by Elin Peer
“I’ve seen clips from games. Why?”
“Then you don’t know our rules.”
“I know soccer. I’ll figure it out.”
“All right.” Wringing her hands, she turned away and directed the players to split into two teams. Emanuela took over and pointed out who she wanted on each team. Of course, I was the last one to be picked.
“Hunter, you can join them.” She made sure that we were not on the same team, and it made me almost smile that she was so hostile for a Motlander. If Emanuela thought it would upset me, she couldn’t have been more wrong.
I had a whole list of things to be pissed about and I had been on edge for weeks. The tension with Emanuela was pure entertainment compared to my sister’s marrying a man I didn’t trust to treat her right. Or the fact that my ruler and his wife were treating me like a fucking pawn in the political chess game that they were playing with the Council of the Motherlands.
A healthy portion of hostility from Emanuela was nothing. In fact, I saw it as a good thing since Emanuela was the only one here who seemed strong enough to take a bit of my Nman attitude. She didn’t know it, but she was my favorite Motlander so far because it had taken us less than an hour in each other’s company to come to a silent agreement that we wouldn’t play this stupid politeness game that Motlanders had going on.
Coach Amy was shouting encouragement from the sideline as we began playing. “Looking good, Vicki. Nice pass, Jake. Oh, Sander, that’s okay, don’t worry about it, you’ll get it next time.”
Emanuela had the ball and instead of running up the field, she began doing all sorts of tricks with it. I had no idea what she thought she was doing but it was pretty easy to take the ball from her when she was more concerned with the circus tricks than the actual game.
“Hey, you can’t do that,” I heard her complain behind me but I was already sprinting down the field. None of them tried to stop me and it was child’s play to make a beautiful goal. It didn’t matter what country I was in, scoring goals was always a thrill for me. I grinned to some of the players on my team but they didn’t look happy with me.
“Hunter.” Emanuela stood with her hands on her hips. “You have to respect the five-second rule.”
“What five-second rule?”
Coach Amy came running and the short distance made her pant. “It’s my fault, I should have made sure you knew the rules before we let you play.”
Mirroring Emanuela, I planted my own hands on my hips. “There’s no five-second rule in real soccer.”
“Yes, there is.” Emanuela went over and picked up the ball. “I’ve heard how you play and it’s all about making goals, isn’t it?”
“Of course.”
“Well, consider this a more sophisticated version then. You’ll see that with the five-second rule we play at a different level that offers our fans something fun to look at too.”
“And what exactly is that five-second rule?”
“You can’t take the ball for the first five seconds that a player has it unless he or she starts to run with it.”
“Unless he starts to run with it.” I repeated Emanuela’s words hoping they would make more sense when I said it. “But that’s the whole purpose of soccer. Get the ball, run with it, score.”
“No, it’s not the whole point. The team that has the highest score wins the game and gets three points. But the team that plays the most beautiful soccer is rewarded with two points.”
I swallowed a snort and it made for a weird sound. “Are you saying that I have to stand there and watch you behave like an idiot while I count to five before I can take the ball from you?”
Gasps were heard all around us and Coach Amy’s hand flew to her mouth. “That’s not a very nice thing to say. I think you should apologize to Emanuela.”
“Sorry, let me rephrase that.” I gave her a fake smile. “You get to do your circus tricks with the ball for five seconds while I can’t touch you, is that it?”
“I don’t think they would qualify as circus tricks,” Amy began, but Emanuela cut her off.
“Call it what you want to. As long as you can count to five we should be fine.” She signaled for the game to continue. As she passed me she muttered. “You can count to five, can’t you?”
My lips pursed into a smirk. “I’m not sure. I might need a tutor – will you help me?”
Emanuela didn’t answer me; she was already running as fast as she could with the ball. Chasing after her excited me and with my longer legs I was catching up fast.
She was smart enough to pass the ball to one of her teammates and with me storming around the field, none of them seemed to want to hold onto it very long. When Sander got it, I used my body to push him away and take the ball. The man went down with a loud cry.
A whistle sounded and Amy came running again.
I threw up my hands. “What now?”
“You need to go back and apologize to Sander.”
I turned to see the man being comforted by his teammates.
“Are you saying I’m not allowed to use my body?”
“No, of course not.” She gave me a patient smile. “I really like how passionate you are about soccer, and the way you use your body is great.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“You can’t trip him like that.”
“I didn’t trip him. It’s not my fault that he fell down when I went for the ball.”
Amy blinked and bit her lower lip. “All right, just be careful.”
We continued playing for another half hour and I went super easy on them. It was my first day, after all.
When Amy decided we were done with practice for today, she asked me to stay behind while the others ran to the locker room.
“Well done.” She placed her hand on my elbow. “How do you feel?”
I arched an eyebrow feeling one hundred percent sure that no coach had ever asked me that.
“I’m fine.”
“Good. Good.” She nodded but it was clear that there was something she wanted to say.
“What is it, Coach?”
Shifting her balance, Amy looked towards the locker room. “I couldn’t help notice that you treat the women differently than you treat the men. I need you to be as physical with the women as you are with the men. There can be no difference.”
“It’s just very unnatural for me to touch women.”
“Then we’ll have to get you used to it.”
“Plus, women are more fragile,” I added.
Amy’s face fell. “How would you know if you don’t touch them?” She began walking. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Hunter.”
When I entered the locker room, I stopped in my tracks. All the players were in various states of undressing. My eyes flew to Emanuela, who stood by her locker with a relaxed expression on her face. When she saw me watching her, she turned her back to me. I still couldn’t look away. She had nothing but her socks and underwear on; I stared at her tattoos. She had several but all were delicate and feminine. One of them was a flower of some kind that ran along her spine like a fucking treasure map leading down to her panties.
I just about had a heart attack when two women walked right in front of me with nothing but towels in their hands. I did a double take when I recognized one of them as the goalie. I’d taken her to be overweight but now that she was out of her uniform I realized the woman was almost skinny. Had it really all been padding in her uniform?
Another woman stripped naked and strolled to the showers while joking about something that made the others laugh. No one seemed to mind me or pay much attention as I forced my legs to move to my locker, and fumbled to open it.
Laughter and white noise from casual talking was all around me but I backed up and took a seat on the bench, leaning down to open my shoes. If only I could make it last for as long as it took all of them to finish and get out, I would be fine.
Another sideways glance at Emanuela made my Adam’s apple bob in my throat. Still with her
back to me, she bent over and pulled down her socks. Every part of her body was firm and toned, not least of all her ass, which had me drooling a little. Just when she rose up to her full height and hooked her thumbs in the sides of her panties to push them down, someone spoke to me.
“So, Hunter, what did you think of the training today?”
I blinked, mentally storing the beautiful sight of Emanuela’s naked ass as she let her panties drop down on the floor to her shorts and t-shirt.
The male voice repeated, “Hunter.”
I had to force myself to meet Sander’s eyes. “It was… ehhm, different.”
He was only two lockers away from me and as naked as most of the other players in the room. Picking up his dirty clothes from the floor, he carried it to some laundry baskets. “Good different or bad different?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out myself.”
Walking past me, he patted my shoulder. “Just so you know, I’m not mad at you for tripping me up. I know you didn’t mean to.”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that so I just looked at him as he sauntered through the locker room completely at ease with his naked body. From where I was sitting, I could look into the shower room where five or six women stood side-by-side with their male team players. From the way they behaved it seemed like an everyday thing to them, and not one of the men had an erection.
I couldn’t move. Instead I focused on taking off my socks, and then my T-shirt. I held it in front of me, making it look as natural as possible while I made my way to the restroom. I would rather have them think that I had a bad stomach than share how the women affected me.
It wasn’t that I had anything to be ashamed of. It was just that it would be awkward to have them all stare at my junk.
I stayed in the restroom for at least ten minutes taking care of my boner before I went back into the locker room.
Many were already gone, but Emanuela was still there, sitting on the bench and putting on her shoes.
“You know, if you’re shy you could always shower at home.”
I frowned. “Why would I be shy?”
She shrugged. “The fact that you’re the only one still in your sportswear gave me a clue.” She moved a little closer and spoke in a low voice. “Is it because we all stared at you before practice?”
Looking over my shoulder, I saw that no one was close enough to hear us. “It’s just that I wonder…” I began and chuckled on the inside about how easy she made it for me to mess with her mind. “I wonder how you’re going to react when you see me naked.”
Her eyes widened a little. “Why? Is there something wrong with you?”
“No. But I don’t know how comfortable someone like you would be when you see, ehm, all of me.”
Emanuela looked confused. “I know that you are taller and more muscular than our men, but I think we can handle it.”
“I’m talking about my cock.”
To her praise, she didn’t flinch. “Is there something wrong with your cock?”
I couldn’t believe that she had actually said that word.
“No, there’s nothing wrong with it. My cock behaves exactly the way a cock on a healthy male is supposed to behave when it’s surrounded by naked women.”
The small frown on her face was kind of cute.
“How do you think people would react if I walked around with a huge boner?”
Emanuela lifted her left foot onto the bench and hooked her arm around her knee. “Hmm. That’s a good question.”
She wasn’t as rattled as I would’ve expected her to be. “I don’t want to make people uncomfortable, but I can’t help being aroused.”
She looked thoughtful. “I suppose no one can blame you for that, as long as you don’t act on it.”
“Huh.” The joke was on me. I thought bringing it up would make her squeamish, but Emanuela seemed to consider the matter as something trivial.
“Maybe it’s just because you’ve never seen naked women before.”
“Oh, believe me, sweetie, I’ve seen plenty of naked women.”
She arched a brow. “Is that right, snuggle bear?”
“We have porn in the Northlands, and I’m not a virgin, you know?”
She looked amused. “Are you trying to impress me with your being a naturephile?”
“No. I’m just telling it like it is.”
“Great, I appreciate your honesty.” She stood up. “As I see it, you only have two options. Either you shower at home or you undress like the rest of us and see what happens.” Crossing her arms, she looked down at me. “Tell you what, why don’t you strip right now and you can get a first reaction from a female.”
I looked around. “I think they all left.”
Tapping her foot, Emanuela spoke with annoyance. “I was talking about me.”
“Oh, right. It’s just so easy to forget that you’re female, I mean with you acting so bossy and all.”
“And yet it sounds like you noticed me when I was naked.”
“Sorry, no, I was a little distracted by that blonde girl with the large…” I held up my hands to my chest.
Emanuela rolled her eyes again. “Are you gonna stall or strip? I have places to be.”
Voices from the door called out to us wishing us a nice evening before the last players left.
“Looks like the problem is solved.” I stood up too. “With all the naked women gone I won’t have a problem.”
She spoke in a dry tone. “Until tomorrow, that is.”
“Yeah, but unless you want to get undressed again and let me get used to showering with a Motlander, there’s not much you can do.”
“Tempting, but no thanks. As I said, I have places to be.” Emanuela stepped around me and had reached the door before she turned around again. “I know you’re trying to shock me, but it won’t work. I’m not scared of you and I’m not one of those women who dream of marrying an Nman either.” She said the word marrying like it was a dirty word. “All I want is to win the championship, and since someone came up with the cruel joke of making you part of our team, I’ll do my best to help you catch up.”
I snorted. “Catch up?” She had it all wrong. When it came to soccer, I was way ahead of them.
“Yes. Your style is rough, unpolished, and in serious need of some refinement.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“Who knows, maybe we can make a fine athlete out of you, but you have to work for it like the rest of us.”
I was too pissed at her to answer when she walked away. I would show her what a fucking genius of an athlete I really was. That woman might have the sexiest ass in the world, but she was annoying as hell and someone had to put her in her place. That realization made my mood lighten. Huh, so it seems there was a valid reason for my coming here after all.
CHAPTER 3
Night Life
Hunter
“You thought I was joking, didn’t you?”
A hologram of Finn showed him chuckling while steadying his young daughter, who was using him as a climbing pole. “Careful, Linea honey. You know how mad your mom gets at me when you get hurt.” He set down the toddler and moved out of the room after kissing the top of her hair. “Motlanders are strange sometimes and gender is not a big thing for them. I suppose it’s one of the perks you’ll have to live with.”
“Finn, be serious for a second. What the hell do I do?”
“Do?” He shook his head like he wasn’t sure what the problem was. “You’re going to enjoy it, of course.”
I gave a loud groan. “I wouldn’t mind showering with women if it weren’t for the fact that they were my teammates. It’s fucking awkward and I can’t keep hiding in the bathroom.”
Finn laughed even louder. “You hid in the bathroom? What the hell, Hunter. Why didn’t you just strip naked and stroll in to let them see what a real man looks like, raised mast and all? I’ll bet none of the woman have ever seen something that spectacular.”
“You make it
sound so simple, but you’re forgetting that the men are there too.”
“Are you afraid they’re going to be jealous?”
I let out a loud sigh.
“Ah, come on, don’t tell me you’re going to sit there and pout because your biggest problem is that you have to shower with naked women. I’m afraid I’m going to have to strip away your man card if you don’t cheer up and realize what a lucky bastard you are.” He was still laughing. “I can’t wait to tell Khan and Boulder about this.”
“Don’t tell them anything.”
“Why not? Everyone is curious about how you’re doing.”
“Hmm, I’ll bet if they were here they wouldn’t like it either. It sounds good in theory, but what do you think is going to happen when I waltz in to the shower, sporting a major erection, and the women freak out thinking I’m going to rape them or some shit?” Running my hands through my hair, I groaned again. “You have no idea how bad I need a beer right now.”
“Yeah, I can relate, my friend.”
Someone was knocking on my door. “Sounds like I have company. Can I call you back?”
“It’s fine, Hunter. We’ll talk in a few days. And don’t forget that you can’t fly your drone until the regulator is in place.”
I muttered some curse words, hating that drones in the Motherlands were restricted to follow certain routes and abide by speed limits. After Finn and other Northlanders had brought in their drones over the past ten years, a new law now required our drones to be modified to fit regulations. It was a simple installation that could be switched off when we returned home to visit, but I still resented anyone’s messing with my hybrid.
After ending my call with Finn, I walked over to open the door and found three of my teammates outside. Sander was the only one I knew by name.
“We’re going out for dinner and thought that you might want to join us.” Sander’s curly hair made him appear taller than the other three, who stood smiling next to him.
“Sure, just give me a minute to put on my shoes.” I opened the door and let them in.
“This used to be Julie’s apartment,” the woman said.
