Ballers: His Game (Ballers Series Book 1) Read online

  I had promised myself I would not look at anything sports or entertainment related while on vacation. I only knew about the new player because Ellerie was excited about getting some help finally. This event would be sort of a meet and greet for all the new guys and families to get to know each other.

  “You’ll be fine. You are technically still on vacation and you made me promise not to let you next to the sports section or a broadcast,” Ellerie laughs. “Relax Tam, you know I have your back. Once I tell them you are my sister and the best attorney ever you will be making partner in no time.”

  Chapter 6

  I was not expecting this. The paparazzi have come out in full force which makes my stomach turn. I should have at least looked to see who this new player is. For the paparazzi to be out like this it has to be a heavy hitter and this could be huge for me. I am one big client away from sealing partner. I usually don’t work with football players, other than my brother. However, to make partner I am open to all new accounts.

  It’s not like me to be unprepared. I feel so off, but each time Brielle starts chirping away to her uncle about how much fun she had on the cruise I know it was worth it. You would never know Bri will just be turning four. It’s like talking to a miniature adult.

  She even negotiates with her grandfather and sad to say she bests him most the time and my dad is still sharp as a tack. Daddy says she reminds him of me when I was her age. If that is the case I am in for it.

  We step from the car and start inside. I rush forward holding Brielle’s hand tight, letting Ellerie have his moment. I can hear them behind me calling out questions about who I am. Who is the little girl with me?

  Ellerie good naturedly tells them I am his sister and attorney, Tamara Hathaway and the little girl is his niece Brielle. They call our names trying to get us to come back and pose with Ellerie but I am not going to subject Brielle to that. We make our way inside and out to the field where a large tent is set up with tables and chairs under it.

  Players are milling about with their families and some of the wives are standing in groups talking. I look around for a familiar face but don’t see too many as of yet. That’s when a slender woman approached me. She is tall with too big hair and too tanned skin. Other than that she is dress to the nines in her pale blue spring dress and heels.

  “Monica Davenport, I am on the committee to welcome the wives and the girlfriends today,” she says looking down her nose at me and holding her hand out limply. She raises her eyebrow pointedly as if to ask which category I fit into.

  “I’m Tamara Hathaway, Ellerie Hathaway’s sister and this little lady is my daughter Brielle,” I say and take her hand to shake it.

  “Oh yes, thought you looked a little familiar. Hello there, Brielle,” she says with a pasted on smile.

  “Hello,” Brielle beams with her chipper self.

  Monica looks down at Brielle and something crosses her face for a moment. Her brows draw together and her lips part. She looks from Brielle to me then composes her expression like it never happened.

  “There will be some activities for the children later. You may want to mingle with some of the girls,” Monica offers.

  I feel a hand on my shoulder blades and relax. Ellerie to the rescue, he always shows up at the right times. “Hello Monica, I see you have met my lovely sister and niece,” Ellerie says smoothly.

  “Yes, it is a pleasure.”

  “Thank you for welcoming them we’ll let you get to the others,” Ellerie takes my elbow and leads me away.

  “Why is everyone staring at me like that,” I whisper to Ellerie.

  “Because you are the best looking woman in the room and you look too much like my twin to be my girl, so they’re worried about their husbands and boyfriends,” Ellerie teases and chuckles.

  “You are so bad,” I giggle.

  I love my brother. He knows how to make me relax and have a good time. He has a loveable personality. It’s hard to be around him and not be in a good mood.

  We make our rounds with Ellerie introducing me, as his sister and attorney to players I haven’t already met. Soon business cards and phone numbers are being exchanged. A lot of the guys are really nice.

  I end up in a small group people watching. Eric and Teddy, two of Ellerie’s teammates and good friends, flank my sides giving me comical commentary on the owners and their wives. They are making me laugh so hard my stomach hurts. I use my fingers to dab at the tears when Teddy does his impersonation of one of the women who looks like she would rather be anywhere but here.

  I am actually having a good time and haven’t notice that time is flying by until my stomach starts to grumble. Teddy raises a brow at me and smirks. “I hope you are not one of those women that don’t like to eat. You would be ruining my fantasy,” Teddy teases.

  “Ha, and here I thought you were a loving and devoted husband,” I retort.

  “You can be but so devoted when your wife insists on entertaining the pool boy, gardener, chef and any other warm body that enters the residence,” Teddy shrugs. “I thought that if I plan to hire you I should hit on you before the wife does.”

  I gasp then laugh. “You’re joking.”

  “Am I?” Teddy says with an uninterested shrug. “Let me know if you want to handle the hours for the divorce.”

  “Wow, I’m sorry Teddy. You are such a nice guy,” I say sympathetically.

  “Tam, have you met my wife yet? I knew better and still went there. I got what I deserved. But in the beginning it was worth it,” he says and wiggles his brows.

  I burst into laughter. “You are so bad,” I chuckle out.

  Teddy raises his glass and does a mock bow. My stomach grumbles again, we all laugh. Just then Ellerie and Brielle walk over with big smiles on their faces. They are just coming back from watching a little magic show that was put on for the children.

  Ellerie wraps his arm around me and kisses my forehead. “Maybe I picked the wrong two to keep an eye on my little sister,” Ellerie says with feigned suspicion as he looks between Teddy and Eric.

  “Don’t look at me,” Eric snorts. “Your sister has that look in her eye that you get on the field. I am in favor of my life, thank you.”

  “Oh Eric, and I thought we were going to run off into the sunset together,” I tease and give Eric a coy smile, batting my lashes.

  “See she’s dangerous I tell you,” Eric says with a hand to his chest and a mock look of horror.

  “Stop torturing my friend, Tam. Eric doesn’t know how to act around pretty women,” Ellerie chuckles.

  “Mommy, your tummy is talking,” Brielle giggles as my stomach speaks again. All the guys laugh.

  “Go eat something,” Ellerie leans over to whisper. “I have Ellie we’ll be right here.”

  “Are you sure? You took her to the show. I can take her with me. She doesn’t want any of it but maybe I can trick her into eating a little something,” I whisper back.

  “I’ve got her. You will just be starting a war trying to get her to eat here, now go,” Ellerie says and gives me a nudge.

  “You’re the best big brother in the world,” I chime and kiss him on the cheek.

  “Whoa, are we starting a line for those,” Teddy says and bends down pointing at his cheek.

  I swat at his arm and bend to run my hand over Brielle’s hair and kiss her on the cheek before straightening and walking toward the food spread. I have perfect timing. I noticed when we were joking around that the crowd had shifted toward the other side of the tent.

  I guess the new player creating all the buzz must have arrived. I found out it’s a new QB but I never got a name. Each time I thought I would I got interrupted or the subject was changed without me getting to ask. I am just really excited for Ellerie. This could be big for him as a wide receiver. The old quarter back was one of the biggest issues for him the last two years. Their on field and off field relationship was tumultuous and the team wasn’t willing to part with either of them until recently.

/>   I load a plate up with finger foods while the coast is clear and I don’t have to fight a food crowd. I spot a table where I can rest my feet and eat in peace and set off to the corner to have a moment to myself. I don’t get many with Brielle and work constantly tugging at me.

  ~B~

  With the big upset of my free agent signing with a Texas team I was expecting the big press turnout. Today would be the official announcement confirming the rumors of my new contract. While I’m excited to be home and on a Texas team it’s bittersweet that they choose to make the press conference today at a family meet and greet function.

  My brother and sister couldn’t make it because of their family’s schedules. My mom and dad just aren’t up to such an event, five years ago maybe but not today. Tiffany has been calling again and for a moment I was tempted to invite her out but then she would think things have changed. She would definitely want to meet my family if she was in town, not going to happen.

  So here I am alone playing nice with my smile painted on, pouring on the charm. To the outside world I am doing great, but inside this is the last place I want to be. After sitting down with the press I am ushered to the main tent where the food is set up with all the families and important people to brush shoulders with.

  I have shaken more hands than I can count and had more conversations than I can remember, but still can’t remember what any of them were about. I laugh in the right places and respond in like manner, but I am somewhere else. I’ve spent the last twenty minutes trapped listening to one of the sponsor’s daughters complaining about her trip to Paris last week or last month, whatever.

  The general manager’s wife dumped me off with this group before whispering to play nice. Guess news of my break up has hit. Suddenly inviting Tiff out doesn’t seem like it would have been a bad idea. At least that would have kept the vultures at bay. I wouldn’t have to play nice with this group of women I have absolutely no interest in.

  As that thought runs through my head I hear a chorus of laughter. There is the distinct tinkling of laughter that throws me back in time. In that moment, I was back in bed with her it was after the second time we had made love.

  I figured out she was ticklish. So I was tickling her beautiful little feet. I loved how the moonlight spilled into her room making her brown skin glow.

  Her flat stomach taunted me as she laughed and scrambled away from me. She was looking up at me with her eyes sparkling. The joy I saw there turned from laughter and amusement to lust and desire. Her laughter made my heart swell so much I had to have her again and I did.

  I reached for her ankles and dragged her back down the bed toward me. I kissed my way up her belly pausing to suck at her smooth stomach. She squirmed beneath me and sighed her pleasure. My eyes flicked up to lock with hers, watching her face as I branded her with my mark.

  I pulled her thighs apart and climbed up her body not breaking eye contact. My whole body quaked as I slipped into her warm heat slowly. Her shapely legs wrapped around my back and I felt her little feet lock over my butt cheeks. She dug her heels in urging me to go deeper as she rocked her hips up into me.

  I shuttered at the feel of her walls grabbing and squeezing me. She was so tight and wet it was driving me insane. I looked in her eyes and she looked back at me watching me with her lips parted. She was so beautiful my breath shuttered to a stop. I cupped her face and kissed her longingly. I never wanted this to end. I was already inside her but I needed more.

  “Baby, yes,” she moaned against my lips.

  “You feel amazing,” I groaned.

  I shake the memory from my mind and whip my head around to search for the laughter that brought it back. I hear the joyous noise again and zone in on a small group a little ways across the tent. There are two men and a woman. She has large curls pinned around her head like a crown, but that’s not what gets my attention.

  It is her shoulders. I would know those shoulders anywhere. I have spent five years obsessing about those silky smooth chocolate brown shoulders. They are now glowing in the off the shoulder black dress that is hugging the top of her body and showing off her legs in a pair of sexy red heels.

  I shake the thought off, there is no way. I am imagining things. The woman’s back is to me and I want it to be her so badly that I am making things up. It couldn’t be her. Bethany the sponsor’s daughter pulls me back into the conversation and out of my reverie.

  “Bradley have you been to Paris,” she asks touching my arm.

  “Actually, I have been a few times when I was younger. My mother loves to travel and she would take us on trips when my father needed us kids out of his hair,” I reply.

  My response sends her into another long winded tale about her family’s travels. My attention is drawn by that laugh once again and I just stare. At that moment another man and a little girl walk up beside her. The girl takes the woman’s hand and the man wraps his arm around her, kissing her forehead.

  I feel physical pain at the sight. I have no idea if it is really her, but the thought of her being with another man hurts so much more than the thought of never seeing her again. I watch as they interact with the group and then the one with his arm around her whispers something to her.

  “Bradley, I think you should join us on the yacht sometime. Daddy loves to get to know the players. We can trade numbers,” Bethany coos drawing my attention with her hand against my chest.

  I reluctantly pull my eyes away from the group across the room and turn back toward the group I am standing with. The guys are looking amused and the women look expectantly at me. I’m not sure what she’d just said but I go with what I think is the safe response.

  “Sure,” I reply with a smile.

  “Great, give me your phone,” Bethany beams holding out her hand to me.

  I raise my brow at her in question and stare down at her hand. One of the players, Rodney, stifles a laugh and shakes his head at me. I know I just missed something important and my answer may have been wrong.

  I look at her red finger nailed hand again then up at her green expectant eyes. I guess you could say Bethany is an attractive girl. Not too thin, nice curves, not that I believe them all to be real. She has big blonde hair that I am sure is assisted like her breasts. She has a false tan and too much make up on, which takes away from the appeal instead of adding to it for me.

  “Hand me your phone silly, so I can program my number and send me yours. I’ll give you a call sometime to invite you to Daddy’s yacht,” she says like I am a child needing her overenthusiastic help.

  I mentally kick myself as I pull the phone from my pocket and hand it over to her. I don’t want to be rude now and tell her no. With a smile on her face she programs her number in, then grabs my arm and pulls me close holding my phone out to snap a picture.

  “Smile,” she sings before snapping a couple of pictures. “Great, we look good together in this one,” she coos. “I’ll just text it to my phone and then I’ll have your number and a pic to remember you by.”

  “If you all would excuse me I see some friends I want to say hi to,” I grab my phone and make an exit while I still can.

  I cross the room to the group I had been watching but sometime during the phone incident the woman disappeared from the group. The man she had been hugging is still here as is the little girl. As I get closer I realize I know the guys, Teddy, Eric and Ellerie.

  I know Eric the best of the group. I played with him for half a season before he was traded here. I know Teddy through a mutual friend back in LA and Ellerie is the reason the team wants me here. I have been in meetings with him over the last few weeks as the team made their pitch.

  Ellerie is a great wide receiver and from what I can tell a really cool guy. We hit it off right away, there is just something familiar and welcoming about him. I haven’t been able to put my finger on it yet but I feel like I know him from somewhere. It dawns on me as I stop to join their group that Ellerie was the one with his arm around the woman. He is now standing
with the little girl in his arms as she is talking to the guys in her little voice.

  “It was great. He pulled a rabbit out of his hat and a quarter from behind my ear,” she gushes.

  “Speaking of quarters the man has arrived,” Eric announces grabbing my hand for a shake and pulling me in for a hug. “Good to see you.”

  “Good to be seen,” I nod back and take Teddy’s hand as he mimics Eric’s gesture.

  “You want to tell us something Monroe?” Teddy says looking at the little girl in Ellerie’s arms and then at me. She is looking up at Ellerie still talking away with her back to me. “Oh man, I think I just stepped into a fun house.”

  “Do you ever shut up,” Eric snorts and shakes his head. He then leans back to get a view of the little girl, tilting his head and lifting a brow, “But you have a point.”

  “You two need help,” Ellerie chuckles. “Ellie, this is one of my new friends Brad,” Ellerie says to the little girl who turns her attention to me.

  “Hi Brad,” she says with a beaming smile.

  The kid is gorgeous. Her big blue eyes sparkle as her cheeks dimple. Her large curls bounce around her cute face and her mocha complexion has a glow, like she recently spent a lot of time outdoors. She takes my breath away. Eric and Teddy are right she does look like she could be my kid.

  I look from her to Ellerie and it is clear he is her father. She has his bow shaped mouth his high cheek bones and a hint of his smile. There are other things that link them here and there. I pull it together and reach out my hand to her.

  “So nice to meet you Ellie,” I say with my first genuine smile in I don’t know how long.

  “It’s actually Brielle,” she says with a shy smile, “but you can call me Ellie if you like.”

  “Brielle, that’s a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”

  Just like that she reaches out to me like I’m a magnet and leaps into my arms. I catch her as she sails into my arms, shocked by her sudden move. Ellerie shakes his head and laughs.

  “Monroe, we’re going to be needing those child support checks,” Teddy gives a booming laugh.