Punt: A British Bad Boy Football Romance

by Vivian Wood

  “I don’t know, but it seems like a bad idea,” he said, seemingly unruffled by her comments. “If this is what’s openly allowed, what do you think is happening in secret?”

  “Wait,” Audrey said, pulling him to a halt. “Look, everyone has their clothes on in here.”

  “Mmmm…” Liam said, sounding unworried.

  Audrey hauled him into a formal dining room. A white-gloved servant was pouring champagne and passing glasses around, and most of the guests were standing and talking amongst themselves.

  “Is this the room for shy people?” Audrey wondered.

  “Somehow, I doubt it.”

  They accepted champagne and found a couple of chairs in the far corner. Someone put on music, a sultry electronic pulse that Audrey thought might be Massive Attack.

  Just as Audrey downed her second glass of champagne and began to relax the slightest bit, someone closed the dining room door with a very final-sounding bang.

  Audrey started to stand up, to protest that she and Liam wanted to leave, but Liam’s hand clamped down on her knee and kept her in place.

  She glanced at him, and he gave her a silent shake of his head. In the next moment, she was glad she hadn’t drawn attention to herself.

  A stunning ebony-skinned woman in a shimmering silver party dress rose, taking off her shoes and strutting over to the dining room table. She pushed a chair aside and hopped up to sit on the ledge, a smirk on her lips.

  She was undoubtedly enjoying this moment. She looked around for a moment, extending her hand to point at everyone with a red-tipped fingernail.

  She landed on a man near the door, then beckoned him closer. He moved to her eagerly, and she smiled and tapped a bare spot on her collarbone.

  The man leaned down and pressed his lips to that spot, his hands coming up to unzip her dress. The woman’s lids grew heavy. She pointed at another man, who she called forth to kiss her neck and breasts.

  She chose several more masked men, who proceeded to strip her naked and kiss her bare curves. Her head fell back as the men worshipped her with their lips and tongues.

  The music grew louder, the beat more persistent. The servant brought more champagne, circling endlessly.

  One of the men pushed her back on the table and parted her thighs. Another dropped to his knees and buried his mouth between her legs.

  She cried out and arched her back prettily. Audrey glanced around the room and saw that some of the bystanders had broken into couples or triads, and were beginning to caress and kiss one another.

  It seemed as though she hadn’t escaped the orgy, after all.

  She glanced at Liam, and knew a moment of petty jealousy when she saw him watching the woman on the table, who was now writhing and crying out.

  He pulled his gaze away and looked at Audrey, and she could see a conflicted expression on his face.

  “What?” she whispered, trying to keep her cool.

  “I think I should kiss you, Audrey,” he said.

  “What?” she asked, a little too loud. Several other people turned to look at her for a few seconds.

  “Shhhh,” Liam warned. “I think if I’m not… otherwise engaged, that means I’m up for grabs.”

  “Up for…” Audrey started, but Liam nodded at the table, where the woman was now pushing away some of her lovers and calling forth new ones. “Oh, for god’s sake.”

  The woman on the table sat up, her bare breasts bouncing. She looked around, and for a heart-pounding moment Audrey saw her eyeing Liam.

  “Unless maybe you want to see me fuck—” he said.

  “Shit,” Audrey said, lunging forward and pulling Liam’s mouth down to hers.

  He made a muffled sound as their lips crashed together. For a long beat, their embrace was stiff, cold.

  One of Liam’s arms went around Audrey’s waist, pulling her closer. The fingers of his free hand tangled in her hair, cradling her head, his thumb bracketing her jaw.

  When she softened a little, opened her mouth, his tongue flicked hers with a subtle, enticing touch. The strangers around them, the oddness of their surroundings, the tension between her and Liam… it all fell away in that moment.

  She tasted the champagne on his lips, felt the warm brush of his tongue, her hands gripping his vest. He made another soft sound, a growl deep in his chest, and that set her off.

  She suddenly felt desperate to be closer to him, to feel his body pressed against her own. Liam clearly felt the same, because he dragged her onto his lap, pushing the hem of her dress a few inches higher so that she could straddle his hips.

  Their lip lock grew desperate, hungry. Through the thin fabric of her dress, Audrey could feel Liam growing hard against her belly. There was something raw about that, something animalistic that made her want him.

  He was a cocky bastard, and lacking in polish, but… part of her liked that about him. Liam seemed too proud to ever let a woman leave his bed unsatisfied.

  She shivered as he cupped her breast, teased her nipple. His fingers were gentle, but she remembered how rough his touch was before, and it excited her.

  When their kiss broke, she nipped and sucked at his earlobe and neck. He groaned and moved his hands to her ass, grinding his erection against the damp warmth between her thighs.

  Audrey gasped aloud when he brushed the right spot. Liam, ever responsive, rocked against her in a quick rhythm until her breathing grew quick.

  He sucked at the sensitive spot below her neck, sending waves of hot lightning down to her breasts, down to her core. She was burning up, starving.

  Liam had given her release before, but… she’d give just about anything to strip off his clothes, offer herself up, feel him filling and stretching her to the limit.

  She wanted to fuck him, badly.

  Liam’s movements slowed. He brushed back her hair and whispered in her ear.

  “I wish we were anywhere but here, Ginger…”

  Flushed and wanting, Audrey leaned back to see Liam’s remorseful expression. She heaved a sigh, then shook her head and started to crawl off Liam’s lap.

  “Wait,” he said.

  Audrey glanced at him, feeling awkward.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Just…” he said, then leaned in for one final, soft kiss. When he released her, he blew out a frustrated breath. “Usually I’d pick a better place and time for seduction.”

  His words were clearly a joke, trying to ease the tension between them, but hearing them made Audrey feel like a fool.

  Usually, meaning, with all his other meaningless conquests? How many times am I going to let him suck me in like this?

  I am so, so dumb. Looking at Liam just turns me into some brainless, spineless moron.

  She pushed off his lap, her movements stiff.

  “Audrey…” Liam said.

  “No,” she said, cutting him off with a shake of her head. “Don’t. I don’t know why this keeps happening, this… chemistry, this pull between us. But it has to stop.”

  “You’re overreacting,” Liam said, keeping his voice low.

  “No, I’m not. You and I come from two different worlds, Liam. On top of that, I’m your employee. There’s a piece of paper that we both signed saying that fraternization could get us fired.”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  Say something. Anything! Put distance between you and Liam, you idiot!

  “You don’t know that. Let me tell you something you do know, though. You know that if Jack finds out about us, he’s not going to react well.”

  “I don’t think so,” Liam said.

  “Really? Liam, he worships you. Has since the second he met you. He considers you his best friend, his famous best friend at that. It’s the one thing he boasts about, the one thing he thinks makes him special and cool.”

  Liam went silent, brow creasing as he considered that.

  “I didn’t know that,” he admitted.

  “Well, now you do. I don’t know how he’d feel abo
ut your part in it, since he thinks you walk on fucking water, but I know that he’d think I was trying to hurt him. Trying to take you from him.”

  Liam waited a beat, then dropped his gaze. “That’s fucking rubbish.”

  “It is what it is and nothing more,” Audrey said.

  People in the room were standing up now, beginning to leave. Going in search of more private places to finish their trysts, perhaps.

  “Audrey, wait,” he said when she stood and moved toward the door.

  “I have to get my coat,” she said, changing the subject. “But I think we should leave, don’t you?”

  Liam hesitated for a second. “I have to see Madame Richaud again. Just for a second. Do you feel safe going to the car alone?”

  “I’m fine,” Audrey said. Truthfully, a little solitude was all she wanted right now in her whole life.

  Liam gave her a final glance, then handed her the car keys and turned to seek out their hostess. After grabbing her coat, Audrey strode to the car, berating herself the whole way.

  She knew better than to kiss Liam. She knew better than to let herself get a crush on her employer, her brother’s best friend.

  Not only that, but Liam could have anyone he wanted. If Audrey let herself get caught up in the whirlwind, she’d spend the rest of her employment sourly watching him hook up with girl after girl.

  She’d be setting herself up for failure and heartbreak. No doubt about it.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid!

  Sliding into the car, she closed her eyes and tried to quell the anger roiling in her heart.

  It was going to be a long ride back to the city.

  9

  Liam

  To say Sunday morning’s match was rough would be kindness bordering on deception.

  At the beginning, Liam was stunned to walk out onto the pitch and see the new stadium stands packed with curious fans. It made his blood run hot, knowing all those eyes were watching, waiting for him to do what he did so well.

  He loved this feeling. Loved this bloody game. The feel of the fresh turf under his feet, the smell of the grass, the sound of the fans cheering — so loud, sometimes, that he could feel the vibration of it sinking into his very bones.

  “I didn’t expect so many Americans to turn out,” Liam’s teammate Alejandro said as they trotted out to their positions at the center of the field.

  Liam shook his head. “Here’s the proof. They love it almost as much as the Scots, eh? The whole bloody place is packed,” he said, pointing to the stands.

  A little cheer went up when he pointed, and he made sure to wave and grin as he moved. Atlanta Unified was selling him hard as an essential feature of the team, and he wanted to give the crowd their money’s worth.

  Okay, maybe I like the blind adoration too, he admitted to himself. And getting to run circles around my opponents, that bit’s not bad either.

  Today they were playing against Los Angeles Galaxy, the top-ranked US team. It wasn’t the easiest way to start their season, but that was fine with Liam.

  Easy wasn’t really his thing, on or off the field. He might be a hot shot in England, but here he still had a lot to prove. A lot of hype that needed living up to.

  A grin spread across his face as he took his place, ready to show America exactly what he was made of.

  The beginning of the game was quick and intense. A lot of quick passing, with the ball going out of bounds quite a bit. The teams were testing each other, watching to gauge the strength of the other’s offense and defense.

  Who was fast, who was cutthroat, who was weak. The first minutes established that both teams had fairly strong defense coupled with quick, focused offensive players.

  As center forward, Liam’s job was simple. At the beginning of each play, the black and white ball was set precisely in the middle of the field. At the starting whistle, Liam was to surge forward and gain control of the ball, passing it to a midfielder.

  Then he was supposed to sprint toward the other team’s goal, receive a pass from a teammate, and slam the ball into the goal by absolutely any means possible.

  It was a process he loved, more than anything in the world. In the beginning seconds of a game, his excitement was so strong that he often got half a hard-on, just thinking about how amazing the coming ninety minutes would be.

  Today was no different, though he could use a little more audience support. It was the first game, though. They weren’t quite the slavering madmen Liam was used to in the UK.

  Not yet, at any rate. If Liam did his job well, they’d soon be converted to screaming, belligerent football fanatics.

  Twenty minutes in, the tone of the game shifted. The fans grew more vocal, chanting songs, making their opinions known. Loudly, at that. It was a welcome feeling, the instantaneous feedback of the crowd’s raucous roars.

  Gregor Madras, the star center of Galaxy, soon singled Liam out. Every move Liam made, Madras stuck to him. Every time Liam’s foot touched the ball, Madras was right there, sticking his own foot in the way to foul things up.

  It was the nature of the game, of course, but Madras didn’t seem interested in taking control of the ball or scoring goals. He seemed more interested in trying to trip Liam and take him to the ground, embarrass him or even hurt him.

  A couple of times when Liam glanced at Galaxy’s coach, he caught signals flashing between him and Madras. Liam was the Unified’s biggest threat, and Galaxy was trying to neutralize him.

  Sending the center forward to the medical tent was a dirty but viable way to assure victory. Too bad Liam wasn’t going to let that fucking happen.

  Instead, Liam kept shooting mocking grins at Madras, intentionally throwing hard elbows and knees every chance he got. Madras glowered at him, which only made Liam play harder.

  After Liam scored his first goal of the game, the fans went ballistic. The sound was deafening, filling Liam with a kind of euphoria better than any drug. He felt downright fucking stoned, floating on bloody air.

  After his goal, he faced off against Galaxy’s center forward again. They both eyed the ball, lunging forward. But instead of going for the ball, the Galaxy center hopped right over it and did a little turn, getting the cleats of his right boot into Liam’s ankle, hard.

  Liam faltered and dropped back a step, unwilling to let the other bloke seriously hurt him. It was a big nasty, but nothing he hadn’t seen before. He just kept his focus, ignored Madras at his back every step, and worked to win control of the ball.

  The second he got his chance, intercepting a pass and turning the ball toward Galaxy’s goal, he knew he needed to shake Madras.

  Even as Coach Havershom was screaming bloody murder on the sidelines, Liam signaled to Carlos and Alejandro, who approached from both sides in a pincer movement. Liam picked up speed, sprinting hard.

  The second that Liam put distance between himself and Madras, Carlos and Alejandro pretended to fumble and collide, falling to the ground and taking Madras with them.

  Half the fans cheered, the other half booed. Liam burst forward and passed the ball to one of the defense players, then circled around to receive the ball once more.

  He slammed the ball into the goal in a single smooth kick, and the crowd went mad. Liam trotted off, heart thundering.

  This. This feeling, this was why he played. The infinite satisfaction of doing something perfectly right, a moment of true achievement.

  So rare in life.

  Unfortunately when he faced off again at center field, warring against Madras for control once more, things didn’t go his way. The ball lay in the center of the field, the referee blew his whistle.

  Madras and Liam went at the ball together, and Liam took the lead. As soon as he crossed onto Galaxy’s side, though, several players came at him at once.

  Though he saw it coming a few seconds before, one of Galaxy’s players managed to get his foot between Liam and the ball. Then, driven by sheer momentum, Liam tripped the other player and sent him crashing to the gro
und.

  Liam went down too, but it certainly looked like he’d intentionally fouled the Galaxy player. It didn’t help that the other guy was on the ground, clutching his shin and howling like a wounded toddler.

  The fans were frothing with anger and excitement, though Liam couldn’t tell whether they were for him or against him.

  The whistle blew, the ref threw a red card.

  “Mother of FUCK!” Liam growled, accepting a hand up from Alejandro.

  “That looked nasty, my friend,” Alejandro said, shaking his head.

  The whistle blew, the ref pointing at Liam. He knew well enough what that meant. Benched for the rest of the game.

  Red-faced and furious, Liam trotted off the field to various screams and cheers from the crowd.

  When Liam reached the sidelines, Coach Havershom gave him a long look. Like he knew it wasn’t Liam’s fault, exactly, but he was disappointed that Liam hadn’t outmaneuvered the play.

  “Just get off the pitch,” Havershom snapped at Liam. “Davies, you’re midfield. Tell Carlos to take center striker…”

  Jack was on the sidelines too, and he stood and approached Liam. Liam just needed a couple of minutes stretching after his fall, drinking some water and catching his breath.

  Liam could see the hesitation on Jack’s face as he walked over. Liam and Jack hadn’t spoken in a few days, which was Liam’s intention. Liam was starting to resent Jack a little, and having a break from Jack seemed like a good idea.

  “Hey, tough break,” Jack said.

  Liam just shrugged, stretching his quads out.

  “Anything I can do to help?” Jack asked.

  “You can stop gambling,” Liam said.

  Jack blinked at him, looking utterly surprised. “How do you know about that?”

  “I’m not a bloody idiot. I’ve been running all around town, trying to sort out what you owe, whose pocket you’re in,” Liam said, grabbing a towel and wiping his face and neck.