Playing Dirty (A Bad Boy Sports Romance)

by Avery Wilde

  Jay. He was my future.

  And what future could be any brighter?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Jay

  Kate spent a few days nervously getting ready for her last segment. We were going down to a local Manchester studio for it to air, and I knew she was excited but anxious. I kept asking what she planned to talk about on air, but she wouldn’t tell me, and as much as I wanted to know, I respected her decision. After all, Kate had seen me at work several times, but aside from passing glances at her old show, I’d never seen her in a business mindset.

  The night before we were to go to the studio, she slipped out of the bathroom wearing a fantastic dress. It was black, with lace sleeves and a tight skirt that made her ass look incredible…and it was like nothing I’d ever seen her in.

  “My god,” I said. “Who are you, and where is Kate Romero?”

  Kate giggled. She’d put on heavy makeup and dark lipstick, and she looked vampy and sexy. “Feel like taking me on a date?” she asked.

  “I feel like I shouldn’t let you out of my flat,” I murmured, pulling her close and slipping my arms around Kate’s waist. As I kissed her ear, I mumbled: “Any blokes see you and they’re going to want a piece of that gorgeous bod of yours.”

  Kate shivered and squirmed in my arms, and she placed her arms around my neck and leaned in, nuzzling me and planting her wet lips on my skin. I shivered, feeling my cock twitch inside my pants. I was hard in a matter of seconds, and Kate seemed to know it. She pressed her lithe body against mine, moaning softly as I kneaded the pert cheeks of her ass.

  “You look amazing,” I said as I nuzzled her hair. She lifted her face up to me to be kissed, and I was lost in her soft lips. As the kiss deepened, she slipped her tongue into my mouth, and I could feel her nipples hardening through the soft fabric of the dress. When I realized she wasn’t wearing a bra, a powerful wave of lust ripped through me.

  “I want you, Jay,” she whispered softly. She broke the kiss and ran her hands through my short hair, massaging the back of my neck until I felt weak. Slipping my hands between her legs, I scooped her up and wrapped her slim legs around my waist, and she moaned and began to grind her hips against me. The dress rode up almost to her waist, and I saw that she wasn’t wearing panties. She fastened her lips to the base of my neck and began to gently suck as I walked her backwards to the bed, throwing her down gently, and she immediately got to all fours and crawled towards me.

  “You are a goddess,” I murmured as I watched her fumble with the snap of my jeans. “And I can’t wait to—”

  I gasped mid-sentence. Kate had taken my hard erection out of my pants, and she made eye contact with me while moving her lips closer and closer to the head of my cock. I shuddered as I felt her warm tongue caress my skin, over and over again.

  “Come and get me, Jay,” she said. She reclined on the bed and raised her arms over her head, smiling seductively, and my mouth watered at the sight of her amazing curves, tightly encased in black fabric. With a growl, I threw myself on the bed and crawled towards her, nipping at her ankles and making her squeal.

  “You’re going to regret teasing me like that,” I murmured into her ear when I was on top of her. She groaned underneath me and pressed her body against mine. My erection was throbbing and I was dying to take her, to make her mine.

  “I regret nothing,” she replied. She winked at me coquettishly, and with a grin I reached down and yanked her dress up, exposing her nakedness. She squirmed and moaned when I slipped a finger between her legs, and she was so wet that I groaned.

  With a grin, I grabbed her thighs and pulled them apart, crawling between them and teasing her with the head of my erection. Kate moaned softly. She arched her back and wrapped her legs around me, covering my cock with her warmth. When I felt the head of my erection slide inside her tightness, I groaned, and she let out a little yelp before leaning forward and nipping at my ear. When I began to thrust, she automatically matched my rhythm. I could tell she was incredibly worked up, and it was only a matter of minutes before she cried out loudly with release. She almost sounded like she was in pain, but I could tell that she was completely giving herself up to me. As our bodies moved together at a frenzied pace, pleasure burst in my lower belly and I groaned into Kate’s neck, fucking her harder until I felt my cock spasm and twitch with the release of my own orgasm.

  We lay like that together for a few moments before I rolled off Kate and flopped onto my back.

  “I knew you’d like that dress,” she said. “I brought it on a whim, thinking I could wear it out on some date.”

  I rolled my eyes and laughed. “I bet you never planned on making it past the bedroom door.”

  Kate blushed furiously. She tugged the dress back down over her thighs and rolled onto her side. Her green eyes reflected some of the dim light from the bedroom and suddenly, I felt more in love with her than ever before.

  “This is better,” she said softly. “This is much, much better.”

  The next morning, we left for the studio early in the morning. Kate was dressed casually; dark wash jeans, a silk blouse, and a scarf in her hair. I thought she looked stunning, but she kept fretting over her looks the whole way to the studio.

  “Don’t roll the windows down, Jay, I don’t want it to mess up my hair,” Kate said when I started to do that very thing. “I’m sorry. I know I probably sound crazy.”

  I shrugged. I was a bit nervous myself. “You’re forgiven,” I told her lightly. “Just kiss me first.”

  At the studio, Kate was whisked away from me into a cloud of makeup and hair stylists. She’d told me privately that this was the reason she wanted to do her own look before heading to the studio; all of these people were strangers, and she didn’t trust them to make her up right.

  “I might come out looking like a monster,” she’d said with a laugh. “And we can’t have that. My viewers have to recognize me, after all.”

  “I’m sure they’ll recognize you,” I said. It wrenched my heart to see Kate unhappy, even if it was just for a moment or two. “And I’m sure they’ll love whatever you have to say to them.”

  I watched from behind the cameras as she finally took her place on the little set. She was seated behind a desk with a coffee mug in front of her, and the glaring lights were hot, but she seemed unfazed. She was confident and poised, and I realized that she was truly in her element, kinda like when I was on the pitch and had to make a play—all of my energy was focused on doing just that. And Kate, in her own way, displayed the exact kind of discipline that my mates always strived for.

  The applause was deafening as the show went live, and Kate wore a practiced smile—friendly, but not too casual. As the cheers died down, she greeted everyone loudly.

  “I’m so glad you are all watching,” she began. She smiled. “And as you can see, despite my time across the pond, I still sound like a brash New Yorker.”

  There were loud cheers and Kate smiled, a practiced move, waiting for the cries to die down. “Before I begin my main segment, I wanted to speak with you all tonight about something that’s a little more personal to me than some of my previous shows. While big issues are always important and relevant, I want to talk to you about something that seems a bit closer to home.” She paused and looked around the audience with a smile. “When I first came over to Manchester, on vacation, my sister suggested we go to this football match—Manchester United against Liverpool.”

  There were loud cheers from the audience, and boos for Liverpool. Kate smiled politely.

  “And you know, sports kind of aren’t my thing.” She blushed, just a little, and managed to look both demure and coy. “But since I was on Lizzy’s time, well, I had to go with her.”

  “What happened?” Someone cried loudly from the audience. Kate didn’t address them, but she did give a brief smile.

  “I enjoyed myself,” she said. “I thought it was going to be a miserable time—loud drunks stampeding everywhere, jocks on the field
, people making jerks out of themselves. But I had fun. The energy really caught me and I wound up enjoying myself more than I had at any point in recent memory.”

  The audience was silent.

  Kate continued. “So I really should have apologized to Lizzy.” She waited for a beat. “Not just because I was rude, but because I had preconceived notions of what it was going to be like. And I was wrong.”

  She looked out over the audience and a more serious expression fixed on her face. “My show was designed to showcase equal opportunity for women, and I always wanted to feature women making choices for themselves without being judged. We’re all guilty of this sometimes, but lately, I think the hypocrisy has been overwhelming. I started receiving low ratings on my show after one newspaper—one newspaper—ran a story about how I went out with a football player. That one story was enough to make people turn their backs on me, and that one story was apparently enough to make certain people think that everything I’ve ever said is total bullshit.”

  Someone in the audience gasped. I chuckled; I didn’t think Kate’s usual audience was used to profanity. Pride and love for her surged in my heart, and I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as I waited for her to finish.

  “My misconception of football and football games is much like this. Except I knew that I was wrong, and I apologized, and since then I’ve tried to lead a very open life. Right now, my show is ending because of those low ratings, because I went out with a footballer. And right now, I want to let you all know—even though I don’t have to—that Jay is a wonderful man. He’s not just a jock, and he’s not just a guy who plays football. He’s a giving, sensitive, and loyal man. If you all think differently about him, it’s because you don’t know him. I refuse to apologize for being in a relationship with him, and if anyone wants to keep judging me, fine. Keep judging me. Stay a hypocrite.”

  There was a pause, and Kate shrugged. Someone in the audience cheered and she smiled briefly. “The most important thing in my life is honesty and transparency, and this is what you’re getting. I’m no less of a role model to women just because I have a life. On the contrary, I think role models should have lives. If being a role model is going to hold me to a plastic mold of myself, then I’m done with that.”

  Kate paused and took a deep breath. She looked over to me and smiled, making my heart thump in my chest. Finally, she said: “Thank you all very much for your support and your love over the years. I’ve really appreciated hosting Keeping Current With Kate. And now, let’s get started with tonight’s last-ever theme…”

  The rest of the show went smoothly, and when the cameras stopped rolling, Kate visibly relaxed. Some people on set began cheering and she flushed as she got up from her seat and walked over towards me. With a shaky grin, she reached out her arms and wrapped them around my neck.

  “How did I do?” Kate pulled back and gazed into my eyes.

  “You were bloody brilliant,” I said honestly, releasing her.

  “Thank you,” she said softly.

  She turned around a second later when a producer asked her something, and she didn’t see me as I dropped to one knee on the floor.

  She turned back around. “Jay, want to go for drinks? Some of the camera—oh my god!” she said.

  “Will you marry me, Kate?” I asked, holding the ring up towards her. Tears flashed in her eyes and I watched a hundred emotions play on her face.

  “Yes,” she said. She shook her head up and down. “Yes, yes, yes!”

  I slid the ring onto her shaking hand and stood up, pulling her close to me and nuzzling into her sweet-smelling hair. Around us, people cheered and clapped and yelled, and Kate snuggled close to me and sighed happily.

  “I can’t believe this,” she said dreamily, pulling away. “This ring is so beautiful! And it fits me perfectly, too.”

  I grinned. “You wouldn’t believe this, but I was actually going to propose to you on camera,” I said casually. Kate’s eyes bulged. “But then I changed my mind,” I said quickly, before she could respond. “Because I’m not the kind of guy who does these things just for attention anymore. This last show was yours, Kate, and I wanted you to have every moment of that to yourself.”

  “Oh, Jay,” Kate said. A tear ran down her cheek and I reached down to wipe it away. “This is incredible.”

  “You’re incredible,” I whispered in her ear. “And now you’re going to be my wife.”

  I couldn’t wait to marry her.

  Epilogue

  Kate

  One year later

  “Kate! Have you seen my jumper?” Lizzy’s whine carried from her bedroom all the way down the hall to where I was digging through the laundry, looking for my favorite dark jeans.

  “Try your dresser!” I hollered back. “I haven’t seen it today!”

  There was chaos all around me. Jay and I had a great little flat in downtown Manchester, with a spare bedroom for Lizzy and Connor, who were dating each other now. I loved it when they stayed with us, but sometimes I felt like I could have used just a pinch more time to myself. Especially today, since I was nervous. I had news to tell Jay, and I secretly wished that we could be alone when I shared it with him, but I loved my sister, and her messiness unfortunately came with the whole package.

  “I found it,” Lizzy said, the relief obvious in her voice. “Ready to go?”

  I looked in the mirror, and a very frazzled Kate Walsh stared back at me. She definitely didn’t look like the host of Up To Date With Kate, a new talk show on British TV, and she definitely didn’t look like a glamorous WAG.

  “You look fine,” Lizzy said, as if she could read my mind. “Come on, let’s go!” She stamped the ground impatiently and charged towards the front door like a bull. Even though she’d graduated from college and had a real job at a marketing firm now, she still acted more the tomboy than ever.

  “We’re not going to be late,” I said, checking my makeup once more in the mirror. “The game doesn’t start for another two hours.”

  Lizzy rolled her eyes. “The match, Kate. The match. Haven’t you learned anything?”

  She skipped ahead of me. Connor was standing in the kitchen, finishing a mug of coffee, and when he saw Lizzy, he grinned and let out a whoop. Both of their faces were painted in Manchester United colors and they were wearing matching jumpers. Lizzy wrapped her arms around him and leaned in for a careful kiss, and he grabbed her and pulled her closer, until their mouths were smashed together in blend of snogging and grinning.

  “You guys are ridiculous,” I said with a grin, dangling my keys. “Come on, let’s get going.”

  Lizzy and Connor chattered the whole way to the stadium. Connor had been out of Promising Light for about four months now, and he was working as a social media manager for Manchester United. Jay had gotten him the job after a lot of protest—Connor was still proud, but he knew better now than he had before, and he’d realized that sometimes it was okay to accept a little help. He was doing great, and Jay was so proud of him. I’d even given him a special episode on Up To Date With Kate, talking about addiction and his path to recovery.

  My new show hadn’t been easy for me to pitch at first—local network executives were worried that British women wouldn’t want a talk show hosted by an American—but with a lot of work and dedication, I’d managed to see it through. They’d looked at the British ratings from my old show and realized that women here in the UK were indeed perfectly happy to have a host from America…and it certainly didn’t hurt that I was now married to a sports player who was a national favorite. The media and general public absolutely loved Jay and me being together, and they also seemed to love me for being the one who’d finally ‘tamed’ Jay Walsh, so my show was already relatively successful after just one season based on that popularity alone.

  I knew better—I hadn’t tamed Jay. He’d always been the tender, loving man that he was around me. He’d just needed to meet the right woman for that side of him to come out, and as luck would have
it, I was that woman.

  Seriously, could I be any luckier?

  The streets were lined with Manchester fans as I drove slowly along the way to the stadium. Jay’s team had played a great season. They probably weren’t going to win the Premiership, but he was still pleased with the year overall. He said it was one of the better seasons he’d ever had, and somehow he managed to credit that to being married to me.

  I grinned to myself as I recalled our wonderful wedding day.

  We’d gotten married shortly after the proposal. The wedding had been relatively small—I’d insisted—but still big enough so that Jay’s whole team could come, and afterwards, we’d taken a short holiday to the Isle of Man. I’d always imagined having a honeymoon someplace tropical, but with Jay, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. I couldn’t even look down at the ring on my finger without smiling. Even today, feeling nervous, I felt an insurmountable glow of pride at being Jay’s wife.

  I was never going to be lonely again.

  “Kate, step on it!” Lizzy thumped me on the shoulder. “I’d like to get to the field before it gets dark!”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s the middle of the afternoon,” I said. “We’ll be fine.”

  Lizzy and Connor were snuggled in the backseat of my car together, making me feel a bit like a chauffeur, and at my latest remark, they both collapsed in a fit of giggles.

  It had been a good year. My show was off to a great start, and Jay had been able to spend a lot of time on his charity, Helping Hands. He got it started after the crash at Manchester Airport, and it had done a lot to rehabilitate his public image. I was so proud of him—occasionally, an old photo would pop up in the tabloids, but that’s all it was.

  History.

  Nothing but history.

  Now, he was a changed man, and I knew for certain that a person didn’t need to have a perfect past to have a perfect future. He was living proof of that, and thankfully, we didn’t even have to worry about the tabloids dragging up old stories very often. His ex-girlfriend Hannah had been fired from her job after it was discovered that she’d been plagiarizing work from other journalists, and since then, we hadn’t heard a peep from her. For a while I’d worried about her coming back into the picture, but nowadays she was the farthest thing from my mind.