Playing to Win (The Players)

We’re almost done with practice for the day when our social media team finally appears on the sidelines of the field.

Minus my girl.

I frown in Eric and Gwen’s direction, noting how pissed off they both look. And not at each other either. Their heads are bent close together and they’re talking—a lot. With animated gestures and matching scowls on their faces.

A scowl is Gwyneth’s natural expression, but lately, she’s been smiling more and that’s because she’s with Eric. They make a good couple. Ruby encourages their relationship, even though I know she finds it extremely unfair that they can be together, but we can’t.

I have to agree.

Eric and Gwen don’t even bother filming us. By the time practice is over, they’re waving at me to come over and talk to them and since curiosity gets the better of me, I’m on them in seconds.

“Where’s Ruby?”

The look on Gwen’s face is pure misery mixed with anger. “They fired her.”

My heart drops into my balls. “Say what?”

“She got f-fired. I-I can’t believe it.” Gwen bursts into tears and Eric wraps his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him, his expression grim when he looks at me.

“They let her go this afternoon. They found out you two are together.”

“Do you know how?”

“Ruby called it speculation online about the two of you. Do you know about it?”

I get tagged in a lot of shit. It’s constant, especially after a game. I haven’t had a chance to scroll through it all yet, and sometimes…I don’t even look at it all. It’s too much and I get overwhelmed.

Besides, I spent most of Sunday with Ruby at her apartment and then I went home and worked on homework for the rest of the night. I’ve been busy with school today. Practice.

“What kind of speculation?” I ask.

“Something about you slapping her butt on the sidelines,” Eric says.

Gwen lifts her head, her face covered in tears and her eyes blazing red. “I saw it. You smacked her ass in front of thousands of people and of course, someone caught it. Many someones.”

Her tone is accusatory and I guess I can’t blame her. I did slap Ruby’s ass because I’m always touching it. I sort of forgot myself, which is typical when I’m around her.

Shit.

“I cost her the job.” My voice is hollow and a ragged exhale leaves me. “This is my fault.”

“No way—” Eric starts but Gwen cuts him off.

“Yep. It’s all your fault, Townsend. And now we’ve lost her. God, it’s so unfair.” Gwen curls her hands into fists, pulling out of Eric’s embrace, and I swear for a second I think she’s going to lunge for me. “You have to make this right.”

“How?” I ask incredulously, wishing I had my phone so I could call Ruby. But it’s in my backpack back in the locker room.

“I don’t know. Go talk to Marilee,” Gwen retorts.

“Gwen, calm down. There’s nothing he can do. The policy was already in place and Ruby broke it,” Eric says, sounding completely logical.

“This is such bullshit.” Gwen glares at me, jabbing her index finger in my direction. “I hope it was worth it. You better not dump her after this. I don’t know if she’ll be able to survive it.”

“We need to go,” Eric says to Gwen firmly, sending me a sympathetic glance. “We’ll talk to you later, Ace.”

He steers his girlfriend in the opposite direction and I watch them walk away, my entire chest aching.

Gwen’s right. This is my fault. I shouldn’t have slapped Ruby’s ass on the sidelines during a game. What the hell was I thinking? How could I be so careless? I don’t even want to check all the stuff I’m tagged in now. It’s probably that ass slap on an endless loop accompanied by all sorts of rumors and lies. No one knows what Ruby and I have beyond us.

Launching into action, I run toward the locker room, eager to get the fuck out of here and head to Ruby’s. She needs me right now.

And I need to be there for her.

I show up twenty minutes later on Ruby’s doorstep, furiously knocking on her door. I sent her a quick text asking if I could come over and she said sure, like it was no big deal. Like her life hadn’t just been completely altered by losing the job she loves so damn much, and I expect her to answer the door a tear-stained, red-eyed mess.

But when the door swings open, I swear she’s the prettiest I’ve ever seen her, clad in a pair of black joggers and a cropped fitted black T-shirt with gold lettering that says:

I was born fucking cool.

“Oh my God, you brought Taco Bell.” She reaches for the bag and snatches it from my hands, turning and heading for the kitchen table. “How did you know I was craving it?”

Blinking, I enter the apartment and close the door behind me, watching as she starts going through the bag. Looking for a chalupa, I’m sure. “You always crave the Bell when you’re upset.”

“Funny thing is, I’m not actually that upset.” She drops the still wrapped chalupa on the table, studying me. “Gwen told me you guys talked.”

“She’s mad at me.”

“She’s mad at the situation,” she stresses. “I don’t think she’s actually mad at you.”

I don’t bother arguing with Ruby. She didn’t see Gwen and how pissed she was.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her, hoping she realizes how sincere I am. “I fucked up.”

“How?” Ruby is peeling the wrapper back from her food, lifting it to her lips and taking a big bite. “Oh my God, this is good.”

“I’m the one who slapped your ass. I did this to you.”

“You’re always slapping my ass.” She shrugs.

“Not in public. Not in front of thousands of people and with cameras everywhere.” I shake my head, wondering how she can eat like it’s no big deal while I’m standing here sick to my stomach. “I cost you your job.”

“I think Marilee enjoyed firing me,” Ruby says conversationally. “I never did like her much.”

“Ruby.” My voice is so stern, she jerks her head up to meet my gaze, her green eyes wide. “Tell me what happened.”

She launches into the story, giving me every excruciating detail. Making me feel worse and worse, to the point that I have to pull out a chair and sink into it, propping my elbows on the table so I can bury my face in my hands.

The guilt I’m experiencing is goddamned overwhelming. This is the last thing I ever wanted to do. I cost the woman I love her job. All with a careless smack.

I’m such an asshole.

“And then I got mad,” she continues. I don’t have to look at her to know she’s taking another big bite of her chalupa. Damn, she loves those things. “I was so pissed. I had all sorts of hostile thoughts about Jim and Marilee. How could I take them down, you know? Make their lives a living hell?”

I lift my head to study her, shocked by her revelations. “Are you serious?”

“Oh yeah, it was a vengeful phase that lasted maybe ten minutes?” She shrugs, polishing off her chalupa. “Then I got over it and realized they were only doing their job. This is on me. I signed that agreement that said no dating and I went and fell in love with you anyway.”

She smiles, her hand rustling in the bag once more as she plucks out another wrapped chalupa. “I shouldn’t eat this.” She drops it on the table and starts unwrapping it. “But I’m gonna.”

I stare at her for a moment, in shock at her nonreaction. “Are you mad at me?”

“Why would I be mad at you?” She sends me a look. “I’m in love with you.”

“I love you too,” I say automatically. “But this is a big deal. You found a really great job in your major and you were killing it. All the football teams’ social media pages have grown like crazy and that’s because of you.”

“And Gwen,” she points out. “Eric too.”

“And you,” I stress. “You’re an integral part of that team.”

“I’m going to miss them so much.” Her voice is wistful.

“You’re going to resent me for getting you fired.”

“I am not.” She rolls her eyes. “Don’t you see? I might’ve lost my job but I got you, Ace. And now we don’t have to hide anymore. Everyone will know we’re together and won’t that be such a relief?”

I stare at her hard, making sure this isn’t some kind of trick. That she’s being nice just to suck me in and then unleash on me…

But then I remember this is Ruby I’m looking at and she’s always upfront with her feelings. There are no games with this woman. I love that about her.

I love her.

She loves me too.

“You’re not mad,” I finally say.

A sigh leaves her. “I can’t deny that I’m sad about losing my job, but I talked to my parents already and Dad said that whenever there’s a setback in life, something better always comes. I believe him.”

“What did your mom say?” I brace myself for the answer.

“Oh, she said she’s not surprised an ass slap took us down. You did the same thing to me in front of them after dinner.” Ruby laughs, the sound easing the churning in my gut some, but not quite enough.

I can’t manage to laugh. I’m just too fucking relieved that this girl isn’t pissed at me. That her parents don’t hate me.

“I still feel bad,” I admit. “And responsible.”

“It’s going to be okay.” Ruby reaches across the table and rests her hand on my forearm. “Now I can wear your number at games. I can tell everyone who will listen to me that you’re my boyfriend. I need to buy your jersey.”

“I will give you my jersey,” I say vehemently, enjoying the idea of seeing Ruby with my number plastered all over her in the stands. “We can tell the whole fucking world we’re together.”

“See? It’s not so bad, me losing my job.” She’s smiling, her second chalupa lying discarded on the table as she focuses on me instead. “I told my parents I could become a content creator on my own and they said I should.”

“You totally should.” My stomach suddenly growls and I reach for the bag, grabbing a burrito and unwrapping it. “You can do whatever you set your mind to, Red.”

Her smile is soft as she watches me eat the burrito and I pause, wondering why she’s looking at me so weird. “You okay?”

“I just…I love you,” she says with a sigh. “A year ago, if this had happened to me, I would’ve had a panic attack and thought the world was over.”

I’m frowning. “And now?”

“Now I feel confident about myself and where I’m going. This isn’t that big of a deal. I can find another job.” She smiles. “A lot of my confidence is thanks to you.”

“Baby, I am not the sole reason for your confidence. You did that on your own,” I tell her truthfully. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you. You know what? I’m proud of me too.” She glances down at her partially eaten chalupa and curls her lip. “Want to go make out?”

I have a mouthful of burrito in my mouth. With onions. “Uh…”

“You can brush your teeth first,” she suggests brightly. “I need to.”

“You want to make out?” I set my burrito down.

She nods. “In the shower.”

“You want to take a shower?”

“And make out, yes.”

“Wash all your troubles away?”

“No, I want to make out with you naked in the shower and possibly give you a blow job. What do you say?” She’s laughing, pleased with herself, and I’m hopping out of my chair, grabbing her hand and dragging her toward her bathroom.

“I say that sounds like a great idea.” I pull her into my arms and kiss her, burrito with onion breath and all. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She kisses me back.

“I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you,” she murmurs. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“Yeah, it is.” I pull her into my arms. As long as we’re together…

Everything is going to be just fine.