Personal Foul

by Britney Bell

  Back to my grocery and wine shopping, then off to an eventful evening of stretchy pants and Netflix.

  4

  Drew

  “Dude, what’s up with bringing the girl into our man cave?” Reed inquires as he spots me to get our squat reps in. I knew these questions were coming after I dared to take Avery to Mickey’s for a drink last night. Had to think on my feet to come up with a plan, so I could spend a little more time with the sexy as hell fiery brunette.

  I fight the weight coming back up to a standing position, so I can answer, “Nothing, man. She was hot and I wanted to see where it went for the night. Mickey’s was the closest and the first place I thought of.” He doesn’t need to know that I dreamed of waking up with her in my bed this morning and fucking her all over again, when my usual is fuck them somewhere other than my house and leaving right after. I’ve never had any of them at my home, never wanted them to be in my space, but I can clearly see Avery rolling around my dark grey sheets. It would be a beautiful sight, her hair a bright contrast to the grey, and her long, tan legs twisted up in them, with nothing else on.

  “Well, that was not cool, and from the looks of it, you didn’t score on that anyway. You know that we don’t bring random chicks into Mickey’s. No telling what kind of problems that will cause Peyton.” He sounds really pissed about this, and I know I can be an ass but not to my teammates.

  “Don’t worry, Avery is not like that. She won’t cause any trouble.”

  He raises a questionable brow. “So, you know that about her, do ya? Are you sure you were just wanting a hookup for the night?” He bores his eyes into mine as he stares me down through the mirror in front of us.

  “Shut up and get under the weight, I don’t have all day to finish this shit,” I shoot back and move behind the weight machine to spot him.

  The day moves slowly, and all of my thoughts keep roaming back to Avery and wishing I could get her all riled up again. I liked seeing her flustered and demanding, and just knowing that I could settle her by holding her close and kissing those full lips that spoke her mind makes my dick twitch.

  Since I can’t get her out of my head, I’ll just do a quick internet search and see what I can find about Avery Little, personal shopper. Maybe, I need to acquire the services of a personal shopper. Hmmm, what kind of shopping does she do? Let’s find out.

  The search confirms that she is all professional and class. Testimonies on her website from her jobs of shopping for higher end clients shows that she is highly recommended. Why, yes, I do think I need to hire a personal shopper. This would be another way to redeem myself, providing her with a job sure would be a great way to make it up to her, every boiling inch of her. I don’t think she would be too keen on the idea of working for me. Awe, but I can get my assistant, Mark, to hire her and communicate on my behalf. I ponder this just a moment longer, deciding that I do believe this is a good idea. She may hate me when she finds out, but that’s all the fun in it.

  After one ring I hear the familiar sound of the call connecting. “Mark, buddy, what are you up to today?”

  “I’m enjoying these couple of weeks off, Drew. What’s up?” he answers, always eager to help. That’s the good thing with hiring young and single guys, consistently available.

  “Well, I have a little project for you. Would you be ready to come back to work tomorrow morning?”

  He laughs into the phone. “Hell yeah! You had me running for a year straight, and this sitting around for the last two weeks has just about driven me crazy. I’ll be at your place early tomorrow.”

  “Sweet, thank you, Mark. See ya in the morning.” I end the call and search through her pictures once more until I realize I am bordering on being a stalker and shut the computer down fast.

  True to his word, Mark shows up with coffee around 9am, and I fill him in on the personal shopper we are going to hire. He has a questioning look, but I tell him that I will be heading to training camp in two weeks, and I want a shopper to have the house stacked with food and things. That way I won’t have to do anything except focus on camp and not potentially have a fan posing as an employee. I also remind him of the couple of crazed stalkers from the past. That shit takes way too much time to deal with. To drive my point home, I throw in the fact that we made it deep in the playoffs last season but lost before we made it to the Super Bowl. Most of the players are back for this year, and we have a real shot at making it all the way this time. All of my focus needs to be on preparing for this upcoming season.

  Mark is happy to assist me, as this shopper will be able to pick up some of his errands that he currently does, and he’ll be able to have more time to organize my crazy schedule. He’s excited to get this going immediately, but we need to time this so that I’ll be gone all day at camp, and she can come and go as she needs to without worrying about running into me.

  I give him the go ahead to call her on the speaker phone and assure him that I will remain silent. “Hello, is this Avery with Little Personal Shopping?” Mark asks as Avery answers.

  “Hi, yes, this is. How can I help you?”

  “I am Mark, an executive personal assistant, and would like to see if you are available beginning in two weeks. It would be to do the everyday shopping to keep the kitchen stocked and any other supplies that the estate requires, in addition to any other buying needs that my boss would request.”

  “Thank you for your interest in my services, Mark. I would like to meet you and talk the details over before any commitments are made. Would that be possible?” she counters to push forward with this business deal.

  Simple and quick replies with as little details as possible are best for Mark to get Avery to lock into this job. “Sure, can you meet tomorrow at the boss’s home? He is very private and does not like people to know who he is, so everything will be going through me.”

  Mark gives her my address, and I’m praying that she doesn’t think not knowing who I am is strange. I’ll set her up with access to one of my business account’s credit cards to buy stuff with and will pay her out of that account as well. This will ensure that she won’t see my name.

  She’ll also be all around my house and could stumble across something that will give me away. I make a sweep through making sure I don’t have out pictures or memorabilia with my name on it. I can’t have her finding out who her boss is that way. When the time comes, I want to be the one to tell her and see what her face looks like when she discovers it’s me.

  This is all crazy and a cruel game, but I like the fact that she will be close.

  5

  Avery

  I do still have a couple more clients other than the one I quit from yesterday, and they will keep the rest of my week busy. Plus, I received a call yesterday to meet with a potential new client today, whom I don’t know. However, this is pretty normal. Most of the time, I get called by assistants or employees of estates, and I don’t really interact with the actual person supplying the paycheck. I kind of like that, it helps eliminate issues like with Mrs. O’Hare or having to deal with jerks like Drew Elliott. So, if this job with Mark is set up like that, and the house doesn’t seem sketchy, then I will probably take it.

  My mind lingers on Drew with mixed emotions about him. He was a jerk for taking my parking space and so cocky and arrogant laughing at me that it pissed me off. Afterwards, he wanted to apologize and seemed sincere, but then I found out who he truly was, and there’s no way he meant the apology. He was probably just looking for a fuck for the evening. Dang, he was hot, though, and I dreamed last night of the way his body felt against mine when he caught me. I’m not above having a one-night stand, but the guy has to at least be halfway decent.

  As I pull up to the house for my meeting with Mark, I can now officially say this estate is huge. No wonder the owner needs staff to take care of the place. It’s in a very upscale Dallas neighborhood and has four garages. Who really needs that many cars? Unless there are a lot of people who live here. I need to make sure to ask M
ark how many I will be buying for.

  He greets me in the foyer of this exquisite mansion and takes me on a tour of the grounds, leading me into his office where we sit to talk about the details of what my job would entail.

  Those details include that only one person lives in this gigantic house, and I will just need to buy for him. There are two staff members that live in an apartment above the garage. The owner is often out of town, so they help see to the house when he’s away.

  All looks good, so I go ahead and accept the very generous offer and agree to begin in two weeks. I schedule to meet with Mark again to get all the employee paperwork signed before starting. He and the other staff all seem happy and really nice, so I am excited about this new arrangement. They would not be content in their jobs if their boss was a tyrant.

  I use the little extra time that I have until then to get caught up on some things around my home and spend some time with my parents. Running my own business always keeps me on the go, so I don’t get to see them as often as I would like.

  Mom and I meet for lunch, and of course, she asks me all the usual questions. “Is this the safe place? Who is your boss? What exactly will you be doing there?” I answer them all the best way I know how. Since I haven’t actually met my boss or started the job, I don’t have a clue. Always the last question finds its way into the conversation. “Are you dating anyone seriously yet?”

  “No, Mom, I am not dating anyone.”

  “Well, have you been on any dates lately?”

  “The answer is no to that also.” I look up at her with annoyance, and she gives me the same look in return.

  “Well, honey, you are not getting any younger. On the edge of becoming thirty, you probably should do that if you want to settle down and raise a family.”

  “Mom, I am four years away from being thirty, and I don’t have to rush settling down and raising a family. I like building my business and am happy and content doing so.” I do leave out the fact that some nights do get quite lonely and having regular sex with a boyfriend would be really nice. My bedside companion is currently tucked away in the side table drawer and getting worn out. I’m also getting tired of buying batteries.

  She reaches over to pat my hand. “I am just making sure that you are happy.”

  “I am, Mom, thank you,” I reply and pat her hand back with a warm smile.

  The couple weeks of waiting to start my new job flew by, and today is my first day at the estate. I am still mesmerized by this place. Even though I have had this business for five years, based on the size of the house, this is the largest client I have had. Which that little statistic does nothing to calm my nerves.

  Mark greets me at the door, and we walk down a corridor behind the kitchen to his office. All the formalities of employment are finalized, and I have my first lists of purchases to make. There’s also an extra little note from my new boss.

  Avery,

  Welcome to my home. Thank you for taking on my shopping needs during my busiest time at work. It really helps me out. I left a list of my favorite foods, snacks and drinks for you. If you need anything at all, just ask Mark, and he’ll get you fixed up.

  Don’t work too hard and have a great day.

  Mr. E

  Being able to help busy people out truly makes me happy, not to mention that I love to shop. This is also why I have a Tahoe, so most of the time everything will fit in it, and I can go out to gather items and work nonstop to get the errands all knocked out at once.

  The lists for each area of the house are in my hands, and I am off. First stop, the hardware store to pick up some seeds for the groundskeeper. Easy enough.

  6

  Drew

  Coach blows the whistle and calls practice closed. This heat is stifling, and the amount of routes I ran today alone is probably more than the total miles I do in a week on my daily jogs. That’s the job of a professional football wide receiver. There is no way to escape traveling down that one-hundred-yard field at least one-hundred times a day during practice. Running is half the battle.

  We are a couple of weeks into camp, and my body is still getting used to paying the price of being on the field each day, but when I go home everything is done. All I have to do is heat a plate up for dinner and crash.

  I’ve left Avery a little note and list every week, and I feel like a creeper in my own home because when I heard her downstairs the few times our paths have almost collided, I ran over to the windows and followed her with my eyes, just to have a glance at her. It looks like she’s caring and friendly to the staff. She attentively talks to them, and that smile on her face is simply gorgeous.

  Mark tells me that she is working out well; she gets along with the other staff and is very efficient with her job. That’s great to hear. I know this is a little game I started, but I have come to love the fact that she is close by and that I am taking care of her by providing her with a paycheck. There is a comfort when I look around the kitchen and house and know that she has had a hand in my surroundings.

  I’m tired but I need to get out of the house for a while, so I shoot Reed a text.

  Me: Mickey’s?

  His reply coming within seconds.

  Reed: I’m game. See ya in 1 hr.

  With that settled, I get up and change to head out. Every time I drive by the grocery store close by Mickey’s, I want to go in just to see if that feisty brunette is searching through the wine selection again. I hold myself back. If she sees me now, she will know that I am her boss and be even more pissed off.

  I’m surrounded by her in my home, but I need more. I want her in my arms and want to talk to her. It’s crazy. I don’t do relationships, and I don’t do talking with women I’m attracted to. The conversations are limited to the necessary details: Hotel or your place? I’ll meet you there.

  I have them come on their own accord, so I can leave right after. No one has ever stayed in my bed overnight.

  “Hey, buddy,” I greet Reed as I walk into Mickey’s. Damn, he always gets here fast. How does he continue to beat me? We live about the same distance away. I don’t know, maybe he was already close by.

  “Hey, I also texted Tyler to see if he wanted to join us; he said that he and Jordan actually needed to talk to both of us. They are on their way,” he adds and tips the bottle of beer to his lips for a drink as Peyton walks up to take my order. Like clockwork, Reed’s eyes follow her every move when she is within eyesight.

  “What do you think Tyler and Jordan want to talk about?” Tyler and his girlfriend, Jordan, started dating last season. Our head football coach and his wife, Jeff and Suzy Briggs, set up Jordan as an in-home massage service to help Tyler with a back injury. He healed in time to finish out the playoff games, and he’s been dipping his dick in it ever since.

  “Who knows, man. With those two in their lovey dovey world, it could be anything.” I look at Reed with a raised eyebrow in question. Did he really just say that?

  “Dude, why would you even say the words, lovey dovey?” Yeah, I have to question him and his man card right now.

  “Awe, Drew, are you jealous because you don’t have anyone to be lovey dovey with? It’s alright, man, you can tell me the truth. Are you lonely?” Reed patronizes me.

  Luckily, Tyler and Jordan walk in before we can go any further with his comment. Truth is, I am lonely, but there is no way in hell that I’ll tell him that.

  “Tyler, Jordan, it’s great to see you both,” I greet them as they walk up to our table.

  Jordan gives us hugs and Tyler does the man side hug. “Hi, guys. This was perfect timing, I’m glad you texted,” Jordan says as they sit.

  “Oh yeah? What’s up?” I’m curious and want to know what’s going on.

  Jordan starts, “Okay, so my best friend, Harper, she recently went through a bad break up, and I am trying to keep her busy. Well, she is a party planner, so I was thinking we could have an end of training camp celebration and have her plan it.”

  “So what does thi
s have to do with us?” I point back and forth to Reed and me.

  She smiles lovingly at Tyler and turns her head back to us, and I raise a brow at him. He then puts his hands up and adds, “Hey, don’t look at me, this was all Jordan’s idea.” I shake my head. Pussy whipped, but he is the happiest he’s ever been. Is that what it would look like if I was with Avery. What? Where did that thought come from?

  Jordan cuts in, “Well, Drew, we need your house because it’s the only one big enough to fit the entire team and their plus ones, and Reed, we need you to do your thing and bring the people.” Reed is the personable one out of this small group. He’s perfect for that job. However, using my home, my sanctuary, I’m not so sure that will fly.

  Reed excitedly jumps in right away, “Yes, I’m in! It will be an awesome party. Hey, by the way, who’s going to cater the bar? Have you thought about Mickey’s doing it?”

  “Oh, I haven’t got that far with Harper. I have to first tell her that she is planning the party, but I will suggest it. That’s a great idea. Thanks!” Jordan has a huge smile and looks at me with a face that screams, please don’t burst my happy bubble.

  I crater to those puppy dog eyes. Then a thought pops in my head, I can get Avery to help buy what is needed for the event, but I’ll have to be careful that she doesn’t know it’s the team’s party, or she’ll be suspicious that something is up. “Alright, I’m in too, but I need a favor in return. I have a personal shopper that can help. The thing is, some of the workers at my estate do not know who I actually am. They go through Mark.” Okay, so she’s the only one that doesn’t know, but these guys don’t need that information. “So, if you can swear Harper to secrecy, then she can help her.”