Balls: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (A Cruz Boys Novel Book 1) (24 page)

The game clock ticked down into the final minutes of the match.

There was no chance the score would’ve been nothing to nothing if I’d been playing.

A long, looping ball came out of our backline and Martinez raced forward to intercept it. He grabbed it off his chest and settled in on his foot with an assured ease that made my stomach turn. He did a quick one-two with our right wing and broke through with thirty yards of open field and only the goalkeeper left to stop him.

I’d never been so conflicted in my life. Of course, I wanted my team to win. Winning was everything.

At the same time, I wanted nothing more than for Martinez to shank it over the net and blow a golden opportunity.

I would’ve taken the ball all the way to the keeper and then made him look like a fool as I dribbled it around him and tapped it into the net.

That was my style.

That was my skill.

At the top of the box, Martinez reared back and crushed a bending ball towards the upper right corner.

No way. That was gonna sail way wide.

The goalkeeper dove to his left as the ball ripped inside and blew out the back of the net.

The fans went crazy.

For Rafael Martinez.

I flicked the volume back on hoping I’d somehow misunderstood what happened.

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL.”

The announcer rolled out the “oh” until his breath ran out. It sure sounded like he made it last longer than when I scored.

“The young phenom Rafael Martinez nets his first goal for the national team!”

All my teammates rushed him and lifted him up on their shoulders and carried him back to the half line.

Was I so easy to forget?

Were their shoulders so ready to accept a new king?

Alex held a bottle of beer out for me.

The other announcer continued on, “The future of the Spanish national team has arrived, ladies and gentlemen.”

The first guy added, “Spanish fans can take heart. Their dreams of capturing the Cup are still within reach!”

I scanned the field looking for my best friend Rodrigo.

Surely his weren’t one of the pairs of shoulders leaving me in the dust.

Rodrigo waited at the half for the rest of the squad to return with the champion. He gave Martinez a fist bump and jogged back to his position.

At least he still had my back.

Alex sat the beer on the table in front of me. She turned toward the TV.

“Awesome,” she said. “Looks like he might hold the team together until you get back.”

Dark fury boiled in my gut. I was The Lion of Spain and the world seemed eager to cut my balls off and shove them down my throat.

“That kid’s a hack!” I spat the words out like they burned my tongue.

The thing that infuriated me most was that she wasn’t wrong. None of them were. Martinez was talented. Maybe he’d be as good as me someday.

And maybe the world was ready to push me aside to help him get there.

I punched the couch cushion as hard as I could, over and over, dreaming it was the smiling face of Martinez on the screen. I grabbed the cushion and hurled it at the TV. It bounced off harmlessly.

I wasn’t going to destroy it until I heard all they had to say.

“We should keep more soft things around you,” Alex said.

“Don’t you see?” I asked her. “He’s trying to steal my position. Put me out to pasture like an old mule.”

The air caught in my chest and my heart pounded in my ears.

I needed some air. I needed to get the fuck out of here.

I lumbered up and grabbed my crutches and wished to God I could hurl them at the TV screen.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Straight into early retirement, apparently.”

“Would you please sit back down? You shouldn’t be moving around when you’re so worked up. If you take a fall, your knee could get seriously messed up again.”

I almost bared my teeth at her in fury. She thought I was so weak that a little fall could break me?

I was fucking pathetic!

I couldn’t stomach her standing there, coddling me like a deformed animal.

“I gotta get out of here,” I said.

“What?”

“You heard me. What? Are you my nanny? Are you gonna tell me what I can and cannot do?”

The words burned like acid in my mouth. It spilled out like a dam breaking loose. I didn’t want to say them even as I did.

She stepped into my path to the front door and blocked my exit.

“Please stay. I’m trying to help you.”

Because I needed help? Because I was so weak and pitiful that going for a walk made her worry.

“Get. Out. Of. My. Way.”

Her eyes opened wide and it tore my soul in half to see the sadness in them.

Fine. Just one more thing to pile up on the pile of shit that was me.

She looked at the floor and stepped aside.

I stormed out as well as my pathetic, broken body allowed.

I needed a drink.

A drink with somebody who understood me.

Alexis

I blew a ragged hole through the soggy tissue and ended up with a handful of snot. I’d been crying for hours. All last night and most of the day today.

And he still hadn’t called.

How could he do that?

I’d be in an empty daze for a while and then the smallest thing would set me off. This latest bout of hysteria was triggered by a National Geographic episode about the lions of Mozambique.
 

First the lion made me sad because of the obvious connection to Leo. Then the showed how hard the people had it in the region of the world.

That was it.

It was all too hopeless.
 

So I started bawling again.

Tears would not stop spilling out of my eyes. My breath came in ragged gulps with each one feeling like it wasn’t enough and never would be.

Megan scooped the goo out of my hand with a fresh tissue and tossed it into the trash can with a plunk. She squeezed my shoulder offering as much comfort as she could at a time when I could find none.

“Maybe he needs to blow off steam,” she said.

That made me cry even harder.

“When Leo blows off steam, it’s a network news exclusive.” The words tumbled out in a staccato stream of missed beats and awkward emphasis.

She didn’t have a response for that so she hugged me. Touch could sometimes do what words couldn’t.

Unfortunately, neither worked this time.

I glanced around the room through blurred tears and the place felt foreign. I hadn’t spent the night in my own apartment in months. I knew all my time with Leo was straining my relationship with Megan, but she was a good enough friend to let is slide while for a while.

When I showed up at our apartment in total meltdown mode, she had scooped me inside and set me on the sofa with a hot cup of chamomile tea.

“Try not to worry,” she said. “He’s going through what could be a career-ending injury. His head must be all screwed up.”

I knew she was trying to make me feel better, but I cried harder.

Leo wandering out there in the world with his mind messed up scared me more than I wanted to admit.

I totally trusted him.

Didn’t I?

My phone vibrated and Megan grabbed it.

“It’s your old boss, Mr. Garcia,” she said. “Should I send it to voicemail?”

I didn’t want to talk to anyone except Megan, and Leo if I could reach him. I was about to say yes when I realized Garcia might know where Leo was.

Oh no! He may have already gotten into trouble!

I snatched the phone and thumbed it on.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Young, is that you?”

“You called my number, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did. I wanted to talk to you about your occupational future.”

“What?”

If he was calling to tell me where Leo was, then fine, I’d listen. Otherwise, I was a nanosecond from hanging up.

“I want to say that I’m sorry. I reacted poorly.”

Now
he was sorry?
Now
?

I wanted to hurl the phone out the window.

“Apology accepted. Goodbye.”

“Wait!” he shouted.

“Why?”

“I also wanted to say I made a mistake in firing you.”

“Great,” I said. “I’m glad you got that off your chest. Now you can tick the box in your self-improvement program.”

“I deserve that,” he said. “But you haven’t let me tell you the reason I called.”

“Get to it then,” I said. “I’m not in a talkie-talkie mood today.”

“I want to offer you your old job back,” he said. “Better than that, I want to offer you a promotion. You’d get a raise, full retirement benefits, and a company car.”

My brain reeled so hard it almost spun around in my skull.

“Is this a prank call?”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you fucking with me?”

“I assure you, Ms. Young, I am not, as you say, fucking with you.”

“Why?”

“The Royal Spanish Football Federation has recently begun a new push to broaden the diversity within our ranks. A woman with the drive and vision to excel such as yourself would be a valuable addition.”

“Can you hold on a second?”

I hit the mute button.

Megan gave me a questioning look

“What’s all that about?” she asked.

“He says he wants me to come back to work for him. That I’ll get more money and even a car.”

“Whoa, Sister. That’s amazing. What’s the catch?”

The catch? Was there always a catch when something sounded too good to be true?”
 

I unmuted the phone

“Mr. Garcia, what’s the catch? What have you not told me?”

“There is one condition,” he said. “You will need to end your relationship with Leonardo. While we could definitely use someone with your skills and background, we can’t afford to be associated with such a liability.”

He wanted me to dump Leo for the best job opportunity I could wish for?

As much as Leo confused me, as much as I was terrified of where he was and what he might be doing, I didn’t know if I could walk away from us.

But hadn’t he walked away?

When he was at his most desperate, shouldn’t he have naturally turned to me for comfort?

And since he didn’t, what did that say about our future?
 

Did we even have a future?

The baby in my ever-expanding belly needed a stable family. Not one that would splinter and head for the hills when the hard times came.

And nobody made it through life without their share of hard times.

It wasn’t about living a life of unmarred perfection.
 

I knew that now.

It was about how you endured the hardships without losing yourself to the misery. It was about how you pushed through to reach for the brighter tomorrow.

Leo’s soul had dug so deeply into my heart that I wondered if it would ever be mine alone again. But I couldn’t wait for him to live my life.
 

To share a life with the baby in my belly.

“Mr. Garcia, you are an asshole for firing me before.”

He coughed and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I was. I hope to be able to make up for that mistake.”

“I accept your offer.”

The words came out sounding so final.
 

My heart and my brain waged war in my soul and there could be no true winner.
 

Only the less-mutilated survivor.

“Thank you, Ms. Young! I’m so happy to have you back on board. I’d like to discuss an issue that—”

“I’ll call you on Monday.”

“Oh, okay. Yes, that will work. Thanks ag—”

I hung up.

Megan clapped her hands and bounced up and down.

“You got the job back? A better job even?” she asked.

“I did.”

She beamed at me and her joy touched the outer edges of my grief. She stopped. “Was there a catch?”

I wrung my hands together and chewed my bottom lip. I didn’t want to say it out loud. It was the right thing to do, but that didn’t mean it was easy.

Maybe that’s how it always worked.

The right thing was always the hardest thing.

I didn’t know.

“What’s the catch?” she asked.

I looked at her and the words spilled out like a confession.

“I have to end my relationship with Leo.”

Her eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped in stunned silence.

“It’s fine,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “Leo and I weren’t meant to be.”

“You sure?”

I nodded.

“I have my doubts,” she said. “Anyway, hold on a second.”

She grabbed her mobile and pointed it at me.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Sorry, I know it’s stupid. But you just got the job of your dreams. It’s kind of a big deal. I want you to have a little video to remember the occasion.”

“You’re weird,” I said.

“I don’t disagree. Rolling. Is that what you guys say?”

“Not really,” I said.

“Whatever. Ms. Alexis Young,” she said in her best reporter tone, which wasn’t half bad, “you’ve just been promoted—”

The intercom buzzer rang and Megan jumped up to answer it. She punched the button next to the front door and yelled, “Go away!”

Had Leo come back? Now, when it was too late?

“Is this Megan?”

Megan’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe. Who’s this?”

“It’s Robert Graves,” said the voice. “Is Alexis there?”

“I’m calling the police,” Megan said.

“Wait!” he shouted over the crackling intercom. “I need to talk to her. “

Megan thumbed off the intercom and looked at me. “Want me to get the police over here?”

What could Robert Graves possibly want with me? What could he possibly say? He’d been attacking my ex-boyfriend for months.

Maybe he had news of Leo’s whereabouts. Even if we weren’t going to continue our relationship, I still wanted to know father of my child was safe.

Robert had a nose for trouble like a bloodhound with a crack addiction.

“Buzz him up,” I said. “He won’t be here long.”

“Okay, your call.”

She thumbed on the intercom and spoke with a tight, unfriendly voice, “Head up to the third floor. We’re 301.”