6
JORDAN
My eyes widened as I met Theo’s. Fuck, he was really pissed off. His normally light blue gaze was dark and stormy, and his entire body was tense, completely on edge. I’d thought… I didn’t know what I’d expected, but maybe I’d thought that he’d be happy about our win. I was. I was so fucking happy. Buzzing. Lighter than air. My first ever Premier League match, and we’d won. Against one of the best teams in the league.
I hadn’t had a chance to see my dad or Rory yet, but I’d received congratulatory texts from them both, and I knew they’d be celebrating right along with me, even if we weren’t in the same location.
“Emery,” Theo ground out as he drew closer to the booth. Shit. It was gonna go down, wasn’t it? Grant, our captain, wasn’t even here yet to keep the peace, although he was supposed to be turning up at any minute. I didn’t want to get a bad rep on my very first night out with the team, so I did what any sensible person would do—I slid out of the booth before Theo could trap me inside and legged it.
I ended up jogging past a stone-faced bouncer into another room where…fuuuck. One of the hottest women I’d ever seen was sliding down a pole…upside down. Stopping dead, I drank in the sight in front of me, barely taking in my surroundings, my gaze fixed on the blonde under the spotlight in front of the mirrored wall.
“Emery!”
Shit, he’d followed me in here. The woman was instantly forgotten as my gaze darted around the room, looking for a place to hide. It was dark in here—everything was black, including the floors, which sparkled, and there were booths similar in design to those in the main VIP area. Except…were there privacy curtains around them?
Perfect.
I ducked into one of the booths, tugging the curtain shut behind me. Five seconds after I’d collapsed down against the leather, the curtain was yanked open, and a body came crashing into mine.
“You smug fucking bastard,” Theo snarled. “Why do you have to be so—”
“So what? So good at everything I do?”
“So fucking smug and arrogant.” His harsh pants of breath were hot against my ear. “Everything in my life was perfect until you came back into it.”
“Did you see the headlines?” I shoved at him. “Everyone loves me.”
“You fucking—”
“I don’t know whether to be turned on or call security,” a third voice mused from behind us, and we instantly sprang apart, ending up side by side.
“Oops. Did I say that out loud?” The newcomer clapped his hands to his mouth, his eyes sparkling with humour. It took me a second to notice anything else about him because Theo’s hand was clamped around my thigh, his fingers digging into my leg and squeezing hard, as if he could reduce my circulation with the power of his grip alone.
Two could play that game. I clamped my fingers around his wrist and squeezed just as tightly. Theo immediately yanked his hand away, baring his teeth at me, so I bared mine right back.
“Can I get you guys anything?”
Oh, yeah. I’d forgotten about the newcomer. Wrenching my gaze away from Theo, I eyed the stranger, who was now standing directly in front of me. A body that was even more cut than mine, impossibly tight shorts, tanned skin covered in…was that glitter? and a bright white, professional-looking smile that became a little strained around the edges when the silence stretched.
“Whoa, Jordan, didn’t know you swung that way.”
“Don’t be getting any ideas when we’re in the showers.”
“Yeah, my ass is off limits. Stay away from me.”
For fuck’s fucking sake. I caught Theo’s visible wince from the corner of my eye as several of our teammates slid into the booth with us, setting bottles of champagne and various other drinks on the table. In front of me, the newcomer’s smile was instantly wiped away, his eyes narrowing as he placed his hands on his hips.
“News flash. Just because someone’s gay doesn’t mean they’re interested in every man, and it especially doesn’t mean that they’re going to try and sexually harass them. That is so fucking—” He broke off with an angry exhale, scrubbing his hand across his face. “This is my place of work, and I like my job, so I’m not going to say anything else. But if you want to come and find me afterwards and say that to my face…all I can say is, I hope you’re not feeling too attached to your balls.”
“Ouch, man.” Reuben’s hands instantly went to cover his junk. He glanced around the booth, his gaze lingering on the two players who had made the comments. “Sorry. They—I mean, we were out of line.”
“You’re gay?” Grant whispered to me, his brows raised, surprise clear on his face.
What? The conversation replayed itself through my mind at warp speed, and I groaned. Loudly.
“Listen up.” I raised my voice, enough to cut through the chatter. The newcomer, who’d been glaring at James Walker, one of the guys who had made the comments that had him so riled up, turned his attention to me, along with everyone else. “I. Am. Not. Gay. I’m straight. With a capital S. For fuck’s sake! Why would you even think I wasn’t?”
“You were cosying up to that stripper.”
Okay, now James Walker was really fucking starting to piss me off.
“Excuse me, babe.” The guy in the shorts spun on his heel, stepping up to James and stabbing his finger into his chest. “I am not a stripper. I’m a dancer.”
“Same dif—”
“Walker.” Grant’s warning tone was enough to cut him off mid-sentence.
“Can I just point out that all he was doing was standing in front of me? You put two and two together and made twenty, dickhead.” I bit down on my tongue when Theo jabbed me in the ribs with his elbow.
“Stop talking. You’re making it worse,” he hissed in my ear, and I turned to him in surprise. Blinking, I stared at him for a long moment before I shook it off.
“Aww. You do care about me. So sweet.” I blew him a kiss, making his nostrils flare and his jaw clench. Then, because contrary to popular belief—or Theo’s belief, at least, I wasn’t a total asshole—I slid out of the booth, jerking my head at the dancer guy. “Can I have a word?”
He rolled his eyes but followed me over to the bar, where I leaned back against the gleaming surface with a sigh.
“Look, I’m, uh, really sorry about all that.” I waved my hand in the direction of the booth. “They’re probably just giving me shit because I’m new, uh, new to their football team, and you got caught up in it.”
His mouth thinned as he shook his head. “It’s still not okay. Even if you’re not gay, comments like that—”
“I know. Believe me. There’s a lot of, uh, casual homophobia in football. Not even casual, I guess. Even if it’s unintentional, it’s not okay. It’s…uh…I dunno.” I shrugged, at a loss for words.
The guy gave me a small, tentative smile. “I won’t hold it against you personally.” He held his hand out to me, his smile widening into something more genuine. “I’m JJ. And you must be the new footballer everyone’s getting so excited about.”