Player of Life (Perception Book 4)

by Shandi Boyes

  “How do you know Nick?” My mom questions sternly.

  “He’s a friend” I reply just as I notice my dad in the corner of my eye.

  “Daddy” I squeal excitedly while running over towards him to throw myself into his arms. The past two months is the longest period I have gone without seeing my dad. I have seen him every day of my life for the past eighteen years and I have missed him so much.

  “How is my princess?” he greets as he engulfs me in his famous tight hug.

  ****

  The instant I arrived at Bronte’s peak, Slater pounced on me and gave me a huge hug. I really feel like I’m missing out on so much being in New York while all of my friends are still in Ravenshoe. Although Emily goes to school at Parkwood, she still comes home every weekend.

  “How’s city life?” Slater questions.

  “You know wild sex parties and orgies every weekend” I reply jokingly, triggering Slater to laugh loudly.

  “Sounds like my type of place” Slater responds chuckling.

  I noticed in the corner of my eye that Nick is curiously watching the exchange between Slater and I, and when I mentioned the sex parties and orgies, his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared in anger.

  I walk over towards Marcus and give him a quick friendly hug, before making my way to Nick.

  “Hello” I greet friendly, before I wrap my arms around his shoulders the same way I just did with Marcus and Slater, except Nick holds on a little longer than they did.

  There would be no surprise that during the rest of the BBQ I never got the chance talk to Nick, since Slater made sure he was firmly positioned between the both of us at all times. It was only once everyone started packing up and heading home did I notice Nick’s truck parked a few spaces down from a little yellow car, right at the very end of the long carpark. Once I said goodbye to Marcus, Slater, Emily, Noah and Jacob, I slowly made my way down to his truck. He seemed deep in thought before he notices me standing next to his driver’s side door.

  The instant I entered the cabin of his truck, I could feel the sparks igniting between us. We spent the next hour becoming reacquainted like I had never left two months ago. The only difference this time around was Nick was a lot more attentive and gentle, like he was savouring every moment we had together.

  It was only when I was putting my shirt back on did I realise that Nick hadn’t spoken a word to me all day. When I look over at him, he does up his fly and angrily pulls his shirt over his head.

  “What’s wrong?” I question concerned. He takes in several deep breaths while staring out at the brilliant blue sky.

  “Sex parties and orgies?” he responds angrily as his nostrils flare. I try to hide my smile but fail miserable. I even giggle a little at his angry reaction to my playful banter with Slater.

  “It’s not fucking funny” he states angrily. I continue to smile while I nod my head. It was pretty funny watching Nick get all jealous.

  “I was joking” I eventually say, once I notice the veins in his neck started to pulse.

  His eyes slowly turn to face me, before leisurely roaming over my face, like he is storing every detail into his memory. I run my fingers through my hair, trying to get the frazzled pieces to calm down. If he is taking a mental picture, I wanted it to be a good one. I shouldn’t have bothered because he spent the next hour running his own fingers through my hair as we went for round two.

  ****

  I checked my face in my revision mirror before getting out of my car. My lipstick is no longer existent and my hair is a mess. But the most obvious sign that I had just been having sex is my eyes. They are all glossed over and beaming full of lust. Hopefully my parents are too old to understand why my eyes would look like this. I quickly jump out of my car and make my way towards my house. The instant I enter; I’m surprised to see my mom sitting at my dad’s desk.

  “Hi mom” I greet as I start dashing towards the stairs. My mom isn’t as old as my dad and I’m pretty sure she would easily be able to tell what had caused this look in my eyes.

  “Can I please speak to you?” my mom requests sternly, causing me to freeze at the bottom of the stairs.

  “I’ll be right down after I have a shower” I respond as I take the first three stairs.

  “Now” my mother requests sternly. Crap! I slump my shoulders before I slowly start to walk into my dad’s office.

  The instant I enter, her eyes roam over my face before they narrow into thin slits. She motions angrily for me to sit down in the wooden chair across from dad’s desk. She then nods her head at someone behind me. I turn my head and notice that Maria is closing the double doors, forcing me to swallow harshly.

  “Is it Nick that has given you that gleam in your eye?” my mom questions with one of her eyebrows cocked into the air. I start to shake my head, causing her eyes to narrow, before I slowly change it to a nod.

  “Did you ask him why he was in my office yesterday?” she questions curiously, triggering me to shake my head.

  “You’re not the least bit curious as to why he needs a lawyer?” she asks angrily.

  I once again shake my head. Nick and his band had secured a record deal six weeks ago, so I assumed he was getting that contract looked at. But by mom’s posture and stern look on her face, I am now assuming my assumption is wrong.

  Chapter 18

  Nick

  When I nervously fumbled out of the law firm office, I yanked my wallet out of my pocket to double check the business card my lawyer had originally given me two months ago.

  “Taylor Lee” I read from the card.

  Jenni’s last name is Murphy, but she just called my lawyer her mother. I am sure she said Mom. Maybe she is her step mother? She does seem a fair few years younger than Jenni’s dad. All I have to say is thank fuck for client lawyer confidentiality. If Jenni found out what why I was at the law office this afternoon, I am pretty sure I would never see her again.

  I spent most of the night and the following morning panicked that Jenni was going to question me as to why I was there, but she never mentioned it the next day. When she entered the cabin of my truck, my desire to have her outweighed my moral compass. I knew deep down that I should tell Jenni what was happening. But at the same time I like this arrangement we have going and I don’t want anything to risk it. I spent the whole time in the truck memorising every single detail of her face and body, just in case she ever finds out and never wants to see me again.

  After we finished making out, we organised to meet at Bronte’s café the next morning at ten am. So you could imagine my surprise when her little blue car pulled into the driveway of my dad’s property at nine pm tonight. My dad and I are sitting on a swinging chair hanging on the front porch. The instant he saw the concerned look on Jenni’s face, he excused himself and bolted inside.

  Jenni had changed her clothes and her hair is wet like she has just gotten out of the shower. Her face is free of make-up and her eyes appear clear, although they are full of concern. I motion for her to sit next to me. She seems hesitant before she slowly makes her way over towards me.

  “Why were you at my mom’s law office yesterday?” she questions softly. Ah fuck, I was waiting for this to happen. I slowly roam my eyes over her face making sure I have every detail right before I begin to speak.

  “I needed a lawyer for a paternity case” I inform quietly. Jenni’s eyes shoot up to look at me, her eyes flicking between mine but she stays relatively calm, which surprises me.

  “You have a child?” she questions confused. I shake my head. She exhales a quick short breath, that is sharply redrawn the instant I continue to speak.

  “A girl is claiming I’m the father of her unborn child”

  Jenni continues watching me but she doesn’t say a word. I have a hard time trying to gage her reaction. I can’t tell if she is angry or upset. She just sits there quietly staring at me.

  “How far is she?” she whispers harshly, forcing me to swallow a large lump in my throat. My hear
t rate increases and the longer I delay in answering her question, the more Jenni’s eyes fill with tears.

  “Four months”

  The instant those two little words escaped my lips a single tear drips down Jenni’s face.

  “It’s not my baby, I swear to you it isn’t mine, I don’t have unprotected sex” I inform confidently. I know there is no chance that Megan’s baby is mine.

  “When did you sleep with her?” Jenni questions angrily, while panting that hard her chest rises and falls with every breath she takes.

  I don’t want to answer her question as I know the instant I do she will be gone. I grab a hold of her hand and she angrily pulls it out of my grip as the tears continue to stream down her face.

  “When did you sleep with her?” she questions again, this time even more sterner than the last.

  “The day I went to your aunt’s salon” I respond truthfully, even though I know I am digging my own grave.

  Jenni lifts her hand and slaps it hard across my face. Her other hand then darts up to cover her mouth, mortified at the fact that she had just struck me. I deserved it though, I had chased her relentlessly for months and then bedded her and another girl in less than twenty-four hours.

  Jenni quickly jumps to her feet and starts running towards her car. The tears streaming down her face causes her to stumble and fall onto the gravel driveway. I rush towards her to help her back on her feet.

  “Leave me alone” she screams loudly while pulling herself away from me.

  Her knees are bleeding from the gravel cutting her delicate and soft skin, but she doesn’t seem to notice. Her hurt eyes stare directly into mine while she angrily shakes her head.

  “Stay away from me Nick” she whispers angrily before she runs around her car and jumps into the driver’s seat. It takes her several attempts to get her seatbelt to latch into place before her car goes darting out of the driveway, leaving me in a cloud of dust.

  I hear the screen door creak and when I turn to look towards my house, my dad’s angry and confused gaze is staring directly at me. He shakes his head at me in disgust before he walks back inside the house, slamming the front door behind him.

  ****

  Call me a sucker for punishment, but the next day I went to Jacob’s for the bands monthly BBQ. Jenni’s car was already there by the time I arrived. This time when I rounded the corner, she never bothered to turn around to look at me. She must have been able to sense my presence though as she immediately walked into the house. Once the food was served, she waited for me to be seated at the table first and ended up sitting on the same side as me but three spaces up so I never got the chance to look at her. Slater’s eyes flick between Jenni and I and this time when he kicked me in the shins, he ensured he did it hard enough that I am going to be limping for a week.

  When I went into the kitchen to help with drying up, Jenni instantly walked out. Nicole’s eye slightly tapered but she continued handing me the wet dishes. By the time I had finished drying up, Jenni was nowhere in sight.

  “She left” Jacob informs my confused gaze. He then walks over and stands next to me.

  “This is the reason Slater was trying to keep her away from you” he informs angrily. Slater’s eyes turn up to look at me and he arrogantly smirks before he recommences talking to Noah.

  I end up deciding to leave as well, since the only reason I came to these gatherings had already left.

  “Wow, the player finally returns” Tina chuckles the instant I walk into the ‘Dungeon’.

  I shoot her a quick smile whilst I continue to stroll towards Isaac’s office. I haven’t been at the ‘Dungeon’ in two months. The first few times I went without Jenni just felt weird. Every time I was dancing with someone I was imagining it was her and when I realised it wasn’t all my fantasies crashed and burned. Jenni and I never had an agreement to stay exclusive, but the Dungeon held too many memories of her that I couldn’t bring myself to use it as my playground anymore.

  When I enter Isaac’s office, I notice that he is talking to someone on his cell phone. His eyebrows pull together before he spins his office chair around and lowers his voice. I don’t care about his shady business dealings so I don’t see the need for him to be acting sneaky.

  “Alright, bye Dee” Isaac states while spinning his chair back around.

  “Are the test results in yet?” Isaac questions sternly.

  I shake my head. I’ve been waiting for the in utero paternity test results for the past week. We had to wait for Megan to reach fifteen weeks before the amniocentesis was allowed to be completed. Despite her best efforts, I haven’t had any contact with Megan at all the past two months.

  “Hopefully this week” I reply sullenly. Isaac’s dark eyes stare into mine and he offers me a small smile.

  “Are you worried?” he asks. I shake my head again. I am confident that her baby isn’t mine but I don’t think it will matter what the results are. I am pretty sure Jenni is never going to speak to me again either way.

  ****

  The next morning, I am awoken by my cell phone ringing.

  “Mr Holt, it is Emma, Taylor Lee’s receptionist. I am calling to advise you that the test results are in” she informs kindly. I organise an afternoon meeting with Jenni’s mom to find out my fate.

  When I walked into her office, Taylor’s normal nice persona I had experienced the past two months is replaced with an angrier and colder version. I nervously sat down in the chair opposite her and roamed my eyes over her impressively large office. Her receptionist walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. I could feel my heart starting to race more with every second that Taylor stared at me.

  “You’re not going to be a father anytime soon” she advises quietly. The instant the words escaped her lips, I let out the biggest sigh of relief. I may have thrown a fist pump into the air in excitement and slapped my thigh a few times a well.

  “I fucking knew it” I murmur under my breath. I would never have unprotected sex.

  “Here is the full doctors report and your bill” she advises sternly while handing me a large envelope full of paperwork.

  “You can show yourself out” she advises angrily, dismissing me from her office.

  I don’t care how angry she is at me right now, after the news she just delivered me I could kiss her! Or better yet, I could kiss her daughter.

  I jump into my truck and quickly make my way to Jenni’s house, eager to share my news with her. I take the stairs two at a time and bang excitedly on her front door. Not long later, a little old Italian looking lady answers.

  “Hi, I’m here to see Jenni” I advise as I peer behind her, seeking Jenni. I hadn’t really noticed the first time I picked Jenni up but her house is fucking huge.

  “Jenni is gone” the lady informs, forcing my eyes to quickly look back at her.

  “Gone where?” I question. Jenni wasn’t supposed to fly out until tomorrow morning.

  “Back to school, she left yesterday afternoon” the lady advises.

  I look at the lady confused, before I eventually nod my head in understanding and make my way back to my truck. Once I’m inside the cabin of my truck, I dial Jenni’s cell phone. I’m shocked when my call gets sent straight to voicemail.

  “Hey Jenni, it’s Nick, I didn’t think you were due to leave until Tuesday morning?” I question into her voicemail as my eyes roam over her large house. “I’m not the father” I continue quietly.

  “I just found out and I wanted to let you know first”

  Chapter 19

  Jenni

  I can’t believe I could have been so stupid to have ever fallen in love with a player. The instant Nick showed up at Jacob’s house, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stay and enjoy the festivities. It hurt too much just looking at him. I had always wondered the past few months if Nick was being exclusive. I had hoped and prayed that he was, but I should have realised that he didn’t get the type of reputation he has by not sleeping around. It was time
for me to remove the blinkers and start looking at life as a whole picture again.

  The instant I arrived home, I checked if there was any availability to catch an earlier flight. Thankfully, if I was quick and could get to the airport in an hour, I would be back in New York in under four. I needed as much distance between Nick and I as possible. If I could have, I would have flown to Australia.

  My dad seemed disappointed when I said I had to go back to NY earlier than expected. I made out that I had to study for an important test I had forgotten about and he said he understood. He ended up driving me to airport and promised that he would pass on my apologizes to mom for not saying goodbye.

  I had already fielded calls yesterday from Emily and Nicole in regards to where I disappeared too. I lied and made out that I was having horrific cramps from bad PMS. Nicole seemed to buy my lie, but Emily was a little more reserved. Slater sent me a text Sunday afternoon asking if I was okay. I decided to give him the exact same excuse I had given the girls. He texted me back saying that I was disgusting and for me to never share that type of information with him again. That was the first time I had smiled since Saturday afternoon.