The Striker: Gods of the Game

I didn’t know how long she needed to stay at the hospital, but she bloody sure wasn’t staying in that small, sad room for longer than a night. I made my calls in a quiet corner near Scarlett’s room. Sloane was, as expected, on top of the impending relationship leak. She wasn’t thrilled about the…

I tried to say something before they left, but the words didn’t make it past my lips. I’d sapped the remainder of my energy talking to Asher and then Vincent when they first arrived. It was a miracle I could keep my eyes open. Dr. Ambani and the nurse bustled to my side. There was…

“You know me. I like a little drama.” She coughed. “How did you find out I was here?” “Brooklyn called me. She tried calling your brother too, but his phone was off.” Did they get through to him? Did he know his sister was in the hospital, or was Coach holding off on telling him…

Somewhere in the distance, I heard renewed pounding on the door and a voice infused with panic. “Scarlett, what was that noise? Are you okay? Scarlett!” I wanted to reply, but I was so tired, and my mind was too jumbled. The only thing I could do was give in to gravity and?- A fresh…

On the bright side, my subsequent cast rehearsals for Lorena went a lot better than my first attempt. I could practically see Tamara unclenching her butt cheeks after every practice, and I didn’t hear any more mutters from the rest of the staff. On the not-so-bright side, I ached all the time. They weren’t intense,…

A book club? That was my idea! Granted, I’d been joking at the time, but still. Let it be known that I thought of it first. However, the rest of the team was not onboard.”Fun?” “You have a strange idea of fun.” “No bloody way!” “You don’t have to join if you don’t want to,”…

Bocci smirked. “You think you can beat us?” “I don’t think. I know.” Vincent spat something in French. Bocci was Italian, but whatever Vincent said was similar enough to his language that he understood it. He snarled out a response, but I stood and stepped in between them before Vincent did something stupid that would…

“Anyway, I just wanted to call and tell you. If I waited until tonight, I might’ve combusted, but I don’t want to keep you any longer.” I dreaded hanging up, but I couldn’t use him as a security blanket forever. “Good luck with your meeting.” “Thanks.” I heard the smile in his voice. “And Scarlett?…

Vincent and I didn’t breathe until he dismissed us and left to meet his daughter. I guess he didn’t care about leaving us alone in his office-not that we were dumb enough to snoop through his stuff. We valued our lives. “Christ. I felt like I was a student getting called into the headmaster’s office…

“Do I look that bad?” I joked, but my voice came out hoarse and weak. “No. You just…here.” She fished a wet wipe out of her purse and handed it to me. “For your makeup.” One glance in the mirror hanging on the wall revealed my tear-smudged eyeliner and mascara tracks. Crap. I quickly fixed…