Page 18 of The Player

Taking it down, I close my eyes, give myself a pep talk, and open the note. In bold red lettering, the words FILTHY GIRL are written over a picture of me leaving the ball with James.

Another piece of paper behind that is a grainy picture of us kissing in the courtyard. Every step we took that night was watched. Dear God. Is this my professor? Why would he come to the cafe if he did this?

Someone took multiple pictures of me. As the piece of paper flutters to the ground, I feel the world tilting and my mind shutting down. I have a professor that wants to do bad things to me. A man that I wanted but has completely ghosted me. And now it seems someone else is watching me.

What else could go wrong?

CHAPTER TEN

The pictures float from her hands, and I smirk. Am I an asshole? Yes, fuck yes I am. Should I have let Julie forget about the night together? Yup. But I won’t. I heard her phone conversation with my sister. If she had kept to text messaging, I wouldn’t have known a damn thing. Too bad, I’m a full-fledged stalker, and my football career is on the goddamn line for it. I’ve gotten worse since my dick got wet with her pussy.

“Johannsen, get your ass over here.”

My coach looks at me, and I fight the urge to tell him to fuck off. Walking with a saunter I shouldn’t have since I’m about to get into trouble, I make my way to him.

“Yeah?”

He raises an eyebrow at me and I sign. “Yeah? Son, you are about five seconds from being kicked off this team. Watch your tone.”

“Sorry, Coach. Got a lot on my mind.” It’s the truth. I’m a fucking stalker, user, and now I’ve slumped so damn low in sending pictures to my girl of our private moment.

I don’t even know what the coach is saying until he yells. “Son of a bitch!”

Coach yanks my helmet off my head and throws it to the ground. “You could have run that mother fucking play in your sleep, Johannsen. Where the hell is your head at?”

On Julie Bright. My mind hasn’t settled since I left her two weeks ago. She was asleep and covered in my cum. The urge to call her overwhelms me at least twenty times a day. I reel it in, though. My Sugar Plum has no idea that I’m the man who fucked her. Who has left her.

“You either get your ass back out of the clouds, or you sit down and let the second-string freshman take your place.” Coach spits his chewing tobacco at my cleat, and I seethe.

It’s mainly because I’m fucking everything up, and admitting defeat is not a goddamn option. I want to be a football player. It’s my dream to play until retirement. But Julie won’t stop making her way back into my thoughts.

Sighing, I ignore the nagging feeling I should check on her on my phone and pick up my helmet off the field. “You got it, Coach. I’ll rerun the play.” I heave a hefty sigh, trying to push the damn obsession away as my phone chimes.

“Don’t you answer that phone, Johannsen? I swear to God I’ll bench you. Don’t make me do it, son.”

My heart is torn between making sure the woman I am in love with is safe and keeping my career. Ultimately, like always, I selfishly ignore the phone and run onto the field.

Two hours later, sweat is dripping down my balls and I’m chugging Gatorade. “Johannsen, office.”

I ignore the coach and the sniggering of the other players. You’d think since most of them are older, they’d not be so childlike. Well, you’re wrong. They are almost worse than high schoolers.

“Now, Johannsen.”

Throwing the bottle away, I look at him and nod. No point in arguing. Even if I want to rush to the locker room, shower, and get home so I can turn the computer monitors on to see Julie.

Taking a towel and wiping it along my face, I sit down in the chair directly in front of my coach. Anticipation tingles along my spine. It’s abnormal for me to get called in here on bad terms and with the scowl that’s on his face, it’s really bad.

“You were my number one pick two years ago, Aaron.” He sighs and pulls his hat off his head. He sits it down on the desk and steeples his fingers together. “I haven’t been disappointed. The way you play is how I wish everyone would play. But, your head isn’t in the game.”

I can’t rebut. My head is somewhere else, and it’s wrong. I feel like I’m letting the team down, but most importantly, my dream is going down the toilet. My dream is to play in the NFL and make a career of it.

“Whatever it is that’s distracting you, you have to let it go. Get over it. Leave it. I don’t care what you do, as long as it is legal. Hell, do I need to go buy some pussy for you?”

His eyes implore me to tell him what has me so distracted and I shift in my seat. “It’s a girl, Coach. I…I’m crazy about her.”

At the mention of having someone, his eyes soften for a millisecond, and then he laughs. “Son, no pussy is worth losing your head over. Fuck her, do whatever, but when you get on the green, your focus is here. With us, your team. We are counting on you.”

The bile in my throat at thinking that Julie is some pussy and nothing more has me wanting to throw up. I don’t, I swallow that anger and shit down. Nodding, I smile at the coach.

---