Page 4 of Playing the Game

Udo speared a green bean and examined it.

“I don’t think she is,” he said. “Look at how you lead the team. You’re the most responsible of any of us.”

He popped the vegetable in his mouth.

“Tell my parents that,” Adam replied. “They haven’t spoken to me much since. I half expected them to turn up today. They only live an hour down the coast.”

He’d sent them tickets but had no response.

“Surely they don’t expect you to live an unhappy life?”

Adam stabbed a piece of meat with his fork. “They want me to live a normal life,” he replied. “Whatever one of those is.”

Once Adam got back to his own room, he undressed and got into the huge bed. It was comfortable yet empty. Maybe he should have tipped Gasparthe wink. It had been a while since he’d spent the night with anyone.

He shuddered to think what Javier would say if that got out. The risk wasn’t worth it. Besides, he’d given up on meaningless encounters with either sex. What was the point?

He reached and grabbed his iPad from the nightstand.

Once they got back to England, the new signings would be waiting for them to start training. Adam, as captain, made it his duty to find out what he could about all players in the squad.

There was one he kept coming back to.

Jonas Haber. A talented midfielder from Brockton’s rivals, Canonbury. Although, he’d never come across as particularly bothered by the animosity between both teams. Something Adam couldn’t say the same about.

He’d had the odd tussle with various Canonbury players. Both off and on the pitch.

Adam fired up YouTube and found a clip from the last time they’d met. As usual it had been a dirty game full of fouls and insults. Some he’d thrown himself.

Yet, Jonas had always been on the periphery. Instead he’d let an amazing goal do the talking. Adam had dismissed him as just another Canonbury player.

Now that they were going to be colleagues, he was looking at him in a different light. The camera zoomed in on Jonas.

He was an exceptionally handsome man whose chiselled Swedish features had been on many billboards over the years. He kept his jet-black hair swept to the side and his blue eyes shone out from every photograph.

On the screen, Jonas scored and ran up the pitch. A couple of the Canonbury players congratulated him. Not many though.

“Not very popular, Mr Haber?” Adam said aloud. “I think we can guess why.”

The rumour mill was in overdrive as to why Jonas and the other two players had requested to come to Brockton after Javier’s groundbreaking speech.

Of course, Adam wouldn’t dream of getting involved with a teammate. That would be career suicide. However, something about Jonas Haber intrigued him and he would enjoy finding out what had triggered him to move north.

This season was going to be interesting.

TWO

JONAS

The white buildings of Brockton FC’s Newby Park training ground lay in front of Jonas Haber. He sat in his Mercedes GLB SUV and took a moment. Some of the other cars surrounding him were much flashier. He’d bought this machine so he didn’t stand out.

It was his first day reporting for duty and the nerves were real. Not that he would show them. He’d learnt how to fake it.

Jonas had been a member of Canonbury FC for four years. As arch-rivals with Brockton, they didn’t often trade players. However, in a shock move he’d been swapped with Brockton stalwart Shaun Riggs at the end of the last season.

He hoped that wouldn’t be held against him too badly.

Jonas checked his reflection in the mirror. He’d spent longer that morning styling his dark hair. The tan from his holiday in the Caribbean had only faded slightly.