Played: A Second Chance Sports Romance (Playing Games Book 2)

by Rebecca Barber

  “Ah, yeah Emma that’s one I definitely got wrong,” Tash confirmed quickly.

  “Sorry to bust up this love in, but Tash, start typing.”

  “Fine,” she grumbled, grabbing her phone and tapping away.

  While we waited for her to finish, I cleaned up empty glasses and bottles from the floor and took them into the kitchen. Sienna was hot on my heels. “Well this is fun.” She beamed.

  “Yeah, it is,” I conceded.

  “You and Bryce seem to be getting cosy.”

  Her statement hung in the air and I let it. Since she hadn’t asked me an actual question, I didn’t feel like I owed her an answer. If there was something she wanted to know, she was going to have to ask. I wasn’t about to offer anything up free of charge.

  “What’s going on with you and Hunter?”

  “Changing the subject, are you?”

  “Just asking a question.”

  “We’re friends,” she answered with a nonchalant shrug. To anyone else, they’d have bought her act. I didn’t. Not for a second. There was so much more to this story, but even I had to admit now wasn’t the time or place to get into it. Discussions like that needed cocktails and canapes.

  “You girls joining us or not?” someone called out. “It’s Tash’s turn.”

  “Yep,” Sienna replied popping the ‘p’.

  One look at the clock and I realised it was closing in on midnight, and Sienna wasn’t showing any signs of slowing, whereas I was fighting to hold back the yawn.

  “Go on. I’ll grab some chocolate and be right in.”

  Opening the pantry door, I surveyed the contents. It was pretty abysmal, even I had to admit that, but there was enough junk food in here to keep six fully grown adults on a sugar high for a month. Grabbing the marshmallows, block of chocolate, jar of jellybeans and a packet of Tim Tams, I kicked the doors closed and re-joined the madness. Or the fun. I guess it just depended on how you chose to look at it.

  “Emma, you’re my hero,” Tash complimented me as I dumped my armful of treats in the centre of the tablecloth.

  Before I could even sit down, hands were grabbing at the goodies like they hadn’t eaten in five days. “You had this stashed in there all this time?” Bryce asked.

  “Ah, yeah?” I wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

  “Nice.”

  Bouncing on her knees with three marshmallows stuffed in her mouth making her look like a cute chipmunk, Tash leaned forward and spun the bottle. So far, the game had been pretty tame. Informative and funny, but tame. I hoped it stayed this way. The last thing I needed tonight was to be humiliated in front of Bryce. I’d already done that once, there was no way I could handle round two. Not yet anyway. And definitely not with an audience.

  “Sienna!”

  “Shit!” Sienna griped.

  “Truth or dare?”

  For some reason, Sienna looked at me like I had the answer. I had nothing. I was just glad it wasn’t my turn, although at some point, I was sure my luck would run out and I’d end up panicking, just like Sienna was now.

  Sucking in a deep breath, Sienna closed her eyes before blurting out, “Dare.”

  “Yes! Sienna, I dare you to take off that pretty pink bra so I can have a look,” Tash challenged.

  “What the ever-loving fuck?” Logan blurted out, spinning Tash in his lap so she was facing him.

  “What?”

  “Why the hell do you want to check out another chick’s bra?” Logan might have voiced the question, but the truth was I’m pretty sure we were all wondering.

  “Oh, calm your tits, boys. Sienna’s straps have been sticking out all night and they’re bright pink with some kind of sparkly, silver shit on it, so I want to look at the rest. That’s all. Nothing kinky. Nothing exciting. Happy now?”

  I didn’t catch what Logan grumbled, but he settled back and shut up pretty quickly so I assumed her explanation was enough to put him in his place. But Tash wasn’t done yet.

  “Besides, you usually appreciate my love of lingerie.”

  Bryce lost his shit. Laughing loudly at Logan’s predicament.

  “Here you go,” Sienna said, tossing her bra across the room into Tash’s lap. In all the arguing, the boys had missed Sienna removing it. Not that they would’ve seen much. Like any self-respecting woman, Sienna had unclipped it and slipped it off under her shirt. Not an inch of skin to be seen.

  “See, Logan,” Tash said, waving it around in his face. “Isn’t it awesome.”

  “Yeah, fantastic. Now do you mind getting it out of my face?”

  Tash examined the tag, snapping a photo of the label before returning it, only for Sienna to throw it on her bag behind her. “Right my turn. Emma, you’re up!” she warned, and I gulped. The last thing I needed was for Sienna to be coming for me. If anyone was going to make this awkward for me, it was my best friend.

  I held my breath as she spun the bottle, heaving out a sigh of relief when it stopped and it wasn’t pointing in my direction. My excitement was premature, though.

  “Bryce! Truth or dare?”

  He looked to me and I didn’t say anything. The last thing I wanted to be responsible for was setting him up against my bestie, although I knew it didn’t really matter. Whichever way he chose, he was screwed. Sienna wasn’t going to let him out of this lightly. Not when he was basically served up to her on a platter.

  Not breaking eye contact with me, Bryce replied, “Dare.” It sounded like the word got caught in his throat for a second because it was all sorts of deep and raspy. It did things to my insides that it certainly should not. Who the hell gets all tingly over one word? Me apparently. I was weird.

  Sienna tapped her lips pretending to look thoughtful. She didn’t have to. I knew that bitch too well to know she’d had this planned. All she’d been waiting for was the bottle to spin her way and we were fucked. There was no question, this dare was going to screw me over as much as it was Bryce.

  “Bryce, I dare you to…” Sienna tapped on her chin. Then the lightbulb moment hit. “I dare you to kiss Emma,” Sienna declared, silencing the room.

  “Sienna,” I said, my voice full of warning.

  “Oh, come on, Em. It’s no big deal. Besides, it’s not like you two haven’t played a game or two of tonsil hockey,” she tossed out there, and I knew there was no getting out of this.

  “You sure you’re okay with this?” Bryce asked quietly, keeping his voice low so only I could hear.

  Not trusting myself to answer, I nodded. I mean, it wasn’t like kissing Bryce was a hardship. Without giving me a chance to change my mind or think of all the things that could go wrong, Bryce’s warm, huge hands cupped my cheeks barely a breath before his lips touched mine. But before I could appreciate it, he was gone again.

  “What the fuck was that?” Tash boomed.

  “What? You said kiss Emma. So, I did,” Bryce replied, seemingly completely unfazed by Tash’s theatrics.

  “And what are we? Ten?”

  “What?”

  “If that’s how you kiss a chick you’re into, it’s no wonder you can’t convince them to stay more than one night, Bryce Masters. That was shit.” I wanted to disagree with Tash but the last thing I needed was to draw attention to myself. As disappointment chilled me, I reached up to the couch behind me and dragged the throw blanket down, wrapping it around my shoulders to ward off the cold. Seeing me struggle with the blanket, Bryce tucked me in, and I felt even worse.

  “What? You said kiss Emma. So, I did. Did I kiss you, Em?”

  “Ah, yeah you did,” I confirmed, wishing he’d just spin the bottle and we could get this game moving. Or over with. Calling it a night didn’t sound that bad actually.

  “And it was bullshit. I demand a do-over.”

  “Do-overs don’t exist, Sienna,” I reminded her, hoping she’d take the hint. But no. She was way too excited to be paying attention.

  “All those in favour of a do-over where Bryce kisses Emma like he fucking me
ans it, raise your hand,” Logan challenged as four hands shot up in the air. I was tempted to raise mine as well but forced myself to clench my fists.

  Bryce didn’t reply. He didn’t say a word. Instead he turned to me and without warning grabbed me, tilting my head to the angle he wanted before crushing his lips down over mine. When his tongue traced my bottom lip, I moaned, and he took the opportunity to plunder. Bryce kissed me like no one was looking. He kissed me like he had that first night. He kissed me like he had when he’d pinned me to the wall in the hotel hallway. I couldn’t help it. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I tugged him against me, wanting more. Demanding more. By the time we broke apart, my lips were swollen, I was panting for breath and the audience who’d been so hell bent on seeing us kiss had been silenced. I guess they’d gotten the show they wanted. Now if only I could kick them all out and see what happened next.

  Instead of letting me go, Bryce yanked me closer, so I was half sitting in his lap before wrapping the blanket back around me, his hand resting on my thigh. Feeling the warmth seeping through the flannel was boiling my blood. I was treading on rocky ground.

  “Right, my turn,” Bryce said, grabbing the bottle and sending it spinning wildly.

  This time I prayed for it to land on me. I wanted Bryce to dare me to kick everyone out and fuck him till the sun rose. I wanted Bryce to make me confess I’d thought of him. That I’d missed him. That I’d touched myself thinking of him. Remembered the way he played my body like a master musician. I wanted him to kiss me again. As if reading my mind, he dropped a chaste kiss on my forehead, and for some reason I found it even hotter than the kiss he’d just given me which had my whole body still tingling and desperate for more.

  “Fuck!” Logan grumbled as the bottle stopped, aimed directly at him.

  “Sweet! Logan, truth or dare?”

  “Like I trust you. Truth,” Logan confirmed quickly.

  One look at Bryce and the way his eyes lit up and I knew Logan had made the wrong call. This time dare just may have been the safer option.

  “Did you, Logan Oliver, pull off your dream proposal when you finally found your balls and proposed to the lovely Tash there?”

  “Bryce,” Logan growled as Tash exploded into a fit of giggles which overwhelmed her until she was coughing so violently Logan was forced to rub her back while she fought to get her breathing back under control.

  “What’d we miss?” Hunter asked, as confused as I was.

  “Logan proposed in the hotel bathroom,” Tash confirmed, wiping the tears away that were streaming down her face.

  “What?” Bryce asked. “That’s not what I was expecting. What happened to the plan?”

  “Would you shut up for once in your life?” Logan asked, and Bryce just snagged a marshmallow from the bag, stuffing it in his mouth.

  “You want to know what a clusterfuck it was? Fine. But this shit does not leave this room. Got it?” Logan demanded, staring each of us down until we all nodded our agreement. “Can’t believe I’m telling you arseholes about this.”

  “Oh, come on. It’s funny. Our kids are going to love it. Actually, my readers would probably…”

  “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Just think of the exposure,” Tash teased, tapping her finger against the corner of her lip. Watching these two together was like watching an old married comedy duo. They had no qualms at all about riling the other up to see who’d snap first. My bet was Logan did a lot of backing down most days.

  “I can always take it back,” he threatened, but there was no seriousness there at all. I got the feeling taking it back was the absolute last thing in the world Logan would ever do.

  “The proposal?” I prompted, feeling more than a little invested in their story now.

  “Fine. We were supposed to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Everything was booked in and set up. We had a private climb, just the two of us and the guide. Then when we got to the top, I was going to ask her. I’d already spoken to her dad and asked for his blessing, so it was all systems go. The champagne was ready for when we got back to the bottom. But then the Sydney weather decided to go psycho and two hours before we had to leave, they sent me a text and cancelled our climb.”

  “Did you know, Tash?” I asked, rocking forward.

  “I knew we were climbing the bridge. But when we woke up, I told him it would be cancelled. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. All you had to do was look out the window and see the howling wind and pouring rain to know no one was going up there anytime soon. So, when they messaged and cancelled, I wasn’t fussed. But Logan wasn’t convinced. Instead, he made us get ready and drive over there anyway.”

  “They may have changed their minds. The weather might have cleared. You never know.”

  “So, what was your back-up plan?” Bryce asked. Obviously, he knew how much time and effort Logan had put into planning his proposal.

  “Opera House. Tash said she wanted a donut…”

  “No surprise there. I’ve never met anyone who inhales donuts like Tash,” Bryce teased, and Tash poked her tongue out at him.

  “So, I convinced her I knew a place down in Circular Quay that had the best donuts in Sydney.”

  “Do you?” Sienna asked.

  “Do I what?”

  “Know where they kept the good donuts?”

  “No idea. Anyway, we parked and walked around towards the Opera House and by now Tash wasn’t being the best date you could imagine.”

  “Can you blame me? I was soaking wet. It was freezing and you were making me walk god knows where while there was a perfectly good café in the hotel that had chocolate-coated donuts.”

  “See what I was dealing with? Anyway, when we got to the steps it was closed. Everything was fenced off and the whole place was crawling with security.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep.”

  “And you didn’t give up?” Hunter asked. Good to know he was such a boy.

  “I thought about it. When Tash stepped into a puddle and added mud to our adventure, we headed back to the hotel. I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do. I was sick of waiting. Her bloody ring had been driving me crazy sitting in my drawer. I knew there was no way I was taking it home again. When we got to the hotel, Tash headed straight upstairs and crawled into the bubble bath trying to warm up.”

  “What’d you do?” Bryce asked.

  “Stomped around the room for a bit. Got changed into my sweatpants and jumper. Ordered room service. Including donuts. But it was bugging the shit out of me. Grabbing the ring out of the box, I pushed open the bathroom door and walked in.”

  “I’d just climbed out of the bath and was standing there dripping wet with a towel wrapped around me.”

  “And I asked her.”

  “Just like that?” I blurted out, stunned.

  “Yep.”

  “And you said yes?”

  “Of course, I did.” Tash beamed, glancing down at the gigantic rock on her finger.

  Bryce shook his head with a chuckle. “Just to make sure I didn’t miss anything, Tash was naked. You were in sweats. You were both in a hotel bathroom. And you proposed. Is that right? Did I miss anything?”

  “Yeah, you missed where I said fuck yeah!” Tash added.

  It wasn’t conventional. It wasn’t romantic. It wasn’t the thing of fairy tales or a story musicians wrote love songs about, but it was real. I thought it was fucking perfect. Adorable even.

  “Well congratulations, guys! That’s awesome,” I confirmed, tamping down the jealously that was creeping around.

  “Thanks,” Tash accepted going all giggly and snuggling against Logan.

  “Yeah, good work, mate. About time. You’ve only had the ring for what, eight weeks or so?” Bryce taunted.

  “Something like that.”

  “And just think, now you get to plan a wedding.” Bryce added one final dig.

  “Now it’s my turn, isn’t it?” Logan asked at the same momen
t I yawned loudly. I hadn’t meant to; the night was just getting away from me.

  “Last one, then we’ll get out of Emma’s hair,” Tash confirmed, taking charge, which I appreciated. I didn’t want to be rude and kick them out, but I couldn’t promise I would be able to keep my very heavy eyes open much longer.

  Shifting Tash beside him, Logan reached out and spun the bottle sharply. Hypnotised by the way it spun, I stared until it slowed before coming to a stop. Pointing directly at me.

  “Ah, perfect!” Logan smiled over at me. “Emma, truth or dare?”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  BRYCE

  As soon as the bottle stopped spinning, I felt Emma stiffen beside me. Her breathing hitched and the colour drained from her face. I hated this. I knew it was a game, but games were supposed to be fun and all it took was one look at Emma’s terrified face to realise, she didn’t look like she was having fun.

  Giving her thigh a squeeze, I tried to offer her reassurance. Offer her strength. Hell, I’d give her anything in the world she wanted right now.

  “Ah, um, ah…” she stumbled.

  “Come on, Em. Lucky last. Truth or dare?” Sienna encouraged.

  “Truth,” she squeaked out no louder than a mouse.

  “Perfect,” Logan teased, rubbing his hands together like an evil villain. “Emma, are you going to give my boy Bryce here a second chance?”

  Now it was my turn to shit myself.

  I was in two minds right now. One, I wanted to high five him. He’d put out there the one thing I wanted to know, needed to know more than anything. On the other hand, he’d put it out there in front of everyone and the last thing I wanted was for Emma to feel like she was being bullied into giving me another shot.

  “Wow! Good question,” Sienna complimented Logan, offering him the high five I couldn’t.

  “You don’t have to answer,” I whispered, hoping it would help remove the stunned look from her face. I didn’t like seeing that there.

  “Bullshit! Of course, she has to answer. We all played along. So, Emma needs to pull up her big-girl, granny panties and put us all out of our misery,” Sienna protested. Their friendship was definitely one I didn’t understand.