The Wrong Play: A Football Romance (The Wrong Player Series Book 2)
The Wrong Play: Chapter 25

I popped another handful of popcorn into my mouth, leaning back on the couch as I watched the screen. The coffee shop’s security footage played in perfect HD, and there she was—Mrs. Buttercupalicious herself, completely unaware as she wiped down the counter with a concentrated look on her face.

She was adorable. And perfect. And mine.

The sound of the front door opening barely registered until Parker and Matty walked in, still laughing about something. They headed straight for the fridge before Parker turned, finally noticing the screen.

He froze, and Matty frowned next to him. “Uh…what are we looking at there, Jace-face?”

“Surveillance,” I said smoothly, popping another kernel in my mouth.

Matty blinked. “Is that⁠—”

“Riley?” Parker finished, grinning. “Hell yeah, it is.” He came over to give me a high five because he understood true love.

Matty’s horror was instant. “Are you serious right now? You hacked the coffee shop’s cameras?!”

“Obviously.” I gestured at the screen. “How else am I supposed to keep an eye on her? She came home from work last night, and she was acting different, and I want to know why.”

Matty ran a hand down his face like he was personally suffering. “Did you ever think of just asking her?”

I snorted, because that was hilarious. That would have gone as well as me “asking” her to move in with me.

Meaning, it wouldn’t have worked at all.

Parker, meanwhile, had pulled up a chair. “How many angles do you have?”

“Three,” I said smugly. “One at the register, one at the counter, and one covering the backroom.”

Matty groaned. “You two are both insane.”

Parker pointed at the screen, watching as Riley leaned over the counter, oblivious to us watching her. “Damn. Look at my future sister-in-law, just killing it at customer service.”

I preened at that recognition that I was his brother from another mother. “It’s temporary.”

Matty gaped. “What do you mean it’s temporary? Are you planning on getting her fired now?”

I tilted my head. “Fired is such a strong word, Matthew. I prefer ‘reallocated.’”

Matty threw his hands in the air. “Reallocated?! This is a bad idea.”

Parker grinned, nudging Matty with his elbow. “This could be you. If you just gave in to your stalker.”

“Or Darla,” I supplied helpfully, ignoring the way Matty was cracking his knuckles again like he was thinking about introducing them to my face.

“How are you planning on doing it?” Parker asked, ever the supportive king, and still ahead of Matty in the rankings.

I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “Accidental plumbing issues? Health code violation? Maybe a break-in. Something minor, of course. Just enough to shut the place down for a bit.”

Matty groaned again, rubbing his temples like he was developing a stress headache. “I’m not going to be able to break you out of jail. It’s not in my skill-set.”

I waved him off. “Relax. It’s not going to come to that. Hopefully. But something has to be done. Something is making her upset.”

I studied the footage. “Coffee shops are dangerous. Slippery floors. High risk of burns. Annoying customers. It could be any of those things.”

“Or she was just having a bad day,” Matty deadpanned.

I shrugged. “Possibly.”

Parker snickered. “Matty, he can’t leave things to chance. Come on.”

Matty let out a long, suffering sigh. “Okay, so what exactly is wrong with her working there right now?”

Like the universe itself wanted to assist in proving my point, the answer strutted right through the door.

A guy.

I narrowed my eyes, watching as some dude in a leather jacket sauntered up to the counter, all confidence and cocky grins—all things that were firmly in my realm. Riley didn’t seem to notice at first, she was too busy being an excellent employee and wiping down the espresso machine. But when she finally looked up, he leaned against the counter, saying something that made her lips possibly twitch a little.

I didn’t like that.

I didn’t like that at all.

I set my popcorn down, sitting up straighter. “She’s definitely done with that job.”

Matty threw his hands up. “He’s a customer. She’s just being nice.”

“Well, of course, she’s being nice, Matty. He’s the one not being nice.”

“I don’t think this has anything to do with her bad mood yesterday, Jace.”

“Think is the operative word in that sentence, sir. You need to leave the big-brain thinking to QB and me if that’s the energy you’re bringing to this conversation.”

Matty sniffed in outrage.

Parker smirked. “What’s the plan, big guy? You’ve got that twinkle.”

I grinned. “Oh, I’ve got a few ideas…”

Matty groaned. “Of course you do.”

Parker leaned closer to the screen, watching Leather Jacket Guy make another move, and then he snapped his fingers. “We could kidnap him, take him out to one of those lakes where they’ve been replaceing gators, and make him fight one. See if he’s still feeling brave then.”

I turned my head slowly to stare at him. Matty did the same.

I blinked. “I was thinking more along the lines of breaking his nose, but sure, Parker. Let’s start with reptilian combatives.”

Matty shook his head slowly, still staring. “You always go straight to kidnapping. It’s honestly concerning.”

Parker just shrugged, completely unbothered. “You guys never wanna have any fun.”

Matty crossed his arms. “I have a crazy idea—you just let Riley exist in the world without orchestrating a hostile takeover of her entire life.”

I turned to him, unimpressed. “That was your crazy idea?”

Parker shook his head in disgust. “What’s your non-crazy idea?”

Matty groaned into his hands. “You guys are insane.”

I turned my attention back to the screen, watching as Riley shook her head at whatever the guy said. She wasn’t interested—that much was clear—but it didn’t matter.

Because now, I had a new mission.

I clapped my hands together. “All right, gentlemen. Time to replace Riley some new hobbies.”

Parker grinned. “Ooh, can we make her a football fan?”

“We’ll see,” I mused, already mentally drafting a list. “Step one: get rid of the coffee shop job. Step two: get her occupied so she doesn’t notice step one.”

Matty groaned louder. “I hate that this is an actual conversation happening right now.”

Parker nudged him. “Oh, shut up. You’re just mad because Jace is making moves, and you’re still scared of your stalker/future soulmate.”

Matty scowled. “We don’t even know what my stalker really looks like. Besides blonde. It’s possible it’s Darla.” He shivered in horror.

I didn’t blame him. Darla had come out in a mumu yesterday, the same one in that infamous boob pic, and I’d been traumatized all morning.

But back to my problem…

I wasn’t totally sure if it was Riley’s job that was making her upset, but it was best to cut out all variables when it came to her happiness.

Because when it came to my babylicious, there wasn’t a single thing I wouldn’t burn to the ground to keep a smile on her face.

“Hey,” Jagger answered, sounding suspiciously out of breath.

“What’s wrong with you? Did you answer in the middle of sex again? Because I told you that was rude.”

Surprisingly, the girl he’d been with hadn’t been upset at all. Probably because of our superior genes. It was a known fact that Thatcher genes drove women crazy. Her moans had only increased during the call—which maybe would have been hot if it wasn’t my brother who was balls deep inside her.

Jagger scoffed like I’d said something outrageous. “No, I’m not in the middle of sex. That girl was a one-time thing. Obviously, since she was bad enough in bed that I answered the phone.”

“I just thought that you were answering because I’m your brother, and I could have been in mortal danger.”

“Oh, is that a thing that football players in college experience often…mortal danger?”

“It is when your family is a member of the mafia,” I snapped, a little miffed because it sounded like he’d only answered because he was bored.

Also, considering the Sphinx had left me for dead at the top of that building the other night, football players, aka me, were actually in mortal danger quite often around here.

Jagger made a weird growly sound. Huh, he and Matty were both good at that one.

“All right, so are you working out? Did you just get done riding a bull?”

“Did you just ask me if I just got done riding a bull?” he asked…or more like gasped since it sounded like he was now running.

A bang sounded through the phone, and I almost dropped it. That sounded like…gunshots.

“Motherfucker,” Jagger growled, sounding even more out of breath now.

“Oh…let me guess. You’re at your job. Doing boring office work…procurement work. Absolutely nothing exciting happening on your end at all,” I drawled sarcastically.

Here was the thing about Jagger: I knew he did something nefarious at his job. And he knew I knew he did something nefarious at his job. But apparently, he wasn’t ready to talk about it. He was only ready to get me questionable items—like when Parker needed those pharmaceuticals—or to provide me with large sums of mysterious cash to invest.

“And that definitely wasn’t fucking GUNSHOTS that I just heard either,” I added calmly.

“Is there a reason that you called?” he snapped. “I…have to take this package to the mailroom.”

My eye roll was probably a thing to behold. I should take a picture of it and send it to him because even he would be impressed.

“Well, I’m calling about two things,” I said. “First, I just tripled the money you sent me last week, and I’m definitely taking that ten percent you offered me on account of the fact that I’m the smartest, best-looking, absolutely amazingest person that you know.”

Another bang.

“You can have five percent,” Jasper hissed, cursing under his breath about whatever had just happened. “Because it’s so fucking easy for you, and you shouldn’t prey on me when I was just having a weak moment that day.”

“A weak moment because of the dead body you had in the garage? Right…but also, you shouldn’t get a discount on account of my big brain. I bet you don’t give discounts because of your big⁠—”

“I think we’ve discussed I’m not a hooker, Jace. But you can keep trying.”

“This is where you tell me thank you and then go do whatever…”

“The mailroom. I’m taking something to the mailroom,” he corrected me.

“Someday, I’m going to figure this out,” I warned him.

He huffed, like he thought I was being funny.

“And your second reason for calling?” Jagger drawled.

“I need a favor.”

There was a short pause, then an amused chuckle. “Well, that’s going to cost you the five percent.”

I scoffed. “Well, since it was actually ten percent, I still get five percent, so we should be all good.”

My fingers drummed against my thigh. “I need the coffee shop Riley works at closed for a while. Something…inconvenient, but not too serious.”

Jagger hummed, considering. “Pipes bursting?”

I smirked. “Sounds perfect.”

“You know, normal people just ask their girls to quit. Offer to take care of them for a while.”

“Normal people are boring,” I muttered. “Besides, she’s stubborn. This way, she thinks it’s out of her hands.”

Jagger laughed. “I’ll make some calls. Expect a water disaster by morning.”

I grinned. “That’s why you’re my favorite brother.”

“I’m your only brother, dumbass.”

I ended the call and went back to watching her on the screen, a satisfied smirk settling on my face. Problem solved. Now, I just had to figure out how to get that bookstore downsized too.

The next day, Riley came home, her brows furrowed in worry as she dropped her bag onto the counter.

“You won’t believe this,” she said, running a hand through her hair. “The coffee shop flooded overnight. Something about busted pipes. It’s going to be closed for a while.”

I schooled my expression into one of soft concern. “That sucks, Riley-girl. Are they still paying you while it’s closed?”

She shook her head, sighing. “No. I mean, I still have the bookstore job, but it’s going to be tight for a while. Even with you not letting me pay any rent for this place.”

There was a cute little growl at the end of that sentence that made me want to bury my face between her legs…but I controlled myself. Instead, I made a sympathetic noise, stepping closer and brushing my knuckles along her jaw. “Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing.”

She arched a brow. “How do you figure?”

I leaned against the counter, my gaze locked onto hers. “You’re always running around, working, studying…stressing yourself out. Maybe this is the universe telling you to slow down a little.”

She huffed. “Or maybe it’s just the universe being a jerk.”

I chuckled, tilting my head. “Look at it this way—you get more time to yourself now. More time to relax, sleep in, maybe even let me take care of you a little.”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t need to be taken care of.”

“I know,” I said smoothly, my fingers tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be. And think of the orgasms. You can have so many more orgasms in that free time.”

She hesitated, her lips parting like she wanted to argue but couldn’t quite replace the words. I could see the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes, the way she fought against the idea of letting herself be taken care of. It only made me more determined.

“Come on, Riley-girl. Think about it,” I murmured, running my hands up and down her arms. “No more dealing with customers who don’t tip. No more aching feet after standing all day. Just…free time. And me. And orgasms. Sounds pretty great, don’t you think?”

She exhaled slowly. “I guess when you put it like that…”

I grinned. “Exactly. You deserve a life of leisure. One where you can focus on what really matters.”

She smirked. “And what exactly do you think really matters?”

I leaned in, my voice dropping. “Me, obviously.”

Her face heated, and she quickly turned away, grabbing a glass of water. “You’re insufferable.”

“I believe the word you were looking for…is cute.” Riley scoffed, of course.

I watched her closely, my smirk widening. If she thought this was the end of it, she was wrong. Because next, I had my sights set on that damn bookstore job.

She might not realize it yet, but soon enough, she’d have all the time in the world.

And she’d spend it exactly where she belonged—with me.

As I drew her in my arms that night after an hour spent giving her the promised orgasms, there was one thing still bothering my mind.

She still had that haunted look in her eye.

And I still didn’t know what was causing it.