Текст книги "Just Play"

Автор книги: Taylor Hart

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Just Play

Book 3 The Last Play Series

Taylor Hart

Contents

Copyright

Dedication

Books by Taylor Hart

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Other Works by Taylor Hart

Young Adult

Copyright

All rights reserved.

© 2015 ArchStone Ink

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. The reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form whether electronic, mechanical or other means, known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written consent of the publisher and/or author. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This edition is published by ArchStone Ink LLC.

First eBook Edition: 2015

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the creation of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Dedication To all those out there seeking redemption—this story is for you!

Books by Taylor Hart

Series

The Real Thing

Book 1 On the Run

Book 2 Going Rogue

Book 3 Get You Back

Hidden Falls

Book 1 Happily Ever After

Last Play

Book 1 Last Play

Book 2 The Rookie

Book 3 Just Play

Stand Alone Books

A Girl Named Grace

The Secret

Prom Diaries

Part of Boxed Sets

A Christmas in Snow Valley: The Christmas Eve Kiss

Summer in Snow Valley: First Kiss

Note To Readers

I hope you enjoy Just Play. If you would like to receive a book FREE, The Christmas Eve Kiss, ($3.99 value), sign up for my newsletter HERE. Another benefit of receiving my newsletter (which I send out about once a month) is that you will be notified of the 24 hour discounts on new releases that only newsletter subscribers receive.

1

Sam stared up at Roman’s newly built home in Wolfe Creek, Utah. All the confidence he’d built over the last two days, when he’d decided to seek Roman out, was failing him. This was ridiculous, he told himself. He should have texted first. Or sent an email. Could have Snap Chatted it. Ugh. He swallowed hard.

The house wasn’t a typical professional football player’s home. At least, it wasn’t like the ones in Dallas. Sam nodded to himself, thinking it fit Roman. Imposing, but not flashy, just like the man himself. It had sea-colored shutters and matching furniture on the wrap around deck.

A twinge of jealousy pulled inside of him, but he quickly pushed it aside. After all, he was here to beg for forgiveness. He was absolutely not here to envy the new life Roman had made for himself.

“That’ll be a cool thousand dollars,” the cabbie barked out.

Jerked out of his daze, Sam frowned and pulled out his wallet. “A little steep, don’t ya think, friend?”

Cocking his head to the side, the cab driver grinned. “Roman Young paid it the first time I brought him to Wolfe Creek.”

Hearing Roman’s name, the pit of Sam’s gut tightened.

The cab driver grinned. “It’s cheap to keep secret the fact that you’re in town for a…” he cleared his throat, “visit.”

Sam let out a breath. The last thing he needed was the media to show up. After trying to stay out of the spotlight this past season, he really didn’t need that. Reluctantly, he handed over his card. “Fine.”

The cab driver swiped the card and let out a gratified sigh. “Who knew you football players would be so good for business?” Then he handed back the card and took off.

Sam didn’t move, staring back to the house, wishing he hadn’t had to come. But, this kind of apology had to be done in person.

Stealing a man’s wife wasn’t to be taken lightly. He thought of Roman’s face, almost two years ago now, when he’d caught Sam and Sheena together. Adrenaline spiked through him. It was like he was entering the game for the final drive, down by four and needing a touchdown to win. He cringed at the mental comparison. That was the kind of play he’d failed at this past year. What made him think he wouldn’t fail at this?

Sam thought over all that was between them. He should have realized that Sheena would dump him after Roman took back the starting quarterback job. She had only waited one week and it wasn’t the same dramatic cheat fest that Roman had caught her and Sam in. Nope, it was all done on social media. One day he got a notice on Facebook that Sheena’s relationship status had been changed to single and that was that.

When Roman had injured his neck and decided to actually retire mid-season, Sam thought things were looking up for him. But, as it turned out, they’d only gotten worse. He’d played like crap. He had discovered that the more out of control his life became, the less control he had on the field as well. If he got the contract with the Miami Surf, he wanted to start with a clean slate.

Slowly moving up the steps to the porch, he stood for a few moments and then chickened out and moved to one of the chairs. He felt like he was at one of those Mexican café’s where you wait for ten minutes in line for food, but when you get to the front of the line, you still don’t know what you want. Even after stewing on this the whole flight, he still didn’t know what to say, what to expect. He felt his pulse kick into high gear. Closing his eyes, he sucked in a long breath and thought of the breathing exercises the shrink had taught him. He stood and then turned to face the driveway. This was a stupid idea. He never should have come. Whipping out his cell phone, he searched for the cab number he’d recently called. Maybe he could get a refund on that hush money he’d just given up to the cabbie.

All of a sudden, the door was flung back.

Sam turned around.

There stood Roman holding a little girl in one arm. He took a step toward him. “What the—?”

Sam stumbled back and put up a hand. “Listen, I’m just here to talk.”

Roman snorted and his nostrils flared like a bull’s. “I heard a rumor that you were on a plane to Utah. I figured you’d be coming after me, Dumont.”

The blood pounded in Sam’s head. Crap, Roman looked bigger at this moment than he had on the field. His biceps looked like tree trunks. He willed tranquility into his mind, trying to remember anything his shrink said that would help him deal with this confrontation. “I’m not coming after you.”

Roman snorted again. “Yet here you are.” He got even closer to Sam.

Without retreating down the stairs, there was nowhere to go but to stand his ground. Sam had been angry when he’d heard he was being traded to Miami and when that reporter had interviewed him, he may have said he would have words with Roman, but this was not that. “I’m not here to fight you.”

Roman still had a suspicious look in his eye. “Then why are you here?”

Sam took in a long breath. “C’mon, man, you’re holding a baby.” Sam gestured to the little girl.

Roman grunted. “I only need one punch.”

Sam sighed, but didn’t relax. Roman was too close to relax. It looked like he’d have to address this issue before he could get to the real reason he was here. “All right, let’s deal with the elephant in the room.”

Roman glared. “Which elephant?”

Sam swallowed, carefully choosing his words. “I did hear that it was because of you that Legend James will be taking my spot as quarterback for the Destroyers.” His words were calm, clipped.

Without warning, Roman quickly scooted the baby to his hip and then punched Sam hard and fast to the eye. “Not the elephant I was thinking about.”

Sam stumbled back and reached for his face. He’d expected something. Foolishly, he just hadn’t expected the punch to be that hard. “Maaaan.” He got dizzy for a second and reached out for something to steady himself.

But Roman’s hand shot back to his shoulder, steadying him. “Ya okay?” The words were flat.

Sam recovered quickly and then stood on his own, ready to take another hit. He scoffed, “You always got the hits in fast, didn’t you?”

Roman grinned. “You deserved that.”

Grunting, Sam touched his eye. “Yeah, I did.”

They looked at each other and then both of them burst out laughing.

Roman let out a small woot. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for a clear shot at you?”

All things considered, if he got off with one punch, he would consider this a success. “I have a pretty good idea.”

Roman turned to the little girl he was holding in his arms. “Did you see that, Maddy? Daddy got to hit a friend that he’d been wanting to hit for a long time.” He spoke in a high, pitchy voice and held her hand up. “Yay.”

Sam grinned, but stayed back. Babies weren’t really his thing. He’d been an only child and had never even had any cousins. He looked at the little girl, not sure what she understood. “Hi,” he said formally.

Cocking an eyebrow, Roman turned his attention back to him. “This doesn’t mean we’re even, not even close.”

It never alarmed Sam that Roman was so direct. “Would you just let me apologize?”

Letting out a breath, Roman gestured for both of them to sit on the two white lounge chairs on the porch. He put the baby down on a blanket covering the wood slats. Letting out a sigh, he turned to Sam. “Go for it.”

“I’m sorry. I was a fool. A complete idiot. Sheena came to me, and she—”

A look of distaste crossed Roman’s face. “Don’t.”

“But I take responsibility for my choices.” He said promptly. “I do. I was weak and it was wrong. I’m truly sorry for hurting you.”

Roman snorted, shaking his head. “I never thought I’d see the day you’d show up here.”

“Well, now you’ve seen it. I was so stupid.” Sam broke off for a second, emotion unexpectedly piercing into his chest. He blinked, trying not to let himself get all weak. He looked back to Roman. “I mean it.”

Roman looked him up and down, seeming to measure him. He leaned back into the white whicker and frowned. “I’m sorry to hear about your dad.”

Sam continued to rapidly blink and then roughly mopped his face and let out a sigh. “I still remember that day he came to the training field. Do you remember that?”

Roman’s face turned sober. He gave a quick nod.

More emotion welled within him and a traitorous tear leaked out. Sam wiped at it. “I never got a chance to tell you thanks.”

Lifting a hand, Roman shook his head. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Right.” Sam wiped his face, again, the emotion starting to dissipate. “You paid him off.” Roman had been one of the only people that knew the whole story with his dad. When the managers had come to Sam, telling him someone was there claiming to be his dad, Sam had refused to go, unable to deal with it.

Roman had done the dirty deed. He’d gone and paid him off. If there had been anything that should have earned Sam’s loyalty, it was that moment. To his credit, Roman had never mentioned it or used it against him.

This was the thing that had come out the most with the shrink. Sam had betrayed one of the only true friends he’d ever really had. Biting back the anger that started to surface when he thought about his father, Sam shrugged. “Let’s face it, he wasn’t a huge loss to the world.” He scoffed. “Probably as much of a loss as I would be, right?”

Leveling him with a stern look, Roman shook his head. “I wasn’t thinking that.”

Sam nodded. Of course Roman wasn’t thinking that. He was a real friend. Not the kind that Sam seemed to accumulate all too easily—the kind that hung out by his pool back in Dallas or always wanted to hit the clubs. Friends with no last names because it never got that personal. No, Roman got personal. Sam had wondered, time and again, if he could ever be good enough to be Roman’s friend again.

Roman put a light hand on the baby’s head and grinned down at her.

The baby made a gaw-ing sound.

Sam let out a puff of breath. “I couldn’t talk to my dad then. I couldn’t talk about the fact he was an alcoholic. But I want you to know, what you did for me meant a lot.”

Roman looked back at him, then nodded.

Sam held his gaze. “I was going to go on ahead to Miami, but then I found myself buying a ticket here.”

Roman watched him for a second. “I get it. I remember when my uncle died. Granted, it wasn’t the same kind of relationship you had with your dad, but it’s hard when anyone dies. It changes you.”

All his self-loathing surrounded Sam, pressing down on his chest. No. No. No. He couldn’t break down right now. Not here. He would not give Roman something else to pity him over. He wouldn’t. He stood. “Hit me again. I deserve another one.” He backed up a step.

Roman let out a breath, not moving. “Sit back down,” he said in a resigned tone.

Hesitating, Sam moved back to the white wicker chair and sat. Even though the side of his face was throbbing, being invited to stay made him feel better than he had in a long time.

Roman reached for a plastic ring that was sitting on a different chair and then gave it to the baby.

She balanced successfully in a sitting position. She was cute with her patch of red hair and big blue eyes. She pushed the plastic ring into her mouth.

Roman crossed his arms and stared directly at Sam. “Okay, now that all that crap is out of the way, I’ll tell you why I wanted Legend.”

Relieved, Sam leaned back in the chair and picked up the conversation. “Why? I didn’t take you for the vindictive type in regards to the Destroyers. But it was quite clear you wanted Legend to replace me. I mean, c’mon, did you have to sit down personally with Legend for that interview?”

Roman let out a sigh. “Don’t c’mon me, Dumont…you played like crap.” Roman’s voice was hard. “I wouldn’t have been sitting down with anyone if you had pulled your head out and taken care of business.”

Every part of Sam stilled. He wasn’t sure if he could talk about this. The familiar tightness in his chest began to seize him again. His hands started to tremble, and he gripped the sides of the chair. His knuckles turned white. He felt like he was about to surge forward and pounce like a lineman, only his thoughts weren’t that focused. There wasn’t one lineman in front of him. There were dozens bent on taking him out, and he couldn’t run. He couldn’t even move his feet. He sucked in a deep breath, wondering how that stupid shrink had convinced him that apologizing was a good idea.

“What’s wrong?” Roman’s voice was like a ref’s whistle, piercing through the panic.

Breathing techniques were the only thing that could help him. He ignored the sweat trickling into his eyes and pulled in a lungful of air. “I don’t know why I came here.”

The center of Roman’s forehead creased, and then he scooted his chair toward him, leaning forward. “Are you all right, man?”

Sam jerked back and then stood. He didn’t want to leave, but he didn’t know how to cross this huge chasm between them. It felt like it didn’t matter how much he’d overcome with his father, the past few months he’d been sinking into a black hole. “I’m fine.”

Roman didn’t move. “Come on, Sam. Sit back down.”

The tightness in his chest was lessening with every breath. Hesitantly, he moved back to the chair, standing behind it.

Roman frowned. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but…” He gestured back and forth between them. “We’re fine.”

Sam met Roman’s eyes, his chest relaxing. “Really?”

Roman shrugged. “Listen, you can bet I’ve thought about the fact I wouldn’t be here and I wouldn’t have Katie and my kids if you hadn’t…” He cleared his throat. “Let’s just say, you probably did me a favor in the long run. Sit down, and let’s talk about the Miami Surf offense.” He flashed a grin.

It sounded good. He could just sit and talk shop with Roman, but it still felt so out of reach for Sam. He sat anyway and noticed his heart rate had slowed back to normal.

Roman coughed and leaned back, crossing his heel over his knee. “First, there’s something I should tell you that you’re probably not going to like.”

“What?”

“I bought twenty percent of the franchise this last year.”

For a second, Sam was blind-sided. Then it all made sense. “That’s why you wanted me out. You saw me as a liability.” It stung, but it was the truth.

Tapping his fingers together, Roman stayed calm. “If you were me, would you have wanted you to stay?”

Even though it was the truth, it still ticked Sam off. He ignored the question. “That’s why you retired so easily. You wanted a bigger piece of the pie.”

“Right, do you remember that injury to my neck?” Roman bit the words off angrily.

Sam shrugged, wishing he hadn’t been slightly happy about it at the time. It had been the injury that led to Sam leading the team. Though in the end, it had really led to Sam wrecking the team. He shook his head, letting go of his pettiness. “Look, you do deserve it.”

Roman shrugged. “It’s something I, well, Katie and I wanted. I love the game, and I want to stay involved in the Destroyers as much as possible.”

“And you couldn’t give me another year?” Yes, he was desperate enough to ask.

Roman let out a breath. “Man, have you watched game tape?”

“You know the answer to that.” Despite his natural defensiveness, he focused on remembering his initial reason for being here.

Roman let out a breath and leaned back. “Dude, it’s like you’ve got all the mechanics, but your plays are hollow.”

Sam’s face felt hot. “I had a few bad games,” he repeated what he’d been telling himself over and over.

Slowly shaking his head, Roman let out a breath. “I remember when you first came on a few years ago, I was actually worried you’d take my spot.”

“I did take your spot. For a while.” Pride filled him.

Roman’s eyes flashed wider. “That’s right. There’s the fighter I knew.” His smile widened. “Where’s that guy been all year?”

“Man, just shut up.”

A light laugh came out of Roman. “I mean it. I haven’t seen a lick of fight in those eyes. They’ve been…” He trailed off and then leaned forward. “Do you want to know why the coaches chose me back then over you?”

No, he didn’t want to know. He shrugged. “I suspect you’re going to tell me.”

“Because they told me they trusted me.” Roman gave him a severe look. “And do I need to bring up that story that broke last week?”

The prescription pain meds. The press had come out with a story about how he’d seen several doctors and filled a bunch of prescriptions.

“Forget the press.” Sam heaved in a breath. “I was working through a strained ligament in my shoulder, but I’ve done PT, and I’m feeling fine now.” Sweat trickled down the middle of his back, and he clenched his fist. He knew Roman had a point. His playing had been scattered and unreliable the past year. If he were honest, he would admit that there’d been times he’d taken extra pain pills just to get through the game and he hadn’t even been in physical pain.

“Roman!” A call came from the house. “Come quick!”

Jumping to his feet, Roman ran for the front door, glancing back and pointing to Maddy. “Watch her, please.”

Not ten seconds later, Roman ran out the front door with a big boy in his arms. Sam thought he remembered seeing the boy in wedding pictures on twitter last year. Blood covered the side of his head.

Another boy trailed behind him. “Is Josh okay? His head cracked hard.”

Roman’s face was wild and desperate. “I don’t know, Nate. Go on home.” He turned to Sam. “My wife is out of town. I need you to watch Maddy.”

Adrenaline surged through him at the sight of so much blood and he tried to focus on what Roman was saying. “What?”

Roman plunked the boy into the front seat of the truck and moved to the other side. “I’m running my son to the hospital in Ogden to check out his head. Take care of Maddy. There are diapers in the bathroom, and there’s food in the fridge. She can do some solids.”

The little toddler girl reached her little arms up from the porch for Roman. “Da. Da.”

Sam’s adrenaline turned to panic. “You’re serious?”

Roman was already in the truck, backing out, his window rolled down. “If you came for redemption, it’s time to earn it.”

A thread of terror shook inside of Sam as he looked back to the little girl.

Roman tore off down the road and hollered out the window. “I’ll check in as soon as I can.”