RHINO: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (With FREE Bonus Novel OFFSIDE!) (35 page)

If the rest of Moxlin is like this, I’m either going awol or fucking off back home. If I do that though I’m going to need to get my card fixed or tell Dougie to somehow get Alex to keep on paying me.

How the fuck did I get into this mess? You tell one journalist you’re going to have him murdered and two weeks later you’re sat on a wall in the middle of nowhere watching the world go past at two miles an hour.

This isn’t what Jasper Stone should be doing with his life. Right now Corsham will be training and I should be right there training with them, getting ready for another season. It hasn’t sunk in properly at all yet, but no rugby means no international games, no post match clubs and VIP bars, no queues of sexy little girls lining up to suck my cock. What do I get instead? I have to play dress up in order to throw a ball around. It isn’t even the same ball either. I looked at both of them just before coming out and what the fuck are those stitches all about?

There are two teams as well, not that I know which team they want me to play on yet either. Offensive and defensive, as though the game were some kind of strategic battle between two bunches of warriors. These aren’t warriors, not what I’ve seen of them anyway, they are ballerinas more than anything else.

I guess I’ll work it out this afternoon. One game a week for sixteen games and then the play offs if we do well enough. After that I get to go home. My plan? Score as many points as possible, fuck as many girls, drink as much as I can and get into as much trouble as possible without getting kicked out of the country. I reckon if I manage all of that, I might be able to cope with the weird ass desert country I’ve somehow found myself in.

Jasper

We’ve got tons of official shit to sort out. This is what happens whenever a new player signs for Corsham, but I’ve never done it myself because I’ve been at the club since I was old enough to hold a ball.

The training ground is more impressive than I expect. Penny and Harrison give me the tour, while the press arrange themselves and wait for the official unveil. It’s all theatre and I smile and get the shit done just to get it over with. We have photos taken, I hold up a shirt they’ve somehow managed to get done in time, and I answer dumb ass questions about rules and bullshit they all know I’m going to trip up on but ask anyway.

Journalists all over the world are a bunch of dicks, and if it wasn’t so important for Penny and Harrison, I’d tell them all so as well. This happens once, so I figure I can bite my tongue and play the idiot just for their sake, even though I’m about to snap back the fiftieth time someone says my accent makes me sound cute.

Harrison and Penny look like they hate it just as much as I do. Harrison’s a grizzly bastard and reminds me of a kind of young Dougie with an American accent and without the beer belly. He’s the owner and the head coach, and he makes it clear I have to respect both of those things if we’re going to get along.

When the press have gone, they’ve given me the tour of the ground and the facilities, and I’ve shaken hands with every staff member from the head of HR to the cleaners, we go up to their office.

“
Sorry about that, but it’s best to get it out of the way. You’re big news apparently.”

“
Apparently so.”

“
Right. Listen. I’m going to get straight to the point. The reason you’re here at all is because of my daughter. Put one foot out of line and you’re heading straight back to where you came from. What you get up to in England, drinking, fucking, I’m not going to tolerate that here, do you understand me?”

I don’t think he’s going to have much choice, but it’s not going to do me any good telling him that.

“
You won’t have any trouble with me.”

“
I’m not entirely sure that’s true.”

“
Look, I’m here to play football. Let’s concentrate on that shall we?”

“
I mean it, Jasper. Step out of line and you're on a plane back home.”

“
I get it.”

Even though it’s clear he doesn’t believe me, we finally move on.  

“
We train three times as week but we treat this as a full time job. If we need you in you come in. If we want you to put in extra hours in the gym, you do it. You look like you’re in good shape, but you’re going to need to come up to speed with rules and regulations and everything else. Have you ever played this game before?”

How hard can it be?

“
No, never.”

“
We’re putting you with Topher. He’ll bring you up to speed.”

“
Who is Topher?”

“
Our quarterback.”

I can see there’s more to the answer Penny gives and it makes me smile at the story underneath her words.

“
Topher’s the lucky guy, that’s cute. The quarterback and the owner’s daughter. How long has that been going on?”

“
None of your business.”

“
It is if it affects his game.”

“
Stay out of it, Jasper. You concentrate on your own game, not on anyone else’s. You’re already starting on very thin ice. You’re going to have to pull a rabbit out of that English ass-hole of yours before I begin to have any faith in you whatsoever. Penny seems convinced of your talents, but all I can see so far is a trouble maker, which we don’t have any room for at this club.”

“
You’ve already made that clear.”

“
Then you’ll fit right in. I don’t care if you try and fuck up, Jasper. What I care about is if you fuck up without trying. This team means a lot to me, and you are supposed to be some kind of saviour.”

I look at Penny.

“
That how you described me?”

“
You were a tough sell.”

“
I can tell.”

Harrison’s a dick but I like him.

“
I’m going to need to move hotel.”

“
What’s wrong with where we’ve put you?”

“
The room’s not big enough for two people.”

It takes him an extra second before he realizes I’m joking.

“
Penny will give you a tour of the city when she’s got a chance. Where you stay is up to you, it’s your money.”

Harrison gets up out of his seat to sit on the edge of the desk and glower down at me.

“
What you do outside of here is none of my business, as long as it doesn’t negatively affect this club. You can fuck as many girls as you like, but if it gets back to me, we have a problem. You’re here to help this club, and with that badge on you are an ambassador like everyone else here. I do not want to read about you being dragged out of a nightclub at three am or spending the night in a jail cell for pissing in your own mouth.”

“
You have nightclubs here?”

“
You’ll meet the team tomorrow. Until then you’re stuck where you are for now.”

“
I need to sort out my card and a mob- cell phone.”

“
I’m sure Penny will sort you out.”

“
We’ll work something out”, Penny adds.

“
Alright.”

“
Harrison, just so you know, there are two things I was put on this planet to do, and I don’t feel right unless I’m doing them both. One of those things is playing rugby and if this game is anything like that, I’ll do everything I can to help Moxlin win.”

Harrison extends his hand and I take it to shake. When he doesn’t let go, I know he’s serious.

“
This is not a vacation, Jasper. Play ball and stay out of trouble, I mean it.”

Penny nods. “Don’t disappoint me, Jasper.”

“
I don’t think there’s any chance of that happening. I can tell you’re already a big fan of mine.”

Harrison squeezes my hand just that little bit tighter.

“
Penny’s off-limits, Jasper, just like every other woman that works in this club. You want to fuck someone, do it out of state and undercover.”

Penny sighs. Obviously this isn’t the first time he’s given someone this talk, and he probably said the same thing to the quarterback. Finally he lets my hand go. Next to each other I’m a foot or two bigger than him, but he looks like he’d still give me a run for my money in a fair fight. I’ve got to respect that, plus I respect his position in the club. What I don’t respect is being told I’m not allowed something that isn’t his to give away.

“
Let’s just start with the football. You tell me how to play and I’ll show you what I can do. The rest we’ll work out as we get to it.”

I have my eyes on Penny purposely then, just to see how she reacts. I’m looking forward to getting to know her a lot better. Thank Christ for her. Without her I’d die in this environment.

“
That it?”

“
If you’ve got it, that’s it until tomorrow.”

“
So where do I go to get a drink?”

“
Don’t test me, Jasper. Until you prove otherwise, you and I are not friends.”

Penny

When Dad has warned Jasper off woman, drinking, stepping out of line and anything else that is likely to send his blood pressure through the roof, and he’s convinced our new English rugby player convert is going to respect those rules under pain of death, the day is finally over.

“
Sorry about Dad, he’s always stressed at the start of the season.”

“
Don’t worry about it, I get it. I’ve met quite a few protective fathers in the past.”

“
You don’t know the half of it.”

“
That quarterback must be something.”

Something is definitely the word for it. “Dad wasn’t all that keen.”

“
I can imagine.”

“
You’ll meet him tomorrow.”

“
I can’t wait.”

“
Were you serious about that drink?”

I know this probably isn’t a good idea, but it’s been a long day already and I don’t feel like going home just yet.

“
I’m always serious about a drink.”

“
Just don’t tell Dad.”

“
Are you serious? He’d send me straight home if I did.”

“
You know he’s bullshitting, right? He just does that to warn players off. He did the same with Topher even though Topher’s like the most straight laced sportsman you’ll ever come across.”

“
That what you like in your family is it? Straight laced.”

“
Come on, let’s go and get a drink. I’ll give you the rundown on what you can really expect from your time here at Moxlin.”

“
You make it sound like I’m going to need a survival guide.”

“
That isn’t all that far from the truth.”

“
Topher isn’t going to mind you taking me out?”

“
Topher doesn’t get to say what I do. We’re engaged to be married, we’re not joined at the fucking hip. Besides which, he doesn’t drink, and I do, and right now, I need a drink.”

“
Then lead the way, I’m never going to say no to a pretty lady asking me to the bar.”

“
Alright, but before we go any further, you’re going to promise me one thing.”

“
Not you as well.”

“
My reputation is on the line here, professional and personal.”

He holds up his hands, and I’m sure he does it purposely in the way that makes his biceps flex and bulge.

“
I’ll keep it in my pants, I promise.”

I can’t help but look at the bulge in those pants and I’m pretty sure he catches me.

“
Just don’t complicate my life unnecessarily, that’s all.”

“
How long did you say you and Topher have been going out?”

“
Don’t, Jasper. One football player is enough for me.”

“
I’m a rugby player remember.”

“
Not here you’re not.”

“
We’ll see.”

“
We’ll see what?”

“
How long you can resist me for.”

“
Just get in the fucking car.”

“
That how you talk to all the players?”

“
Bridges, Jasper. I can drive you back to the motel or we can get a drink. It’s up to you. Don’t flatter yourself into thinking you’re the first whose advances I’ve had to deal with. To be honest, I thought you might be a lot less transparent. I guess I gave you way too much respect.”

“
Sorry to disappoint you, I just like being direct.”