Rookie (Playing The Field Book 2)

by Rebecca Barber

  I was sitting on the bed rubbing cream into my hands when Seth appeared looking tired, defeated, and deflated.

  “You coming to bed?” I asked, throwing back the blankets.

  Leaning over, he booped the tip of my nose like you would a child. I hated it. It felt all kinds of wrong. I didn’t want this brooding version of the man I was falling in love with, I wanted the one who pinned me to the wall and made sure I knew who I belonged to.

  “In a minute. I’m just going to jump in the shower really quick.”

  He didn’t even give me a chance to ask if he wanted company before slipping into the ensuite and shutting the door. When I heard the click of the lock, my heart sank. Everything was all sorts of fucked up.

  We’d supposed to have been celebrating. After a really shitty couple of months when it felt like the world was against us, everything was finally coming together. I had a job I was so excited about, and everything I wanted was within my grasp. And Seth, he’d finally got the starting jersey he’d been chasing and working his arse off for months. Probably years. We should be riding high. Instead, one drunken dickhead had fucked everything up. And all because he couldn’t control his grabby hands. Damn, I wish I’d kneed him in the balls.

  Now I was lying here in Seth’s big bed, feeling more alone than ever. Sliding out from under the covers, I crept into the spare room to find Beth already passed out and murmuring in her sleep. I wished I could’ve made out her words, but it was all gibberish. Quietly, I adjusted the covers over her before climbing in beside her. I was too tired to fight tonight and crashing here seemed like the best option.

  “What the!” I whisper yelled as I came out of the deep sleep I was in.

  “Shhh.”

  As I blinked open my heavy eyelids and my stomach gurgled, I was swept up into Seth’s arms. Silently he carried me out the door before tucking me back into his bed. Sliding in behind me, Seth wrapped himself around me like a vine before pressing a soft kiss against that spot just below my neck that made my whole body quiver.

  “The only place you sleep in my house, Claire, is in my bed,” he mumbled, squeezing me tight.

  “Mmkay.”

  Seth’s phone shrilled, waking me up and I wanted to jam it fair up his arse. I sat up way too quickly, making my head spin and my stomach lurch.

  “Shut it up,” I grumbled, flopping back down on the pillow and pulling the blanket up over my head.

  “Morning,” Seth answered sleepily.

  I couldn’t hear what the evil person on the other end of the line was saying, but I could hear what Seth was saying. And it didn’t sound good. “Uh-huh. Yeah. Okay. See you in an hour.”

  He ended the call before dropping it down on the bedside table and climbing out of bed.

  “Who was that?”

  “Luca. I’ve gotta be at the club in an hour.”

  “What happened?” I was wide awake now.

  “Not sure. Guess I’m going to find out. Just go back to sleep.”

  A minute later, I heard the shower start and leaned over, picking up my phone to check the time. It was only just after six on a Saturday morning. No wonder I felt like shit. I was still drunk. But even through the throbbing headache and the blurry vision, I didn’t miss the notifications blowing up my phone.

  Slightly terrified, I opened the first one from Isaac.

  Twenty seconds of vision later and I was wide awake. I dropped my phone and covered my mouth. Holy fuck. This wasn’t good. Not good at all.

  38

  Seth

  I was ten minutes early getting to the club.

  Sitting in the car, staring out at the stadium, I knew my world was about to come crashing down on top of me. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. As soon as I saw Luca’s name lighting up my phone screen so early this morning, I knew there was no way it was good news. My heart sank.

  After he’d summoned me, I’d showered, dressed, and got out of there as fast as I could. It might’ve been the easy option and the chicken shit way out, but the last person I wanted to talk to about this was Claire. She’d blame herself. I knew she would. And it wasn’t her fault. None of this was. And I didn’t regret it. Given the situation, I knew I’d do it again. No matter the consequences, no matter what was thrown at me, I’d made the right call. I wouldn’t apologise for it.

  A knock on my window scared the crap out of me. After I got my breathing back under control, I saw Luca staring down at me, disappointment written all over his face.

  Grabbing my keys, I stepped out of the car.

  “Morning,” Luca greeted me, taking a sip from his takeout coffee cup. Why hadn’t I thought to stop and get coffee? Oh yeah, that’s right. I was too busy worrying about totalling my career.

  “Morning.”

  “Let’s get this sorted,” Luca suggested, and I fell in step with him as we headed inside.

  I thought we’d go straight to his office. Isn’t that where people got in trouble? In the boss’s office or the principal’s office? So, when he turned the opposite direction and headed up into the stands, I shut up and followed.

  Halfway up, he dropped into a chair, and I followed suit.

  After a moment, staring out across the field, the sky overhead grey and miserable with rain threatening. “Take it you know what happened last night.”

  “Yeah. Did you know it was filmed?”

  “No.”

  “Want to tell me what happened?”

  “I hit him,” I admitted. There was no point pussyfooting around the issue. I’d done it. It was as simple as that. And if there was video footage, then my case was done. All that was left was to wait and see what my punishment was.

  “Wanna tell me why?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Honestly, from the club’s position, not really. For me though, absolutely.”

  “He attacked Claire. Had her pinned to the wall. Wouldn’t let her go. Was grabbing at her and touching her and wasn’t taking no for an answer. He was drunk and the things he was calling her…”

  “I get it.”

  “Yeah, okay.” I shrugged, not really believing him.

  “No, I do.”

  To say I was shocked when Luca told me about him knocking a guy on his arse in the tunnel after he tried to do something similar to what happened to Claire to Elise, was an understatement. Maybe he did get it. Shame it didn’t help take the sting out of it.

  Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself. “So, what’s the verdict?”

  “You’re not playing tomorrow.”

  “Figured.”

  Fuck that stung. I got it. I did. But fuck me it still hurt. I’d worked so damn hard to finally get that jersey, and as quick as I’d got it, it’d been taken away again.

  “You need to make a public apology and tell the world violence isn’t the answer.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  “What else can I do?”

  “Honestly, not much. Seth, I know you think I’m the bad guy right now and I get that, but this isn’t going to end anything. Do what you need to do to put this behind you, put your head down and get back to work. I know you’ve got talent. Your teammates now know what you can do, and they’re excited to see it and have you out there beside them. Focus on that. This won’t even be a blip on your radar.”

  “Okay.”

  Luca clapped me on the shoulder as he rose from his seat. Taking that as a sign I was being dismissed, I followed suit more than ready to get out of there. Bouncing down the stairs, it wasn’t until I made it to the bottom when I heard Luca calling my name.

  “Hey, Seth?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Off the record…I would’ve done exactly the same thing.”

  Somehow, that made me feel better. What was another week riding the pine compared to what could’ve happened? After all, it was just a game. At least that’s what I was telling myself.

  Leaving the club, I drove around for a bit before pulling up at the be
ach. After grabbing a coffee from the caravan in the parking lot, I kicked off my shoes and walked down on to the sand, planting my arse. My phone had been blowing up for the last forty-five minutes but I’d silenced it, needing some space to clear my head.

  When the rain started, I grabbed my rubbish and headed home. I couldn’t hide forever. But I could bring bacon and egg rolls. I had a feeling the two girls at my place were going to have sore heads when they eventually surfaced after partying maybe a little too hard last night.

  I didn’t even get through the door before Claire pounced on me. “What happened? Are you okay? Is that bacon?”

  At least her last question made me smile.

  “Is Beth still here?”

  “Yeah. She’s still asleep. Tell me. How bad is it?”

  “It’s fine.” It wasn’t, but that wasn’t Claire’s fault, and the last thing I wanted was for her to feel any amount of guilt.

  “Fuck off, Seth. Tell me the truth.” Wow! For someone who stunk like they’d bathed in booze and whose hair was standing on end, Claire was feisty this morning. “I know it’s all over the socials.”

  “You saw?”

  “Of course, I saw. Everyone saw. And everyone tagged me in the bloody thing.”

  Wrapping her in my arms, I squeezed her against me. “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re sorry? You’re sorry? What the fuck do you have to be sorry for? You didn’t do the wrong thing. The fucktard on the floor did.”

  “I shouldn’t have hit him.”

  “Seth…”

  “Here, I bought you breakfast. Thought you might need something in your stomach.” I changed the subject, shoving the food in her hand. Last time she’d been in a pissy mood, food had helped so I was hoping history repeated itself.

  Claire accepted it with a scowl. “You didn’t do anything wrong. And I’m going to prove it.”

  Kissing her forehead, I left her to inhale her breakfast. If Beth didn’t hurry up there was a very good chance she wasn’t going to even see hers.

  “Let it go, Claire. There’s nothing you can do now. It is what it is.”

  “That’s what you think.”

  Fucking hell. Just when I didn’t think things could get much worse, I had a really bad feeling Claire wasn’t going to let this go, and God knows what she was planning. I was afraid to find out.

  39

  Claire

  “Ready?” Beth asked for the thousandth time.

  “Yep.”

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

  “Fuck yeah. Seth doesn’t deserve this. It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t do anything wrong. Why should he be punished?”

  “I agree. But is this the best way? Surely there’s a better way to do this.”

  “We don’t have time. Now, let’s do it.”

  “Okay.”

  I took a deep breath, ran my fingers through my hair, and straightened my shoulders. I might have told Beth this was a good idea but the truth was, it was my only idea. While Seth had been out this morning I’d laid in bed, ignoring the spinning, reading comment after comment on the video some wanker had taken and posted online. The video that had cost Seth everything he’d worked so hard for. It wasn’t fair. People were calling him a thug and a bully. They wanted him thrown out of the competition. Some called for him to be charged with assault. Other’s demanded he give up his spot. He was supposed to be a role model, kids looked up to him. He couldn’t go around beating people up and getting away with it. It was all bullshit. And no one was defending him. He wasn’t even defending himself. And if he wouldn’t do it, if he couldn’t do it, then I was going to. I couldn’t sit here and let these keyboard warriors get away with it.

  With one final deep breath, I folded my hands in my lap.

  “Three. Two. One. Recording.”

  Beth pointed at me, and it was time.

  Even though I’d rehearsed what I wanted to say over and over in the mirror, now we were recording, I stumbled.

  “Hey. Hi. You don’t know me. I’m Claire. I’m a friend of Seth Masters. And I’m sure you’ve seen the video of what happened last night. But what you didn’t see is the real story. I’m not going to lie to you, that’s not me, and it’s not Seth either. Seth did punch that guy. He didn’t deny it at the time, and he won’t deny it now. But what you didn’t see in that video was what happened in the few minutes before. The guy you saw lying on the floor had me pinned to the wall. He was grabbing my arm.” I lifted my arm and pulled back the sleeve showing the camera the dark bruises. “He was touching me. He wouldn’t let me go. And he was saying things I’d rather not repeat. Violence isn’t the answer. I know that. Seth knows that. But when a guy who’s not only stronger, bigger, and heavier than you, but also drunk and unbalanced is threatening someone you love, ask yourself, what would you do? Maybe then you wouldn’t be judging Seth so harshly.”

  Tears filled my eyes, and I motioned to Beth who paused the filming.

  “How bad was I?”

  “You were honest. It’s all you can do. Look, I have to get home and get organised for work this afternoon. Are you going to be okay?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

  “You going to post it?”

  “You don’t think I should?”

  “I didn’t…” I went to ask a question but Beth silenced me with her hand. “But after hearing what you said, even if it doesn’t change what’s happened, even if Seth still can’t play, you need to share the truth. No one should be crucified for that.”

  “Thanks.” I hugged Beth tightly.

  I waited until she was safely in the back seat of her Uber before I headed back upstairs, hoping Seth was in a better mood. I doubted it, and I couldn’t blame him, but a girl could wish. Right now, I doubted even a blow job would put a smile back on his face.

  While I waited for the elevator, I bit my lip and loaded the video up onto my social media accounts making sure I tagged everyone and everything I thought could help. I didn’t give a fuck if I ended up looking like an idiot, as long as Seth didn’t look like a brute.

  Almost instantly my phone started pinging. Too afraid to see what they were saying, I turned it off, stuffed it in my pocket, and went back inside. Finding Seth stripped down to his boxers and tucked back in bed, I slid in beside him and let my eyes close. Another couple of hours sleep where we could pretend the outside world didn’t exist sounded like heaven.

  40

  Seth

  This was the second time today I’d been woken up by my damn phone.

  Reaching out, I went to grab it but just knocked everything from my bedside table onto the floor. “Fucker!” I swore under my breath. Despite sending everything flying, the phone still rang.

  Grabbing it, I answered not bothering to hide my frustrations. “What?”

  “Well, hello to you too, little brother,” Bryce replied way too happily for my liking.

  “Fuck off, Bryce. What’d you want?”

  “Bad day?”

  “You have no idea,” I grumbled, scrubbing my hand over my face feeling the stubble beneath my fingertips. Pulling the phone from my ear I saw it was almost mid-day and I was still in bed. Or back in bed. I didn’t give a flying fuck though. It wasn’t like I had any real reason to get out. The longer I stayed here, the less chance I had of making things worse.

  “Oh, did someone get in trouble for punching a drunk?”

  “You know?”

  “Dude! Everyone knows. That shit is all over the media. Especially after Claire’s little declaration.”

  “Claire’s declaration? What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “You haven’t seen it?” Bryce’s question was weighed heavily with surprise.

  “Seen what?” I practically growled as I climbed out of bed and strode through the apartment to the kitchen.

  “Keep your panties on, princess. I’m sending you the link.”

  “Hurry up.”

  Grabbing a bottle of water, I cracked open the
lid and stepped out onto the veranda. Everything was wet and the rain was still falling softly. I didn’t care. It felt good against my heated back. And I sure as shit needed to cool off. Barely five minutes ago I’d been sound asleep, but the moment Bryce’s call had woken me, my shitty reality had come crashing back down on me.

  “There, you should have it.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Call me if you need anything. It’ll all work out, Seth.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Yeah. This time I actually do.”

  Bryce hung up, and I clicked on the link he’d sent. Seeing Claire’s beautiful face, I didn’t know if I even wanted to hear what she said. After everything, I don’t know if I could take much more at this point.

  But already it’d had half a million views, so someone was obviously watching it. I couldn’t be the only arsehole walking around having no clue what was going on. Taking a deep breath, I drained the rest of my bottle and opened it.

  I don’t know how many times I watched it.

  I couldn’t stop.

  Claire had done this for me.

  For me.

  I didn’t deserve it.

  I didn’t deserve her.

  She’d put the truth out there and everyone who was smashing me earlier this morning was suddenly on my side. All because of Claire. She was a fucking champion. A hero. My hero.

  Arms snaked around my waist as a warm kiss was placed against the centre of my back. Dropping my phone on the table, I turned to face the most amazing, most beautiful woman in the world. My woman. She was a fucking keeper that was for sure.

  I only had one question for her. “Why?”

  “Because they needed to hear the rest of the story. I couldn’t just sit there and let them call you all those horrible things because they didn’t know the truth. You didn’t punch that idiot because you’re a thug or a bully. You punched him to protect someone. To protect me. And the world needed to know that. You need to know that.”