my last team dropped me to cut their losses, getting signed into another team was difficult. I did eventually agree to Zoe’s insistence that I join the team, but now...

  I wanted to join the Southern Eagles, for more reasons than one. Namely, her sweet ass and the way she moaned my name.

  “Did you talk to him about me signing on at the meeting today?” I asked. “How did it go?”

  “I tried to bring it up, but he wouldn’t even let me talk about it. I’d threaten to apply to another team, but I don’t want to go to another team. I want to work for this team, because I’ve been on their side from the beginning. But Dad thinks of it as his team instead of our team, so...”

  She didn’t even try to hide her bitterness. This war between Zoe and her dad had been going on longer than I’d known either of them, but I’d already figured out for myself that her dad was a stubborn bastard.

  Zoe worked as a sports agent, but even I could see her devotion to the Southern Eagles. It would make just about any team jealous to miss out on someone so passionate about the game, determined to help the players and grow the team. From what she’d told me, she grew up with the team and knew all the guys on it, even the newer recruits, who’d still been on the team longer than a year.

  “You should go,” she said. “If someone sees us both coming out of here together, it’ll spell trouble. Neither of us needs more of that coming our way.”

  “There shouldn’t be anyone around, though.”

  “What about my dad, or the staff? This place doesn’t clean itself up, you know. Even when the team isn’t using it, there’ll be staff cleaning up or looking over the equipment and the facilities. They’ll report it to my dad if we get caught coming out of here together, especially since you’re technically not a part of the team right now.”

  I shrugged. “Then don’t get caught.”

  “It’s that simple to you?” she said in disbelief.

  “Well, of course. I’ll head out first, you can stay here for a bit. I’ll wait for you in the parking lot and you can come out in ten, fifteen minutes. I came here for you, you know. I can’t talk to your dad directly right now, my agent is handling that for me, but I still want to talk to you.”

  She bit her lip in indecision, and I tamped down my nervousness.

  I’d decided that this clandestine relationship of ours had gone on long enough. I’d barely known her for two months, but no woman had been able to hold my attention for this long. Zoe was addicting to me, and I was hoping to try and ease our relationship further. I knew that if I officially joined, I’d get to spend more time around her, but I also wanted to talk about us. I wasn’t sure what Zoe would think about us getting serious. She seemed just fine with fooling around, so I had to do this right.

  “Fine,” she sighed out. “Go and I’ll meet you. I’m not done cleaning up yet.”

  I grinned, feeling relaxed. “I don’t even get myself off anymore. Hmm, but if you’re going to be getting my come out of you, I kinda want to stay and watch. Maybe I could help?”

  “Just leave already,” she snapped, but her cheeks were flushing again, and I knew she was embarrassed.

  I laughed. “Fine, fine. I’ll remember to carry a condom next time so it’s convenient.”

  “There will be no next time,” she hissed, glaring. “Not in the fucking locker rooms. It would be too easy to get caught!”

  “Then pick my place or yours, tonight.”

  She waved me away. “Whatever, just go. You know you can’t come to my house, anyways. I’ll be right out, we can talk then.”

  I hesitated a second, before I went to the door. I stuck my head outside, and when I saw the hall was empty, I slipped out and headed for the exit. I came across one person on the way, she was cleaning the floors and she ignored me as I passed her by. I made my way to the parking lot and to where I’d left my car. To be on the safe side, I’d parked far from the entrance behind another car. Because it was off season, and the team didn’t have practice for a while, there weren’t that many cars in the lot, and Ben already knew my car. I knew his, too, and he hadn’t left yet.

  After standing around for a few minutes, I decided it was a little too hot. My impatience made me want to pace around, but I got into my car and grabbed onto the wheel, tapping on it with my fingers as I kept my eyes on the entrance. Ten minutes later, and she still wasn’t out.

  With a frown, I picked up my phone to text her and see what was taking her so long. Before I could, I received a message, and it only made my frown deepen.

  “Sorry. Dad caught me while I was sneaking out and he’s insisting on taking me to lunch. We’ll talk later.”

  I cursed under my breath, but there was nothing I could do. If I marched in there and tried to take her from her dad, he’d just throw me out, then I’d completely lose my chance. I’d lost it once when he heard the rumors about me being on drugs, and I’d been slowly trying to get myself back on his good side. It helped, a little, that he was dating my mom, but he took his
business with the team seriously so he wouldn’t take me back just because of that. I’d been clean since I got home, but it bothered him more that I’d been on drugs at all, and I didn’t even blame him.

  “Dammit,” I muttered, exasperated, and leaned back against the headrest. I’d hoped Zoe and I could go to lunch. It would have been something of a first date, because while we’d fucked often, we didn’t go out nearly as much. It was like having an affair, only we were hiding more from our parents than lovers we were cheating on.

  I saw Ben step out of the building with Zoe right behind him. In a panic, I slid down in the seat so they wouldn’t notice me, but he didn’t even look my way. I watched bitterly as they got into his car and they drove off, then righted myself in my seat.

  Whatever. I would have a chance later, because I had no intention of giving up on Zoe. I’d just have to try another day...continued in the Running Back’s Baby! Grab your copy now.

  About Stephanie Brother

  Thanks for checking out my new release. This is book one and is a short teaser for the Dirty Players series:

  Book #1 - Dirty Players

  Book #2 - The Running Back Baby

  Book #3 - The Quarterback’s Child - Coming soon!

  They are all standalone novels(apart from book 1), which can be read in any order.

  Here's what reviewers are saying about The Dirty Players series:

  Glimpses of characters!

  It’s really just a quick look at the characters in some of this authors upcoming and past works. It does however, do a great job of enticing you. It stops at critical points in which you’re left frantic to find out what happens next. Perfect way to get the reader involved and invested in these books.

  Looking forward to more!

  This is the perfect tease of Howard and Zoe's story!! It's full of heat and I'm looking forward to seeing how their connection grows.

  I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

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