The insult cracked deep. I narrowed my eyes. “Haven’t I done that?”
“You showboat when you got a ring on your finger to show what hot shit you are. You brag in the minutes after that final win. As of now?” He tapped his watch. “New season, Play-Maker. You’re on my time now, and there ain’t no winners or losers yet. You gotta prove yourself, same as anyone else.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
The coach was a beefy man, a former lineman that forgot he wasn’t burning thousands of calories in exercise a day anymore. He tried to intimidate me. Didn’t matter how many clipboards he held in front of his face, he wasn’t pissing with me.
I took another drink and hoped it was the heat that made me so fucking irritable. I pitched the water bottle at my feet and turned back to my team.
Coach Thompson snorted at me. “You think you’re special, Jack?”
I’d shove that whistle down his throat. I faced him, eyes narrowed, every muscle in my body tensed and ready to prove that I was a one-in-a-million athlete that wouldn’t tolerate his bullshit much longer.
“What the hell is your problem?” I pointed to the field. “I have fifty-two men I’m leading back to the championship. And you know what I’m gonna get?”
“A win this time?”
“Re-fucking-demption. Don’t tell me I gotta prove myself. I know exactly what I need to do.”
He nodded at the other coaches, backing them down as I felt my temper baited, checked, and about to rage. He patted my shoulder, but the son of a bitch didn’t have a right to rile me up just to shit on me when the urge came over him.
“You’ve been doing good these past few weeks, Jack. Staying out of trouble.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“Don’t give me a reason to treat you like a child.”
I knew better than to say a damn thing. If I let loose, I’d be overheard by the media hanging too close. They always descended when they thought there’d be fireworks.
Fuck em. I wasn’t giving them any fodder to take to Leah. It was bad enough she still dealt with the car accident and the camera incident. Those scandals complicated my nights with my publicist, when she had to bitch at me before I tossed her in bed and tried to knock her up.
It had been a good couple weeks of attempts though. Leah’s pussy was great stress relief. Something about getting a girl like her in trouble—even if she gave me permission—was sexy enough to get me hard every minute of every day.
Coach Thompson grabbed my shoulder. It was a bad move, but I let him pull me back.
“Listen to me, Jack. You’re keeping your head down. You’re doing good work. You’re on time. And you weren’t with Bryon when he got into that mess with the slut downtown. You’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. You understand me?”
I did, so why was I resisting it? “Yeah. I’m the league’s newest lapdog. You taught me not to bark in the house, but you still want me neutered.”
“Damn right, we do. You’re gonna stay on this path.”
“I am?”
“Yes, you are. I don’t know why this is always a fight with you.” He pointed to the field, watching as the men ran plays without me. “You are one of the most gifted athletes I’ve ever seen, but you refuse to cooperate with anyone. You’re aggressive. You throw temper tantrums. You insist on using your cock to make your big decisions.”
Couldn’t argue with that, but when had my cock led me wrong?
“This past month, you’ve been behaving—and yes, I say behaving because you’re the only goddamned adult I have to treat like a teenager. I got kids at home, Jack, I don’t need another crew of ungrateful shits here, you get me?” He looked me over, but he still didn’t try to respect me. “You haven’t been partying as much.”
Yeah, cause I was balls deep in Leah at night, trying my damnest to make her orgasm so hard she’d pass out on my dick. Every man had a dream. This one was new. Didn’t involve a championship game, but it took up a lot of my nights.
“You’re focused, Jack,” he said. “You’re concentrating. You’re in great shape. You’re not hiding in your sunglasses cause you have a raging hangover. You understand now? You’re ready to lead this team the way it should be led, and you’re becoming the man you were supposed to be three years ago. I don’t know what changed, but something flipped that switch in your head. It’s going to bring us to victory.”
I didn’t change. Nothing changed. Christ, people were so fucking desperate to see connections and stories in my behavior. Nothing happened unusual.
Nothing except Leah.
Nothing except pretending to be in a relationship with a cocoa-skinned goddess. A woman of class, grace, and absolute sensuality who wanted nothing more than for me to take her again and again until I seeded her with my child.
I guessed that was different.
Coach Thompson waddled onto the field to yell at the defense. Coach Wallace, the quarterback coach, winked at me. He patted my shoulder before grabbing a playbook to consult with Matt.
“Jack, you are playing better. Considerably. Don’t you feel it?”
Yes. “I guess.”
“Then I’d keep doing what you’re doing regardless of who it pleases. So long as you get the results, what the hell does it matter if it keeps the league and Coach Thompson happy? Keep that good luck charm or the new exercise routine. It’s working.”
Except it wasn’t luck or me.
It was Leah.
Holy shit, they were right. It wasn’t just my image. It was Leah.
I grabbed another bottle of water and sprayed off the sweat. My eyes searched the crowd. Enough people and press, kids and fans crowded around the outdoor practice facility. Training camp was a big event, and a lot of people came to watch the open practices.
Today, I knew where to look. Leah promised to stop by during her lunch. I scanned the faces in the crowd until I found her. She took my advice and waited beside the field, beyond the ropes cordoning off the fans from those who had clearance to be close to players.
God, she was beautiful.
And smiling.
And fanning herself in the heat as she sought the shade on the sidelines. She twisted her visitor’s pass and used it to cool her face. Her wave was half-hearted, and she stumbled.
Backward.
My stomach pitted as she wobbled again. I shouted, sprinting across the field and pushing through my teammates. I hopped over the equipment set up next to the sidelines. My legs pumped harder than I ran for the forty, and I was certain I broke my own goddamned records to rush to Leah.
I didn’t reach her in time.
Leah fainted before I made it, but she woke as soon as her butt slammed into the ground.
“Kiss!” I scooped her from the turf and carried her to the nearest bench. I pointed at a trainer. “You! Get your ass over here!”
Leah waved me away, rubbing her head. She sweated, but she managed a weak smile.
“I’m just hot,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’m okay. I’m hot.”
Well, good for fucking her. I was chilled to my core.
“Sit here.” I searched for the trainer. “Bring her some fucking water!”
“Language.” Leah pointed to the kids nearby, as well as the sport reporter chasing us across the field to get a picture. “Gotta be careful.”
“Fuck being careful. Are you okay?”
The trainer hurried to our side—a nosy little redhead who busted the guys’ balls and had a bad habit of ferreting out concussions. She edged me away and offered Leah water and a cool towel.
“Miss?” The trainer felt her pulse and gave her a drink. “It’s very hot today. Were you in the sun for too long?”
“Look at her—she’s well done.” I forced a joke. It didn’t ease the twisting in my gut.
Leah smirked as I poked her dark skin. “I’m just hot.”
“You might have some heat cramps, maybe exhaustion. Do you have a headache?”
“No, I got dizzy.”
“Nausea?”
She glanced over the growing pack of fans and press. My teammates and coaches also started to crowd, checking on why the star quarterback freaked the fuck out and ran fifty yards to help a girl off the ground.