Playing the Game (Love Goals #2)

Chapter 1

ONE

ADAM

Adam Williams walked off the pitch soaking with sweat. The Spanish sun had been brutal. They were a world away from Brockton. The northern English mill town they called home.

I swear I’ll never complain about the rain again.

Adam had spent most of the summer break in Ibiza with some of his teammates and had gotten used to the heat. Even so, playing in it was a different matter.

A few Brockton fans waved from the away supporters’ section. It touched him that they’d travel internationally to watch them play in a friendly.

He returned the favour. At six foot three, Adam wasn’t easy to miss. His dark blond hair had lightened from his holidays, contrasting with his dark beard.

Udo Holtmann walked beside him. They’d been in Bilbao for a couple of days to train before the game. It was a great way of getting back into the groove of playing before the English season began in a couple of weeks.

After a difficult start at Brockton, Udo seemed to be glowing.

“Hey, Udo,” one of the fans shouted. “Great goal today, lad.”

Udo blushed and nodded.

It was a far cry from the grief he’d had a few months previously when he’d been cruelly outed in the national media. Of course there were still many people with views on his place in the team.

It was usual for the scorer to do the media but Adam offered to deal with the reporters on his own. As captain, he felt it was his responsibility to protect all the players.

Twenty minutes later he was regretting that.

A raft of cameras and journalists were staring at him. Some with open hostility.

I should have got one of the others to come with me.

“You have three gay players joining the ranks of Brockton for this season,” Ray Jones from FC Magazine sneered. “How do you feel about that?”

During the time that Udo and assistant coach Steven Cox’s new relationship had been in the spotlight, Brockton’s manager, Javier Tosar, had declared the club a safe space for all players regardless of their sexuality.

Interestingly, three major football stars had put in transfer requests to Brockton.

“Who says they’re gay?” Adam replied. “You should know better than to assume.”

A ripple of amusement swept through the small crowd.

“Does it bother you?” another person asked.

“Why would it?”

Howard Clooney, the Director of Communications at Brockton FC, would be proud of him. He’d trained most of the players in how to deal with reporters.

“Does anyone have any questions about something else?” Adam asked. He wanted to make it clear that this was not the only topic of conversation available.

“Yes,” a female reporter answered. “After your public breakup with Jennifer Gibson last year, is there anyone special in your life?”

Adam sighed. “I meant questions about football. For the record, no, there isn’t anyone.”

Thankfully, the topic did shift to the beautiful game and Adam spent another half an hour fielding them. It was more exhausting than spending ninety minutes on the pitch.

Once he’d done and been led out of the media room, he staggered down the corridor as though he’d survived ten rounds with an Olympic boxer.

“I hate doing shit like that,” he muttered.

Most of the team would probably have finished getting changed by now. He hoped none had been watching him on the monitors. He’d mispronounced opposing player Gaspar Sanchez’s name. He’d called him Casper. No doubt Ewen or Goran would be only too willing to take the piss.

Adam shuddered.

As he walked through the corridor, the man himself came out. He grinned at Adam.

“I hear I have a new name.”

“Gaspar, I am so sorry. I got mixed up.”

“Isn’t Casper a ghost?”

Adam shrugged. “I don’t know what the fuck I was going on about.”

The handsome Spanish footballer stood uncomfortably close to Adam. From the corner of his eye, Adam saw Udo in the doorway of the locker room.

“Everything all right?” Udo asked.

“Of course,” Gaspar said, still staring into Adam’s eyes. “Just showing your skipper here that I am very much alive. Do you need any further proof?”

“Your two goals were more than enough, thank you.”

Gaspar burst out laughing and stood back. “No hard feelings?”

He squeezed Adam on the shoulder. A little longer than was strictly necessary.

Is he coming on to me?

“Of course not,” Adam said. “We’ll get you next time.”

“Maybe I should join your team someday,” Gaspar replied with a very loaded stare.

Adam nodded. “You’d be very welcome.”

He gently pushed past Gaspar and entered the locker room.

“What was that all about?” Udo whispered.

“Fuck knows. Maybe you’ve made them think we’re all gay.”

Udo raised an eyebrow.

When Udo had been hunted by the media, Adam had let him stay at his place. During that time he’d confided to Udo about his own bisexuality. It had been a risk, but one that he was glad he’d taken. It meant the world to finally have someone in the game who knew the real Adam.

Unsurprisingly, the locker room was empty. Most of the lads had gotten changed. The no-alcohol rule Javier rigidly enforced during the season was still relaxed and they’d all planned a night on the town. Adam had no intention of going out and getting hammered.

Many eyes would be on Brockton FC that season for different reasons. He wanted to play to the best of his ability.

“Aren’t you joining the others?” Adam asked, pulling his shirt off.

“Nah,” Udo replied. “I was waiting for you. Fancy getting dinner? There’s a decent restaurant at the hotel.”

“Why not?” Adam replied. “Let the others terrorize poor Bilbao. But let’s get room service. I can’t face being stared at much more today.”

“Fair enough.”

Two hours later Adam sat in Udo’s room in a tracksuit and sliders. Adam had conceded to sharing a bottle of rioja with Udo. It went beautifully with the steaks and vegetables they were digging into.

“Did you avoid going out in case Gaspar came for you again?” Udo asked.

Adam sighed. “I’m hardly going to cop off with another player in front of the rest of the team.”

“There are more subtle ways.”

“And you’d know all about that.”

Udo shrugged. “Fair point.”

“Anyway I wanted a catch up with you, my friend. How was the south of France?”

They’d only been together as a team for a few days to train for the Bilbao match. Adam hadn’t had a chance to speak properly to Udo.

“We had a ball,” Udo replied. “Steven’s family came out for a bit and so did my mum. They all got on like a house on fire.”

Adam watched the joy on Udo’s face. He remembered when he and Jen would holiday together. His parents would join them for part of it too.

His face must have given away his emotions.

“Everything okay?” Udo asked.

“Just thinking of past times,” Adam replied.

“It was mean of the journalists to bring Jen into it before.”

It wasn’t unusual. Jen had been a successful social media influencer so they’d been a couple in the spotlight. Not in the same league as Posh and Becks but when they’d split, it had made the headlines for a short while.

“I know you don’t like talking about it,” Udo added.

“You’re right, I don’t,” Adam replied.

Udo focused on cutting his steak.

“I’m sorry,” Adam said. “I thought after a year, things might have moved on.”

“What happened?”

Adam sighed and put his cutlery down. Udo had joined Brockton long after that whole shitshow.

“The official line was our jobs were pulling us in different directions.”

Udo frowned. “But Jen closed all her social media accounts. She’s effectively given up her career.”

The guilt he felt over that burst into life inside him once more.

“We were going to elope,” Adam said. “Jen shared everything on her bloody socials. I couldn’t face a massive wedding with all the shit that goes with it. We compromised that we’d have the ceremony for just us and our families then throw a huge party.”

Udo was watching him like a hawk.

“And?”

“I got cold feet the week before,” Adam explained.

“Why?”

“Something didn’t feel right.”

“Because she’s a woman?”

“No,” Adam said, quickly. “I told you. I’ve never had a problem with who I’m with. She knew all about that as well. I could see my life being laid out before me and I couldn’t cope with it. Jen always said I’m too immature to settle down. Maybe she’s right.”

Udo speared a green bean and examined it.

“I don’t think she is,” he said. “Look at how you lead the team. You’re the most responsible of any of us.”

He popped the vegetable in his mouth.

“Tell my parents that,” Adam replied. “They haven’t spoken to me much since. I half expected them to turn up today. They only live an hour down the coast.”

He’d sent them tickets but had no response.

“Surely they don’t expect you to live an unhappy life?”

Adam stabbed a piece of meat with his fork. “They want me to live a normal life,” he replied. “Whatever one of those is.”

Once Adam got back to his own room, he undressed and got into the huge bed. It was comfortable yet empty. Maybe he should have tipped Gaspar the wink. It had been a while since he’d spent the night with anyone.

He shuddered to think what Javier would say if that got out. The risk wasn’t worth it. Besides, he’d given up on meaningless encounters with either sex. What was the point?

He reached and grabbed his iPad from the nightstand.

Once they got back to England, the new signings would be waiting for them to start training. Adam, as captain, made it his duty to find out what he could about all players in the squad.

There was one he kept coming back to.

Jonas Haber. A talented midfielder from Brockton’s rivals, Canonbury. Although, he’d never come across as particularly bothered by the animosity between both teams. Something Adam couldn’t say the same about.

He’d had the odd tussle with various Canonbury players. Both off and on the pitch.

Adam fired up YouTube and found a clip from the last time they’d met. As usual it had been a dirty game full of fouls and insults. Some he’d thrown himself.

Yet, Jonas had always been on the periphery. Instead he’d let an amazing goal do the talking. Adam had dismissed him as just another Canonbury player.

Now that they were going to be colleagues, he was looking at him in a different light. The camera zoomed in on Jonas.

He was an exceptionally handsome man whose chiselled Swedish features had been on many billboards over the years. He kept his jet-black hair swept to the side and his blue eyes shone out from every photograph.

On the screen, Jonas scored and ran up the pitch. A couple of the Canonbury players congratulated him. Not many though.

“Not very popular, Mr Haber?” Adam said aloud. “I think we can guess why.”

The rumour mill was in overdrive as to why Jonas and the other two players had requested to come to Brockton after Javier’s groundbreaking speech.

Of course, Adam wouldn’t dream of getting involved with a teammate. That would be career suicide. However, something about Jonas Haber intrigued him and he would enjoy finding out what had triggered him to move north.

This season was going to be interesting.