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

by Rebecca Barber

  “Bryce, there was nothing you could’ve done or did do. Okay? It was all on me. I held…oh my god I can’t believe I’m telling you this… I waited too long to go to the bathroom and by the time I was in the changing rooms, I was in so much pain I thought my bladder was going to explode.”

  I was stunned.

  That was it? Really?

  Emma was looking everywhere but at me.

  I didn’t even get the chance to say anything before the annoying kid masquerading as a waiter appeared beside our table checking if we wanted a drink refill. Emma mumbled a no and I shook my head hoping he’d take the hint and piss off.

  The moment he was gone, I jumped out of my chair, hurried around the table and kneeled next to her. I heard whispering and knew what it must look like right now. Romantic lunch on the deck overlooking the water and here I was down on my knee. Even Emma was freaking out.

  “Bryce, what the fuck?”

  “No! No! I’m not proposing,” I said louder than necessary, but I was trying to set the eavesdroppers straight.

  “Geez! Give a girl a heart attack why don’t you.” Emma laughed, and it was the first honest reaction I’d seen all day.

  “Forget that. Forget them. Em, I don’t get it. Why? You made yourself sick? You looked like you were going to pass out or collapse or something.”

  “I was. I was in so much pain. I’m so sorry.”

  “I don’t want you to be sorry, but I do need you to tell me why you’d do that to yourself.” I was beyond confused.

  “I’ll make you a deal,” she suggested and right now, I probably would’ve agreed to anything. Or everything.

  “Yes?”

  “Get up off your knee so everyone stops staring at me like I have spinach in my teeth, and I’ll do my best to explain.”

  “Done.” Standing up, I kissed her quickly before retaking my seat.

  While Emma explained what happened and how she’d been so engrossed with the game then the issues she had getting to me, I cycled through my emotions. Firstly, I was loving the fact she was so caught up in the game and thought everything else could wait. But then as she was explaining trying to get through the crowd and the unhelpful security, I was annoyed.

  “You know, if you’d have just taken the ticket I left for you…”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know,” she grumbled.

  “But you’re okay now?”

  “Yep.”

  “You’re sure? You don’t need a doctor or anything?” I didn’t like that she’d made herself sick like that. I mean, I get it. Sometimes I forgot to drink and ended up so dehydrated I vomited on my shoes, but I didn’t want Emma sick. I’d never want that.

  “I’m fine. Have you tried the bruschetta? It’s really good,” Emma asked, changing the subject.

  I let it go. There was no point pushing her and I still needed to get to the bottom of something else. Why she was here. After we finished our meal, Emma convinced me to get ice cream. I wasn’t really a big ice cream eater, but I knew she had a sweet tooth and given I wanted to do anything to make her happy, half an hour later I was lapping at my macadamia nut cone like I was a puppy.

  When she shivered, I suggested we head back. I was shocked when she asked if we could stay a while longer. For someone who didn’t want to leave the house this morning, it seemed like she was relaxed about it now. I offered to go grab her one of my hoodies I always had in the car, but she took the keys and insisted I stay right where I was.

  Emma returned and was wearing not only my hoodie which was about three sizes too big for her, but also a wicked smile.

  “What?” I asked, slightly scared as she dropped into my lap.

  “We don’t know each other very well, do we?” she probed, and I felt like I was being set up.

  “Nah, I guess we don’t.”

  “And would you say there’re things about yourself which you probably wouldn’t come out and just tell me?”

  “Like what?” I had no idea where she was going with this conversation and I was more than a little nervous about it.

  “Nothing major. Favourite movies. Favourite band. Secret hobby. Favourite book.”

  My mouth fell open but only for a second, but it was enough to give me away.

  “Never would’ve picked you for a Fifty Shades kinda guy. But hey, each to their own. No judgement here.”

  “You are,” I grumbled.

  “I think what I like most about it though,” she continued, tugging the tattered paperback from the front pocket. “Is the pretty pink bookmark you use. Good to know you’re not one of those monsters who fold the pages.”

  I needed to tilt this conversation back in my favour or I was going down – and going down quickly. “And that would make a difference?”

  “Would what make a difference?”

  “If I was a monster? If I creased the pages?”

  “Absolutely.”

  She got her confirmation out barely a breath before I started tickling her. Emma might just be the most ticklish adult on the planet, something I figured out the other night when we’d been lying on the couch.

  “Stop! Stop!” she begged as the old couple walking by in their matching activewear looked at us and smiled. “I’ll pee on you!” she threatened.

  I stopped and she righted herself but not before giving me a filthy look. It was worth it. So very worth it. Emma almost dropped the book and I lunged forward to grab it.

  “Don’t lose the page!” It came out before I realised what I was saying.

  “Why?”

  “Betty will kill me.”

  “Who’s Betty?” Emma asked, trying to keep her tone neutral while at the same time crawling off me. I wasn’t having that. Tightening my grip around her waist, I moved her back to where I wanted.

  “Betty is the lovely lady I see twice a week,” I confessed.

  “Lucky Betty,” Emma muttered under her breath as she tried to escape my hold.

  “She is lucky. Betty’s kids don’t live here so I go to the nursing home twice a week and read to her. She asked for that, and I quote; ‘grey book everyone’s rambling on about’, so I’m reading it to her. It’s a crap book.”

  Whack!

  I didn’t see the left hook coming until it thumped against my bicep. “It is not a crap book, Bryce,” Emma defended adamantly. Boy she could really pack a punch when she wanted. Wonder if she could catch a ball? We could use that sort of aggression on our field.

  “Fine! It’s not that bad…really.”

  “So, you read to Betty twice a week?”

  “I try to.”

  “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Can I meet her? Can we go today?” Emma was bouncing. I was so glad she approved, and I had no doubt in my mind Betty would love Emma, but I could almost guarantee I’d be in a whole lot of trouble putting them in a room together.

  “Not today. It’s getting too late for her.”

  “Oh,” Emma responded, unable or maybe unwilling to hide her disappointment. Something that only made me that much more attracted to her. I loved that she wore her heart on her sleeve. I was worried that she was in real danger of bleeding to death, but her honesty and transparency were probably the sexiest things about her. Well, that or her arse.

  “We can go tomorrow morning,” I quickly conceded, watching her perk right back up.

  “Yay!” Emma bounced on my lap and my dick immediately noticed.

  “But first, it’s time to talk.”

  “Do we have to?”

  “Yeah, Em, we do. You go home tomorrow, and I don’t even know why you came here.” The words dribbled out of my mouth and sounded like they tasted. Like complete shit. This time when Emma went to climb off my lap, I let her. I knew my comment had sounded like a bitch slap and even though that hadn’t been my intention, it’s exactly how it’d sounded.

  “If you don’t want me here…” She started walking towards the car.

  Jogging t
o catch up to her, I was seriously surprised and kinda impressed with how quickly she moved when she was pissed off. “Em! Em! Wait up. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  She stopped where she was and folded her arms across her chest. I was trying, I mean really, really trying not to stare at her boobs, but even with my too-big jumper hiding her delicious curves, I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know they were there.

  “Em, you know me. I didn’t mean it like that. I want you here. Of course, I do…”

  “Didn’t sound like it,” she grumbled, making me feel like the world’s biggest douche bag.

  “I know. But you know me, I say dumb shit sometimes.”

  “Yeah, well that one hurt.”

  Wow! She wasn’t letting me off easy this time, not that I deserved it.

  “I know, Em, and I’m sorry. What I was trying to say is, you called me. You were upset, then you were here. And we’ve had an awesome time. At least I’ve had an awesome time. Have you?” I was babbling and back-tracking so quickly I was going to land on my arse if I wasn’t careful.

  “Yeah I have,” she admitted, and I felt a little lighter. Even though it was obvious I was still walking on very fucking shaky ground, getting her to admit it hadn’t been a complete disaster was at least a step in the right direction.

  Cupping her face in my hands, I pressed my lips to hers. She tasted like cherries and chocolate. The woman was addictive. How I was going to survive when she went home tomorrow, I had no idea.

  “And I’ve loved having you here. But, sweetheart, I’ve been dying to ask, I’ve been hoping you’d open up and tell me, but before we run out of time, I’ve got to ask, what happened with your boss?” I laid it all out there. There was no going back now, not that I wanted to.

  “Take me home and I’ll tell you,” Emma commanded. Who was I to argue with her demands?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  BRYCE

  I practically fell through my front door when I eventually made it home. It was almost one in the morning and I was not a happy camper. After spending almost two hours sitting on the tarmac at Adelaide airport while they checked something to do with the plane’s engineering, I tuned out what they were saying and instead stared out the window replaying everything Bryce had said last night.

  We never did make it to the nursing home to meet Betty, but Bryce promised me he’d tell her I said hi. Instead, we’d made it back to his apartment, and Bryce was on me like a wild man. It was like he couldn’t get enough. I wasn’t much better. I was pretty sure by the time we collapsed, completely sated and exhausted, we’d christened every surface of his apartment.

  Spooning me in the dark, Bryce asked again about my job, so I told him everything Nick had offered. A three-month contract. My job still guaranteed at the end of it. Promotion. Increased salary. Experience. Acknowledgement. The fact that the job was in Canberra.

  “So why haven’t you said yes yet?” Bryce asked, sounding like it was a foregone conclusion.

  “There’s so many things to consider.”

  “Like?”

  Pulling away from him, I jumped up and clicked on the lamp. My eyes stung at the light but after a few seconds adjusted to see something that made my mouth water and my girly bits tingle – my very well-used, tired girly bits, which had no right to want anything right now. Bryce was lying there on the bed, arms folded behind his head and the sheet dangerously low against his hips. Grabbing his shirt from the floor, I shrugged it on before sitting on the end of the bed facing him. This wasn’t a naked conversation.

  “Three months is a long time.”

  “Not that long,” he countered.

  “Canberra is really far away. I don’t want to live there.”

  “But you won’t be.”

  “Can I even do what they’re asking me to? I mean, this is a huge freaking event they’re asking me to help with. It’s not every day an actual prince and princess come to town to look at the garden. Gardens I’m responsible for.”

  “Em. Take the job.”

  “What!” I screeched. Boys! They had no idea. He’d known about this for all of five minutes and already he’d made a decision. Life wasn’t easy. At least mine wasn’t.

  “Whoa! Calm down. Let me finish,” he soothed. I probably was overreacting, but hell, this was big. At least it was in my world.

  “Fine,” I said gruffly.

  “It’s three months. That’s not that long really. By the end of September, it will be done.”

  “I suppose.”

  “But take it on your terms.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Make it work for you. Tell them what you want. If you don’t want to permanently live in Canberra, then don’t. Commute; it’s not that far really. Drive down each week and then go home on the weekends. Completely doable. And I know you want it,” he added cockily.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because if you didn’t, you would’ve already said no.”

  Arsehole! I hated that he was right. I did want it. My ego was doing freaking cartwheels at even being considered for such an assignment. Didn’t mean I had to like him knowing that, though. Pouncing on him, I heard the whoosh of air forced from his lungs as I landed, but it didn’t slow him down one bit. Without a word, he rolled us, pinning me to the bed with his hips before slamming his mouth down on mine.

  With Bryce’s words rumbling around in my head, I tried to push them aside and make the best of what time we had left. We didn’t leave the apartment again until it was time for me to head to the airport. In fact, we didn’t even put underwear on. The only time Bryce was clothed was when the doorbell rang, and he answered it to get the pizza we inhaled while lazing on the couch watching yet another chick flick.

  As I slid between the cold sheets, I realised how big my bed was without Bryce in it. Something I knew I was going to have to get used to, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.

  Emma: I’m home. Just got into bed.

  Bryce: So late?

  Emma: Why are you still awake? Go to sleep!

  Bryce: Waiting for you to get home safely.

  Wow! Was this guy for real? Or had he just seen one too many romantic movies and memorised the perfect lines to use to bend women to his will.

  Emma: Well I’m home. Tucked up safely in bed.

  Bryce: Night, Em.

  Emma: Night.

  Quickly I shot off a text to Nick letting him know my flight had come in late and I wouldn’t be in tomorrow but I’d call him to discuss the job offer in the morning. Silencing my phone, I rolled over, tucked the spare pillow between my legs and passed out.

  I woke up late and stretched out. Every muscle in my body ached, not that I was really surprised. They’d been worked out in a way they never had before over the last couple of days and even though I stumbled bowlegged into the bathroom, I wouldn’t have changed it for anything.

  After a quick shower to wake me up and make me human, I got dressed, made myself a cup of tea and called Nick. Now the decision in my head was clear, I needed to action it before I changed my mind. It took twenty minutes of negotiations but eventually he caved and gave me everything I asked for. The only caveat he put on it was I had to start tomorrow. While it wasn’t a deal breaker for me, it wasn’t something that I was looking forward to either.

  Hanging up, I grabbed my coat from the hook and headed down the street. If I was heading out of town again tomorrow, I wasn’t going to need groceries, but I did need food. Ducking into my favourite café, I ordered the big breakfast and slumped into a table in the corner. It was quiet in here, the quietest I’d ever seen. Maybe because it was the middle of the morning on a Monday and people weren’t out brunching.

  With no people to watch, I text Sienna to curb my boredom.

  Emma: What are you doing?

  Sienna: Trying not to stab someone.

  Emma: Yeah, good call. You around tonight?

  Sienna: No

  Sienna: Dad’s birthday s
o family dinner. Wanna join?

  Emma: Thanks but can’t. Moving to Canberra tomorrow.

  “What the actual fuck, Emma? You’ve been away for a week and now you’re moving? I thought if I were getting a call to say you were leaving me it would be at least for that hunk of spunk in Adelaide. What the fuck is in Canberra?” Sienna managed to get it out all in one breath and I was kinda impressed.

  “Breathe, Sie. Breathe,” I attempted to calm her down. I knew it wasn’t working. Nothing calmed Sienna down when she slid into bat-shit-crazy mode, but it made me feel better.

  I explained what was happening and the deal I’d made with Nick. I’d be driving down Monday mornings and then back Friday afternoons. I still got my life in Sydney, but I got the job as well. The best of both worlds. Once I’d promised to catch up with her on Saturday morning, Sienna conceded and switched her focus. Now she wanted the dirty details about my week in the sack – as she was referring to it, and honestly, she wasn’t really wrong.

  I ate quickly and scampered back home. Five hours, three cups of coffee and way too many caramel eclairs later and I was edging in on Canberra. Up ahead the sky was nasty. As I rounded the corner, the dark grey clouds looked intimidating and the light, spitty rain splattered my windscreen. It wasn’t enough to have the wipers going, but just enough to be annoying. I’d forgotten about the weather difference. Three hours down the road and winter had truly arrived. Cranking up the heat, I pressed on, anxious to get to the apartment I was going to call home for the next couple of months.

  After I’d picked up the keys, unpacked and checked out my room, I pulled out my laptop and logged into my email. Finding the details Nick had forwarded me, I read and reread everything before ordering Thai for dinner.

  As the days passed, I knew I could do this. The people were great and really welcoming. I’d even been invited over to one of my new work colleague’s home for dinner next week. But the cold was killing me. I’d shown up in my winter gear on the first day and people had just laughed in that awkward man-I-feel-sorry-for-her way. But working long hours left no time for shopping so I’d have to drag Sienna with me on Saturday. That girl could sniff out a bargain at a hundred metres and loved a challenge more than anyone I knew. She’d find me gloves and a jacket that might actually prevent me from getting frostbite.