Page 2 of Offside Play (Love The Game #1)

Jude

T he first thing I noticed was how dark this place was. The second thing was the sheer number of bodies. Sweat-slicked, writhing beneath the flashes of light, all shapes and sizes, moving against each other. My senses were filled with the overwhelming aura of men .

“Fucking hell,” I mumbled. I’d gone from bi-curious to being ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure I was bi in a relatively short space of time, but to be confronted with this …

It was a shock to my system, a sudden immersion in an ice-cold bath, and I had to place my palm flat on the wall next to me to steady myself.

“Breathe,” a voice husked out close to my ear, and my body relaxed, just like that.

“Thanks.” I blinked, staring at the man who’d brought me here. I was suddenly curious about more than just my sexuality. I wished it wasn’t so dark in here so I could actually see him properly. “You seemed offended when I asked if you were gay, but you seem more than comfortable in this place.”

He leaned in even closer, his breath skimming across my overheated skin, and I had to repress a shiver. “I wasn’t offended. But if you’re insinuating that I’m a regular, think again. Sometimes I have an itch that needs scratching, so I come here to satisfy it. That’s all there is to it.”

“I think that’s the longest sentence you’ve managed to say to me.”

“Don’t get used to it.” He straightened up again. “Have fun.”

“Wait!” It was my turn to grip his wrist. “You can’t leave me here.”

“I fucking can. See ya.” With a smirk, he stepped back, melting into the crowd of bodies, and just like that, my panic returned.

When I eventually managed to peel myself away from the wall, I made my way to the bar. Maybe if I had a drink in hand, I wouldn’t feel so out of place.

“First time?”

I grimaced at the bartender. “Is it that obvious?”

He laughed. “Yeah.”

“Bloody hell. I can’t do this,” I mumbled, and the bartender’s smile faded. He studied me with furrowed brows before snapping his fingers.

“Two options. I can call you an Uber, or I can talk you through the basics. Which is it gonna be?”

Well…I was here. So… “Option two, please. Tell me what to do.”

“Good choice.” With a nod, he slid a shot glass across the bar to me. “Drink this to begin with, but after that, I’d stick to non-alcoholic beverages. You don’t wanna lose your head if it’s your first time.” He paused, tapping his finger to his lips. “I’ll tell you what you do wanna lose, though.”

“What?”

“That hoodie. Ditch the ball cap, too, or turn it backward.”

“Okay.” I downed the shot, wincing at the burn, and then stripped off my hoodie and flipped my cap so the brim was facing backwards. The bartender gave me an assessing once-over as he took my hoodie to store behind the bar.

“Much better. Go out there—” He pointed towards the dance floor. “—find a cute guy, and have fun. If you feel uncomfortable or need a break, come back here. If I’m not around, one of the other guys will be here to help you. We’ve seen it all, believe me, and we’re equipped to deal with it.”

I followed his gaze. Fuck. There were so many people, dancing and grinding up on each other, completely free and uninhibited and like nothing I’d ever experienced before. “Go there?”

“Yeah. There. It’ll be fun.” An encouraging smile accompanied his words, and with that, I gathered my courage and headed for the place where the mass of writhing bodies was concentrated.

“Come on, Jude. You can do this,” I mumbled to myself, trying to trick my brain into thinking I was okay, when, in fact, I was very much not okay.

“I hope you were talking to me.”

I blinked, my head whipping around to see a tall guy with sandy-brown hair giving me a blatant once-over. My stomach flipped—whether from excitement or nerves, I wasn’t sure. I’d never had a man check me out so obviously before, and I…I liked it. I think .

“I could be,” I said.

“Right answer.” Without waiting for a response, he wrapped his fingers around my wrist and tugged me into him. Being manhandled was another new experience—outside of a football situation, that was. So many firsts today, and I’d only been in Canada for a matter of hours.

I had no clue what I was doing, but I mimicked his movements, dropping my hands to his waist, and began to move to the music.

Dancing was something I could do without thinking, just letting my body instinctually move, and I began to relax as the stranger grinned at me in approval, matching my movements.

“You’re a good dancer,” he murmured into my ear. A smile spread across my face as I drew back to meet his gaze. Hazel eyes sparkled at me as he returned my grin.

I never got to see the colour of Conan’s eyes .

I shook my head to dislodge that thought, returning my attention to the guy I was dancing with. “Thanks. You’re not too bad, either,” I told him.

He pulled me closer but kept enough space between us that I was comfortable. Some of the men here were pressed so tightly together…

His mouth moved back to my ear. “I want to kiss you.”

I swallowed hard. Was I ready for this?

Stop overthinking it. It’s just a kiss. With a man .

Moving back to meet my eyes again, he lifted his brows, and I nodded, swiping my tongue across my suddenly dry lips. His face moved closer, his mouth descending on mine?—

“Don’t even fucking think about it,” a voice growled from my left, way too close for comfort. Before I even had a chance to register the words, an arm banded itself around my waist, yanking me away from the guy I’d been about to kiss.

“You!” I spun around, pushing at Conan’s chest. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

His lip curled with amusement. “Saving you from mediocrity.”

“Fuck off. I don’t need saving, especially not by the person who ditched me the second we got here.”

“You came together?” My dance partner stared between us, his brows pulling together.

“He’s with me,” Conan ground out, wrapping his arm even more firmly around my body so we were pressed together just as tightly as the guys I’d been eyeing earlier.

My former dance partner muttered something about not wanting to get in the way of drama, and then he was gone, leaving me alone with the most infuriating, cock-blocking man on planet Earth.

“Seriously. Fuck you.”

“Is that an offer?” His tongue slid across his lips. “I could be down for that, British.”

British ? I glared at him, ignoring the shiver that went through my body. “No, thanks.”

Lifting his hand, he brushed his thumb over my lower lip. I shivered again. Bastard . His head dipped to my ear. “Stop talking. Let’s put that mouth of yours to better use. I know you want me.”

“I fucking don’t?—”

His hand covered my mouth, and he smirked, walking backwards and bringing me with him until we reached the wall. Lowering his hand from my mouth, he gripped my jaw, his shadowed gaze boring into me.

“Last chance to back out.”

I glared at him. “You’re an asshole.”

“That’s not a no.” He pressed his thigh purposely against my— Oh, fucking hell. I was angry, I was frustrated, and I was so fucking hard .

“Shit,” I whispered, and he flashed his teeth at me.

“Tonight, you’re mine, British.”

Then, he pulled me through a door, and everything went dark.