by Bella Emy
EGOTISTICAL PLAYER © 2020 Bella Emy and Cocky Club Hero, Inc.
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Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 Bella Emy
Editor: Angie Wade of Novel Nurse Editing
Proofreader: Janna Bethel
DEDICATION
INTRODUCTION
PART ONE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
PART TWO
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
PART THREE
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
PART FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
PART FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
PART SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
PART SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
PART EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
AFTERWORD
THANK YOU
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT BELLA
ALSO BY BELLA
FOLLOW BELLA
DEDICATION
To my family & friends.
To my Antonio & Brandon.
To my Rocky.
To those second chances and heart-stopping moments.
To the believers and dreamers.
To my fans.
I love you all.
INTRODUCTION
Egotistical Player is a standalone story inspired by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s Cocky Bastard. It’s published as part of the Cocky Hero Club world, a series of original works, written by various authors, and inspired by Keeland and Ward's New York Times bestselling series.
PART ONE
High School
CHAPTER ONE
Harleigh
His right hand swipes across his wet, sweaty forehead. He reaches down and slowly, painstakingly, peels the white T-shirt from his body. I bite on my bottom lip as hot, sticky sweat trickles down his rock-hard abs. I can’t rip my gaze away. It’s like I’m glued to the latest episode of the hottest TV show.
Damn, what I would do to run my tongue up and down his abs and lick the sweat right off him.
Instead, I lick my lips, but I’m brought right out of my daydream when my best friend’s voice comes through on the phone once more.
“Harleigh, are you even listening to me?” Aubrey asks, impatience evident in her tone.
“I’m sorry, Aubrey. I’m a bit… distracted.” That was one way to put it. Distracted and unable to look away…
Distracted.
Mesmerized.
Fixated. It all works the same.
It’s hard to explain how I really feel about Preston Scott. Yes, I have a serious crush on him. Yes, he’s hot as hell. But I hate him. I do. The way he carries himself and walks around like he owns the world? It’s a turn-off. At the same time, it’s sexy as fuck, and my feelings for him are constantly at war with one another. He’s not mean or even an asshole, but anyone can tell by how he holds his head up that he thinks he’s the shit.
He is. But it’s annoying.
Annoying and hot.
Jesus, I’m screwed.
“Ha! Yeah, I bet you are. What are you looking at? No, wait. Let me guess. Let me guess… Preston staring at his self-centered ass in the mirror, admiring what a fan-fucking-tastic physique he’s got. Ugh, the man is worse than a damn beauty pageant queen.”
I roll my eyes. My best friend doesn’t seem to understand what a god Preston is. Who cares if he knows he looks good? It’s called confidence.
Scratch that. It’s borderline arrogance, but fuck, I can’t deny it. He’s gorgeous and has every single right to be. All the girls from our high school want him. Wait, I’m being conservative. It’s not only the ones from our school. It’s ones from neighboring towns too. There have even been rumors of college chicks trying to get with him. Who knows if it’s true… Of course, Aubrey thinks he’s cute too, but she is not impressed with his confidence. She thinks he’s a definite player. Plus, since she knows how badly I’ve got it for him, she’d never want him for herself. She’s my best friend.
“I’m looking out my window. He’s in the yard playing football with Cory, and he just whipped off his shirt.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Harls. Please step away from the window.”
Shrugging, I say, “I can’t. He’s so damn cute. But you know I can’t stand him.”
Cute is being low key. Preston is hot.
“Yeah, you can’t stand him, but I bet you’d love to sit on his face and ride it… possibly jump his bones.” She lets out a deep-bellied laugh.
Ha! I’m still a virgin. Probably one of the last few from my school. But I refuse to have sex with just anyone so that I can say I’m not a virgin anymore. I’d rather give myself to a guy who I’m in a serious relationship with. Someday I’ll find him. “I would not! I would never do that, but—Oh, shit!” I shout and duck below the window frame.
“What? What happened?” Aubrey asks.
“He caught me staring,” I answer and slowly lift enough so my eyes can take a small peek. Thankfully, he’s brought his attention back to his game with my older brother, Cory, so I stand once more. I decide it’s best to hide behind the sheer curtains this time.
“Please don’t feed into his massive ego, Harleigh.”
I take one last glance at my perfect god throwing a football around in the yard outside and then step away from my window. I plop onto my bed and lie down, facing the ceiling. I still have those cute little star cutouts my mother decorated my ceiling with. At night, they light up, illuminating my room. How I’d love to gaze up at the stars with Preston someday…
Of course, that’s not reality. It’s nice to dream.
I take a deep breath and simply reply, “Okay.”
“Look, Harls, I love you like you were my own sister, okay? I don’t want to see you getting hurt over this egotistical asshole. He’s a player, and you know it.”
I shrug and close my eyes. “I don’t know. I mean, he’s always single. Sure, we see him with dates when we go out, but he’s never with the same girl long enough to be considered his girlfriend.”
“And that’s precisely why he’s such a player. He purposely stays s
ingle because he doesn’t want to be tied down to anybody. He’s what you would call a true player.”
I think about her words for a second, but I’m not convinced. I know I should be. I know I should stay away and distance my heart from his charming good looks, but I can’t.
“All right, I have to go. My mom’s calling me down for dinner. Try to keep busy so you’re not still staring at him, okay? Remember, we have two years left until graduation. Then we can get out of this town, take a road trip, and travel. We need to get out of this small suburban life and see what else is out there.”
I open my eyes and giggle. Our childhood pact of taking a nice long road trip across the country after graduating high school is still something we both really want to do. Of course we are planning on going to college, but Aubrey is going to go out of state, and I’m planning on attending the university just an hour from where we live.
“Okay, girl. Have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”
We hang up the phone, and for a second I remain in my position, just closing my eyes once more and picturing Preston’s gorgeous face.
Preston is a modern-day James Dean. The only difference is their eye color. While Dean’s eyes were baby blue, Preston’s are dreamy, mysterious, and hazel brown. And he’s got dimples whenever he smiles. If that’s not saying enough about how hot he is, then I don’t know what is. He’s got the whole package. Plus, the fact that his body is ripped and chiseled like a Greek god doesn’t hurt one bit.
I leave my phone on the bed and rise from my spot. I’m hesitant, but I can’t help myself from looking out the window once more. I reach the curtain and pull it back slowly. There he is, still tossing the football around with my brother. As Cory goes to make a touchdown, Preston slowly turns his head in my direction, looks up at me, and flashes the most gorgeous, dimpled grin I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. This time, I don’t bother looking away. Instead, I relish in his stare and smile back. Fuck, he’s so cute.
As he rips his gaze away from me and I’m standing still, glued to the vision that is Preston Scott, he grabs the football away from Cory and runs full speed across the yard. He does some turns and tosses the ball up in the air, then catches it with his right hand, mastering it like a skilled NFL pro.
I don’t even care how he’s obviously, purposely, showing off. He looks damn good doing it, and I could watch him all night.
A heat rises from my chest, and I’m swooning. Preston Scott is hot as hell, and even though I know he’s totally out of my league, I’m going to keep crushing on this bad-boy, nineteen-fifties’ heartthrob, whether he is an egotistical player or not. I love looking at him and can’t stop.
CHAPTER TWO
Harleigh
“Tomorrow, man. I’ll get you back tomorrow,” Cory says, walking Preston to the door. I’m sitting to the left on the couch, pretending to be engrossed in some TV show. I have no idea what it’s about. We’ve just finished dinner—a large extra cheese and pepperoni pizza—so Preston’s going to be heading home. He doesn’t usually stay for dinner, but I guess because tomorrow is Friday and he was already here, Cory asked him to stay.
Somehow I got through dinner without choking. Eating in front of Preston is hard for me. I can’t explain it. I don’t know why, but it is. I’m glad they were distracted talking about school events, so I was able to sneak back and forth from the kitchen. I caught him stealing a few glances at me…
“Yeah, yeah. Sure you will. I’m the master of basketball and, well, everything else, but you already know that, don’t you, douchebag,” Preston states more than asks and then runs a casual hand through his dark-brown hair.
“Whatever, dude. See you tomorrow.” My brother chuckles, opening the door for Preston.
Preston throws up his thumb and index finger in Cory’s direction and then glances at me and smiles.
Time stops, and I practically die. Is it normal to feel like I’m floating on cloud nine? I can’t help but smile back from my spot on the couch as I watch him getting ready to head out the door.
“Later, Harleigh,” he says, chuckling.
Did he just say my name? Oh my God.
I don’t know why he’s laughing, but it still causes my heart to stop. He said my name… mine. Harleigh. Damn, it sounds good coming out of his mouth.
Fuck, shut up, Harleigh! He’s probably laughing at you because he sees how you’re looking at him, and he loves it. He loves that you are crushing on him hard. He loves the attention. Fucking conceited prick.
I roll my eyes. “Bye, asshole,” I answer back, but not before he’s already out the door. My heart is still pounding at a million miles per second. I can’t believe he said my name… and for him to acknowledge me? What? He’s never said bye to me directly like that before. Usually, it’s a generic good-bye to everyone when my parents are home as well.
But tonight, he’d said it to me directly, which means he knew I was there.
Well, of course he did. He had glanced at me and blessed me with his perfectly gorgeous smile.
I’m pulled away from my daydream when Cory plops onto the couch to my left.
“What the hell are you watching?”
“Huh?” I ask, looking at him, then turn to stare at the TV.
A rhino is giving birth.
“Ewww,” I mutter and fumble with the remote to quickly change the channel. Shit, that’s probably why Preston was laughing. He must think I’m some weirdo, if he doesn’t already.
Harleigh = zero points.
Fucking asshole. That’s definitely why he was laughing. I guess it’s better than the first reason I thought of. Maybe he’s not such an arrogant prick after all.
I settle on the next channel, a rerun of Family Matters.
“I love this show,” Cory says, laughing.
“Yeah,” I say with a smile.
In my peripheral view, I see Cory shaking his head back and forth. I turn to face him.
He chuckles. “You all right, Harls?”
“Yeah, why?”
Cory nudges me on the arm. “You know he’s no good for you, right?”
Holy shit. What the fuck? I’ve never told Cory I have a huge crush on his best friend. “What are you talking about? You know I can’t stand his conceited ass. Preston Scott thinks he’s the shit. And he’s clearly not,” I say, but I’m not sure who I’m really trying to convince.
“Come on, Harleigh. I know you like him—a lot.” He raises an eyebrow.
I grimace. “Am I that transparent?”
“Well, no, but it’s pretty clear you’re crushing on him. And I know you, Harleigh. Plus, all the girls wanna get with Pres. But he’s really not that bad. Sure, he knows he can pretty much have anyone he wants, and what guy wouldn’t love that, but he’s not an ass about it. I swear. Just know he’s not the type of guy I’d want you to end up with.”
“I thought you said he’s not that bad?”
“He’s not, but girls are always around him. Do you really want to start a relationship with someone who has that many girls following his every move? You’re a sweet girl, and the attention’s going to kill you. No matter how much you trust someone, that’s not an easy way to live.”
I shrug.
“Trust me. Just try not to fall too hard for my asshole best friend, okay?” He chuckles, nudging me in the arm.
A small smile forms on my face. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”
His smirk tells me he didn’t. “Come on, sis. What kind of big brother would I be if I told him my little sister has a major crush on him?”
I shrug. “True. But he is your best friend.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re my sister, and you will always come first.”
I let out a huge breath. “Does he know though?”
Now he’s the one to shrug. “We’ve never talked about you, but I’m sure he must have an idea.”
Dammit, of course he does. He always catches me staring no matter how hard I try to hide. Asshole. Cu
te… but still an asshole.
“Great.”
Cory puts a hand on my shoulder and says, “Hey, it’s all right. If he didn’t think you were at least pretty, he wouldn’t be throwing you those famous smiles of his. But, Harleigh, don’t fall for it. He does it to all the girls he thinks are cute. Don’t get caught up in his web. Preston is a good guy. He’s been my best friend for years, but I wouldn’t trust him with you. He’s always around too many girls. He’d break your heart.”
I consider his words. They sound too similar to Aubrey’s, but how can I stop the feelings I already feel for Preston?
“He doesn’t have a girlfriend, does he?” I question, looking right at my brother, hoping to hear the word Preston doesn’t.
“Does he ever? Preston doesn’t go steady with anyone—ever.”
“Don’t you think that—” I’m quickly cut off by the ringing of his phone. My breath catches in my throat. It could be Preston.
“Hey, Mom.” Cory’s confirmation that my intuition was wrong relaxes me.
My parents are probably calling to make sure we had dinner. They work together. Dad is a mechanic at our family’s auto repair shop, and Mom is the bookkeeper.
“Yeah, we had pizza.”
I knew it. I smile and avert my gaze back to the television. Steve Erkel has just fallen, creating a mess in the Winslow home. Carl is not impressed. I giggle and think back to all the times my brother and I used to spend our Friday evenings watching this show together when it was new, when we were kids. We’ve always been close for as long as I can remember.
“No problem, Mom. We’ll see you then… bye.” He hangs up his cell and looks over at me. “That was Mom.”
I want to burst with laughter. “I had no idea.”
He nudges me once more. “Shut up, smart ass.”
I laugh and rub my arm, even though it doesn’t really hurt. “What’d she want?”
“The usual, making sure we had dinner already. She’s going grocery shopping with Dad and then they’re coming home. Should be here by nine. Hopefully that piece of junk makes it.” He chuckles.