Winning the Player

by Leesa Bow

  I grabbed Maddy’s hand and pulled her off the dance floor. ‘I need the restroom.’

  ‘Wait. You don’t want to puke, do you?’

  ‘No.’ More a need to check myself out, put on lip gloss and tidy my hair. I looked in the mirror, and was grateful to Maddy for selecting my dress. A baby-blue chiffon, off-the-shoulder dress I purchased while shopping with her on King William Road. I actually looked pretty with long curls hanging over my shoulders.

  After tidying myself, I noticed Maddy eyeing me suspiciously. She opened the door to leave. ‘So, Hunter’s here, then,’ she said as a statement more than a question.

  I shot her a look as I walked past. ‘You still have to explain when you and BJ got together.’

  ‘Oh, that’s easy. Last night.’

  I turned to her. ‘What? He leaves in a couple of days.’

  Maddy’s chin lowered. ‘I know. Timing was never my thing.’

  ‘Are you planning on getting with him tonight?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ she said with a devilish grin, before turning and weaving through the crowd.

  I winked at BJ when he handed me a drink. ‘Sly dog.’

  He coughed. ‘What?’

  I laughed. ‘No, I actually think you two are good together.’

  A satisfied smile spread across BJ’s face. ‘You do?’

  I nodded. ‘Why did you wait until you were leaving?’

  ‘I didn’t think she liked me.’

  I chuckled. ‘You and I both have issues.’

  ‘Yeah, well, Hunter was here a minute ago looking for you and Maddy.’

  ‘What? He came down here, to this bar?’ I asked in a high voice.

  BJ raised his eyebrows. ‘Asked me to tell you to go upstairs to him.’

  Arrogant. I looked at BJ and shrugged. ‘Well, you told me.’

  BJ raised his hands, palms facing out. ‘Don’t want to be part of this.’

  I skolled the drink BJ had handed me and turned to Maddy. ‘Oi, Mads. It’s your shout.’

  ‘Don’t you think you’ve had enough?’ A husky voice said from behind.

  ‘Hunter,’ Maddy screamed. She bounded over to him. I stepped forward before turning to put space between us, feeling grateful for Maddy’s distraction.

  ‘Hi, Hunter,’ I said in a casual tone, moving closer to BJ.

  ‘Don’t get me involved,’ BJ said loud enough for only me to hear. ‘He scares the shit out of me.’

  ‘Me too,’ I whispered.

  ‘And he doesn’t know about Maddy and me. Keep it that way.’

  ‘Aubree,’ Hunter said slowly. ‘You’re drinking. I’m surprised.’

  Maddy looked at me, then back at Hunter. ‘Why? It’s BJ’s last weekend here. We planned this. Not to mention you hogged her last night, so it’s my turn.’

  ‘I see. Well, Aubree made plans with me as well.’ My jaw dropped. Hunter’s lips twitched, hinting at a smile. ‘I’m going back upstairs. I’ll see you soon.’

  ‘For fuck’s sake,’ BJ hissed. ‘Just go with him now. I don’t want him coming back here.’

  Where was the guy who was at my place yesterday?

  ‘I’m not going to be here much longer for you to hide behind, Aubs. Gonna have to face up to him sooner or later.’

  My stomach dropped at the thought of facing up to Hunter, and in realising BJ will soon be gone—again. ‘I’m going to miss you.’

  BJ pulled me under his wing. ‘I know, and I’m gonna miss you, too. I miss the fun we used to have on basketball trips. Georgie and you were absolute crack-ups.’

  Georgie. ‘Have you seen her lately?’

  ‘Yeah. I ran into her at a tournament in Idaho. Her college isn’t far from mine. She’s doing okay.’ He looked at me with a warm expression, as though he understood how hard it was for me to hear how my one-time friend was reaping success in basketball. ‘You would’ve done better,’ he added.

  I waved my hand at him. ‘Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. Blah blah,’ I said, finding nonchalance easier with a few drinks. I smirked. ‘I’m okay, BJ. You’ve kinda helped fix me.’

  BJ laughed out loud. ‘You were never broken, Aubs.’

  My lips curled behind my glass of alcohol in appreciation of BJ’s attempt to lift my spirits.

  ‘Thanks, mate, but I was very broken.’

  His long arm snuggled me into his side. ‘I don’t see a broken chick. I see a beautiful gal with a big future ahead of her.’ He kissed the top of my head and my hand snaked around his waist.

  Yeah, I was really going to miss him.

  Another hour passed with no sign of Hunter. I’d hit a wall and wanted to go home. I turned to Maddy. ‘I think I might try a Gatorade. Do you want one?’

  ‘Sure. I’ll do anything to prevent a hangover.’

  After receiving an odd look from the bar tender, I handed Maddy the recovery drink. ‘I think I’ll call it a night.’ I looked at Maddy and BJ. ‘Do you want to share a cab with me?’ I assumed Maddy would be heading back to BJ’s since he lived not far from me.

  BJ nodded. ‘Looks like Josh scored tonight. Haven’t seen him in a while.’

  ‘Probably.’ After unscrewing the lid I guzzled the orange liquid. I looked at BJ and raised the drink. He shook his head. ‘You’ll be sorry tomorrow.’ BJ grinned at me, then stiffened and stepped away from Maddy.

  I sensed him without turning around. ‘Planning on exercising, Aubree?’ Hunter whispered in my ear. He casually draped his hand over my shoulder. ‘You don’t mind if I steal Aubree, do you? There’s someone I’d like her to meet.’

  I opened my mouth to protest, however, BJ interrupted.

  ‘Sure, I’ve had enough anyway. Calling it a night. See you girls later.’

  ‘Me, too,’ Maddy added. ‘Do you mind if I share a cab with you? My house is on the way home to yours.’

  Hunter’s eyes fixed on mine. ‘I can drive Aubree home since I’m not drinking.’

  Oh, God. I turned my back so Hunter couldn’t see my flaming face.

  Maddy nodded. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, and gave me a quick peck on the cheek.

  Hunter placed his hand on my lower back. ‘I want you to meet some of my teammates.’

  ‘Why now?’ I bit my lip.

  ‘Because they want to meet the girl I’ve been talking about. I told them you’d be here soon and when you didn’t show they called you my imaginary friend.’ From the look on his face, I gathered he wasn’t pleased by the taunts.

  He led me towards the stairs, the timing perfect so Maddy and BJ could make it out unnoticed. On the upper level he took my hand and guided me to a group at the bar. I recognised faces, but more importantly, identified a pair of brown, beady eyes glaring at me. Sabrina.

  I smiled politely and shook hands with three guys. Each guy had a girl under his arm—and Sabrina stood alone. No wonder Hunter wanted me to come up here. It probably hurt his ego not having the girl he’d been talking about hanging off him like a groupie.

  ‘So you’re Hunter’s new girl,’ a brunette as tall as me said out of earshot of the others. ‘I’m Abby.’

  ‘Hi, I’m Aubree.’ On a closer inspection I saw her face wasn’t caked with makeup like Sabrina. She looked pretty, naturally so.

  ‘Hunter’s been talking highly of you. You played basketball?’ She looked genuinely interested in talking to me.

  ‘I did a few years back.’

  ‘I played netball,’ she said quickly. ‘Until a broken finger turned into a chronic injury and I couldn’t stand the pain. My damn ring finger, too.’

  ‘I had a knee recon two-and-a-half years ago.’ I shrugged as though it were no big deal.

  ‘Shit, that’s bad.’

  I waved my hand. ‘It’s just a game. There’s more to life.’ I almost tricked myself into believing it.

  Her eyes widened and she froze like I had cursed God in the middle of a church prayer. ‘The guys don’t feel that way about football. It is their life,’ she whispered.


  Abby wasn’t to know I had once felt the same way about basketball, and I was just putting my size-eleven foot in my mouth in an attempt to fit in. My gaze darted to her boyfriend then to Sabrina, who narrowed her eyes at me. My mouth went dry What if Hunter’s friends didn’t like me? I wiped my palms on my dress and turned to Hunter. ‘I need the restroom,’ I whispered. ‘Be back soon.’

  I didn’t want to be around Sabrina. Hunter’s friends had that air of arrogance about them, and their girlfriends, other than Abby, looked at me like I’d landed from another planet. My hands trembled as I applied gloss to my lips. Maybe if I hurried I could catch up with Maddy and avoid making a fool of myself.

  ‘Oh, there you are,’ a squeaky, high-pitched voice said.

  My gaze moved away from my own reflection to blonde hair behind me.

  ‘I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Sabrina, Hunter’s girlfriend.’

  I know who you are. ‘Girlfriend?’ My voice quivered and I was acutely aware of onlookers staring.

  ‘Yes. I can’t say friend because everyone knows we’re more than that. We have an understanding. He becomes infatuated with other girls, you know.’ She dismissed me with a wave of her hand. ‘Like yourself – but it never lasts. In a short time he comes back to me with his tail between his legs.’

  My mouth dropped open.

  ‘Don’t look so shocked. You don’t bother me. When he tires of you I’ll be waiting. A day will come when Hunter realises that I’m the one who stands by him, and he’ll choose me.’

  For someone almost half my size, I found her petrifying. Visualising myself on a basketball court, I summoned the fighter inside. I straightened my back and looked down at her, adrenaline pumping through my veins. ‘So you have an understanding of the situation —’ Sabrina nodded, causing her blonde hair to move across her shoulders. ‘I’m with him now. So if you don’t mind I need to leave as Hunter is waiting for me.’ I lifted my chin and pushed past her, walking so fast I prayed I didn’t trip in my heels.

  When I reached Hunter’s friends he was nowhere in sight. Shit. I looked behind me, expecting Sabrina to be on my tail.

  No. Thank God.

  I walked over to the iron railing, looked down at patrons on the dance floor and cursed myself for stepping out of my comfort zone. Hunter appeared out of nowhere. ‘Two years ago I stood here with you just like this.’ He placed his arm around my back. I closed my eyes, remembering. ‘We went back to my house. It was the night you ran. Why am I getting a feeling of déjà vu? Are you planning on running, Aubree?’

  I opened my eyes and looked up at him. ‘I feel nervous around you,’ I said slowly, pronouncing each word carefully.

  Hunter’s lips pressed together. ‘I know. I’m not used to it.’

  Guess not when girls are usually hanging off you. ‘I’m tired and just want to go home.’

  ‘Are you sober enough to know what you’re doing?’

  ‘Yes.’ I shrugged.

  A grin tugged at his lips. ‘Good. In that case we’re going back to mine.’

  CHAPTER NINE

  If a car reflected the owner then the Audi R8 matched Hunter perfectly: sleek and powerful. He looked relaxed behind the tiny wheel, his hands and feet coordinating in sharp precision, changing gears without losing speed. He adjusted the temperature. ‘You comfortable?’

  ‘I’m good.’ I glanced at the GPS screen. ‘So you’re not taking me home?’

  ‘Is your mum home?’

  I nodded.

  ‘We’re going to mine. I intend to make you scream.’ I inhaled sharply and turned my head to the window. Hunter chuckled and placed his hand on my thigh. ‘Relax. I’m playing with you.’

  ‘Arsehole.’

  Hunter veered to the side of the road, where an automatic door opened to a garage. ‘There you go. The Aubree I know is back.’

  ‘Back?’

  ‘One minute you’re coy the next you’re cursing me,’ he said without looking at me, concentrating on parking the car.

  ‘Don’t talk to me about split personality. I actually thought you had a condition.’

  Hunter raised one brow and turned off the ignition. ‘Wow. How do you manage to excite me one minute and deflate me the next?’

  ‘Are we talking about your overinflated ego or your dick?’

  His eyes rounded. He leaned across, grabbed my shoulders and kissed me. I let go of the door, air freezing in my lungs. When his tongue pushed inside my mouth I reached for him, holding onto his waist, allowing the tension to melt away.

  I flinched at a sharp pain on my shoulders where his hands squeezed. He pulled away, eyes hooded. ‘Both.’ The door swung open and for a few brief seconds I admired his long legs as he strode around the front of the car. At around six-foot-five, Hunter was tall, and he walked tall. It never occurred to me that words could penetrate his gladiator armour. He put out his hand and hurled me up off the seat.

  ‘I think you can start with a cup of tea.’ He kept hold of my hand and guided me through a door that opened to a red, black and white restaurant-sized kitchen. He released my hand. ‘Take a seat.’ I moved to a white stool on the opposite side of the black marble bench and watched as he filled the kettle.

  Like a silent chant words repeated in my head, I’m going to have sex with Hunter. I’m going to have sex with Hunter. I can do this. I want this.

  ‘You know I have work tomorrow. I can’t miss.’ The words spilled out as though answering my own self-doubt, giving myself reason to opt out of the agreement.

  Hunter looked up. ‘Whatever.’ He went about pulling mugs from the drawer and milk from the supersized fridge.

  ‘What do you mean “whatever”?’ I mocked his tone. ‘Doesn’t that imply you don’t care?’

  He stopped. ‘It means, see how you feel in the morning.’

  ‘Don’t patronise me like a fucking father.’ I froze, realising what I had said. His brows slammed down in disapproval.

  Hunter pushed the cutlery drawer closed, rattling the contents, strode around the bench and grabbed hold of my shoulders. He looked down at me with two thunderous blue eyes. ‘I’m well aware I’m not your father,’ he said between clenched teeth. ‘What the hell gets into you when you’re in my house? I swear you’ll say anything to push me away.’ He studied my face for a few seconds.

  I remained silent, not knowing how to explain my outburst. If I were losing a battle on the basketball court I’d resign to trash talking. Being here, all my power was stripped from me, so I reacted the only way I knew how. He released me and stepped back. ‘I give up.’ He raised his hands in the air and walked to the other side of the bench.

  ‘You wouldn’t understand,’ I whispered.

  He spun around. ‘Try me.’

  ‘You still have your dream. You have everything.’ I waved my hand, gesturing the house that he could afford on a more-than-generous salary.

  ‘This isn’t about me, Aubree.’

  I snorted. ‘For once.’ I looked at him, really looked at him and could tell he didn’t appreciate the comment. I didn’t care. ‘How could you ever understand what I’m going through? My whole future involved basketball. It was perfect. I don’t even know who I am without it. No plans. No direction. No faith.’ He crossed his arms and his face showed no pity, and in a way I appreciated it. I laughed and coughed at the same time. ‘God knows you only have to click your fingers and you get what you want.’

  ‘Is that how you see me?’

  ‘What else is there to see?’ I mocked.

  ‘You know what I see?’ A muscle ticked in his jaw. ‘A girl who lives in the past and refuses to acknowledge a bright future. You’re too damn afraid to make new goals, set challenges and find yourself because you’re too busy running. But you’re only running from yourself, Aubree.’

  My throat burned as though it were on fire. I looked away when tears welled in my eyes. Hunter placed a glass of water in front of me, as if sensing my pain. ‘Thank you,’ I croaked, before drinking ha
lf the glass to try to dissolve the lump in my throat.

  ‘Life is what you make of it. You take the good with the bad. Turn a negative into a positive. You know, I took you to be someone stronger . . .’ He turned away.

  And that did it for me.

  ‘I need the bathroom,’ I managed in a voice giving away that I could break down at any moment.

  ‘My bedroom is to the left. You know where to go from there.’ He didn’t even bother to turn around and look at me.

  My thoughts were all over the place.

  He took me to be someone stronger.

  Well, so did many other people, so join the queue. My last basketball coach believed I could still play and follow my dream. It was the orthopaedic surgeon who’d placed doubt in my mind, suggesting I might never return to my previous strength and I’d have to overcome self-doubt and fear of reinjuring my knee. If it were just my ACL then I could have played at an elite level. But to blow out my knee tearing the ACL, lateral and medial ligaments from the bone along with meniscus damage, the rehab took longer and I’d already lost my spot in the junior Australian team. The devastation wore down all my mental strength and I didn’t see the point of clinging to a slight chance of returning to my best form. Being swamped by so many positive people believing I could make a comeback only pushed me further away. To disappoint myself was one thing, but to let down those who loved and believed in me was a whole new ball game. So I pretended to be over basketball with a new interest of seeing the world, creating new adventures, and finding out who I really was. Unfortunately, my faults and lack of self-confidence followed me. The demons that haunted me still found me. Even without the commitment of basketball trainings I still found it difficult to be around guys I liked. For me, there would always be a trust issue. I didn’t want to give myself away so easily, because I was all I had.

  Living in London I made many friends, some of whom I could trust and share secrets with about my sexual hang-ups. The more I talked about it to these friends—who I’d probably never see again – the easier it became to laugh about it over a glass of cheap wine. Some girls advised me to be patient, saying it would just happen when I was ready, and not to stress about being a virgin. Then one night I met a guy, Harry, who I thought I could trust. He seemed easy to talk to, and when I confessed my innocence he vowed to help me. Stupid and drunk I believed he meant foreplay.