Not Before Game Night (Bad Boy Bachelors of Orange County Book 4) Read online

  Not Before Game Night

  Khardine Gray

  Contents

  Also by Khardine Gray

  Not Before Game Night

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Khardine Gray

  Series

  Bad Boy Bachelors of Orange County

  One More Time

  Pregnancy Scandal

  Auction Time

  Not Before Game Night

  The Accidental Mafia Queen

  Mafia Boss

  Mafia Scars

  Mafia Love

  Gangsters and Dolls

  Dirty Hearts

  Stolen Kisses

  Remember When We

  The Vandervilles

  When Beauty Met The Beast

  Secrets and Lies

  Into The Rabbit Hole

  Standalones Novels

  His Girl Next Door

  Blossoms of The Heart

  Mr. Delicious

  Mailroom Delight

  The Rules of Attraction

  Falling For Him

  Never and Always

  I Love You again

  One Wild Night

  Shape of My Heart

  Hearts Entwined

  Complete Me

  I Only Have Eyes For You

  The Objection to Affection

  Box Sets

  Play of Love

  Contains Shape of my Heart, The Road Trip Formerly called One Wild Night and Hearts Entwined.

  To check out these titles please visit

  https://www.amazon.com/author/khardinegraynovels

  Not Before Game Night

  Bad Boy Bachelors of Orange County

  Book 4

  Khardine Gray

  USA Today Bestselling Author

  Copyright © 2019 by Khardine Gray

  Not Before Game Night Copyright © 2019 by Khardine Gray

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design © 2019 by Net Hook and Line

  Editing : Diamond in the Rough

  This work is copyrighted. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  The author asserts that all characters and situations depicted in this work of fiction are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations.

  It is intended for mature readers. All characters are 18+ years of age and all sexual acts are consensual.

  Chapter 1

  Cole

  This year was going to be mine.

  It absolutely was.

  I didn’t mean to be bigheaded…

  What was I thinking?

  Of course, I meant to be bigheaded in thinking the year was mine and I owned the world too.

  Well, maybe not the whole world, but I definitely made my mark on it. Definitely lived up to my name, Coleridge Buchanan. Named after my father, who had been a legend before me. I’d followed in his footsteps.

  Just for the first part of my life, however.

  This next part was all me. Like him, I played football for the New England Patriots and made a name for myself in the sport. Like him, I was a renowned wide receiver for the team, and like him, I’d joined The L.A. Centaurs in the height of my career. I even planned to become an NFL scout too like him when I eventually retired. Hopefully for either the Patriots or The Centaurs. Dad had scouted for the Patriots for seven years.

  His spirit lived on in me, and I truly wish my old man had lived to see me join The L.A. Centaurs too.

  There was a lot to admire about him in regards to his legacy and the legend he was. When people made the comparison between us it was definitely a great compliment.

  However, there was a big part of me that wanted my own fame. My own legacy, my own name of achievement of all the things I’d done.

  That was the part of me that didn’t exactly want to be like my father. It was also the part that wished to stay right the hell away from his less favorable attributes.

  This next phase of my life would be all me.

  My legacy.

  I was definitely more than excited to see how it was all going to play out.

  I was traded to The Centaurs three months ago, and the season that was about to start in two weeks was going to be real interesting.

  More than interesting, if what the guys were telling me was true.

  Matt nodded and gave me a pointed stare. Denver rested his hands on the table and leaned forward with that sly expression on his face. Sly and cunning like a fox, he looked like one too with his bushy eyebrows.

  “If you don’t believe us, watch him, look at the way he behaves.” Matt smirked. He was talking about Coach Simpson, who until this morning I’d thought was a real down-to-earth guy.

  I’d arrived at the stadium for training late, so I’d missed the talk.

  Then, to add to that, I’d made my first mistake as the new guy by wearing a jersey that had paint stained over my player number.

  Coach went crazy asking me why I’d want to jinx my ability to play by putting a mark over my number. Of course, I’d thought he was talking shit, but apparently, he was serious. He wouldn’t allow me to wear my shirt, and the man actually found me one of those standard sized Fruit of the Loom T-shirts that clung to my body so tight my muscles were practically popping out.

  No matter how much I thought I owned the world, I knew I’d have to bow to the god that had control on what I did and didn’t do. That god happened to be Coach Simpson, definitely one of the strangest people I’d ever met in my life.

  After close to eight hours of training, the guys had brought me here, straight to Tom’s Sports Bar, the usual hang out spot.

  I’d been sitting with them in one of the booths on the second floor for well over an hour getting the full rundown of the most bizarre stuff the coach was against.

  No sage for the next two weeks, no fast food, we were to have our homes fêng shui-ed and incense burning at all times while we were there, and a whole bunch of shit like that.

  The truth of the matter was, Coach Simpson was very superstitious and didn’t mess around with shit or non-believers when it came to preparing for the season. And, he sure as hell wasn’t going
to do it this year, not when we were hoping for a lucky strike on the Super Bowl.

  I chuckled and shook my head. “So, if I spit the wrong way, he’s gonna get me?” I mused, actually finding this hilarious.

  “Yes,” Denver agreed. “He will basically kill you if you do anything to mess up our chances this year, and after this morning, his attention is on you.”

  Shit, I swear to God sometimes the people in Orange County were strange. It was the wealth and the heat. It got to them in different ways.

  It was quite unlike Boston where I’d practically been for the last ten years. I only came back here to see my family.

  I’d grown up in Orange County but moved on when I left for college. My mother still lived here, and she, of course, was thrilled to have me back. This craziness, though, was something else. Something else that I would have loved to find out more about if I wasn’t so taken with the gorgeous brunette down by the pool table who was doing her best to ignore me.

  I glanced her way. Just briefly, just to check on her and see what she was doing.

  Vanessa Cartwright had always mystified me in one way or another.

  We’d gone to the same high school. I was two years older than her, but I’d definitely never missed the then mousy-type girl who was always staring at me.

  You noticed things like that when you were popular and one of the high school bullies.

  Her family was the essence of wealth. Richer than mine by far and practically owned Orange County with the whole Cartwright Enterprise.

  Her father owned the two NFL football teams in LA. The Gladiators and The Centaurs, which meant he currently owned my ass too.

  Back then, even with all that wealth, Vanessa had carried herself like one of the average kids at school. Quiet and unseen.

  Until that night I would never forget.

  She had that air of average tonight too, in a simple fitted T-shirt and tight jeans. Except that body of hers wasn’t made for average. It betrayed her quite unlike the body the fairylike being she had been ten years ago.

  At twenty-six, Vanessa Cartwright had the body of a goddess. The type made for serious sin.

  The goddess was fit and toned, but at the same time elegant like a swan.

  It was that elegance and delicacy that I’d remembered. It reached out to me even now, beckoning me to stare and commit her to memory.

  Her facial bones were delicately carved against the loose tendrils of hair that tumbled carelessly down her back. Her mouth full with those pouty pink lips that could get a guy in trouble.

  A guy, a.k.a. me.

  I knew she could feel me watching her, but she was talking it up with her sister and cousin, pretending not to notice me.

  I knew too that I should have expected this sort of reaction after the last time I’d actually spoken to her.

  I returned my focus to the guys.

  They’d seen me looking at Vanessa and exchanged conspiratory glances. Denver chuckled and glanced her way too.

  “What else can’t I do? This is interesting, and why am I just hearing about all this bullshit?” I asked.

  “We all hate it.” Denver frowned. “And yeah, it is bullshit, but, bro, nothing comes close to that feeling you get when you win the Super Bowl. And two years in a row was a nice treat.”

  I knew that was right and unfortunately, I’d never experienced that, not like my dad, who’d had his team win more than his fair share when he was a Patriot.

  I liked The Centaurs and the way they trained. I liked the ethos of being unconquerable, so, really, I should be willing to follow Coach Simpson into whatever madness he laid down on the team since he was the glue that held them together.

  He was the keeper of the direction my career went.

  “Basically, just do everything the man says,” Denver added.

  “Yes,” Matt agreed. “The next two weeks are crucial.”

  Back when I joined the team, I could tell straightaway that Matt was the Goody Two-Shoes. He looked like he’d follow Coach Simpson to the ends of the earth and jump if the man told him.

  “Yeah, crucial,” Denver added, and mischief flickered in his eyes. “Ready for the last big no-no?”

  “What is it? Let me guess. It’s something crazy like wearing a talisman around my neck.”

  “You will wish it were that.”

  We laughed, and they looked at each other.

  “What is it, man?” I prodded.

  “The biggest rule of all is this… you mustn’t under any circumstances, no matter how tempting it may be… have sex the night before the game.”

  I looked at him and laughed, getting ready for them to laugh too.

  Had to be a damn joke, right?

  They weren’t laughing though.

  “You’re joking.”

  “Nope.” Denver laughed now when he saw my face.

  “Man, what the fuck are you saying to me?” I tilted my head to the side and glared at him.

  I’d taken him for a friend a few years back when we played against each other. We kept in touch after a crazy night out. The man was just like me, and there was no way he could tell me he’d lived by that stupid rule. And not with the girlfriend he had. Jenna was one of the lead actresses in the TV drama All about Attraction. She was popular and the kind of demanding woman who wouldn’t have been understanding toward shit like that.

  “It’s true.” Matt nodded. “No sex the night before the game. He made us sign a contract year before last on the advice of his psychic, Madam Phoebe. We signed for a joke, playing along and doing whatever he told us, and damn we won. The following year was the same, and we won too, so…” He held up his hands and looked at me like he really believed it.

  “Guys, what are you seriously saying to me? No sex before game night?” I asked again, checking because I’d never heard of such shit in all my life.

  They nodded.

  “That’s what we said. It was the first thing he reminded us of this morning, except you missed that part.” He laughed.

  Yes, I’d missed it for the fact that I’d wanted to indulge in the leggy blonde I took home last night one more time. We got caught up in the shower. I never knew that my little indulgence was going to be to my detriment. Nor could I believe Denver and Matt had waited the whole day to tell me something so crazy, or that they hadn’t told me that first.

  “So, I’m supposed to live like a priest until after the first game?”

  I could do it… if I wanted to. It wasn’t exactly hard with all the days leading up to the night before the game free for sinning. It was just that when presented with temptation I was the type who couldn’t resist. It made me want to do it even more. Better if I wasn’t told. Chances were I might be so focused on the game that I wouldn’t think of hooking up with anyone the night before.

  Being told not to do it felt like a challenge and temptation rolled in one.

  Like having Miss Cartwright over there by the pool table pretending to ignore me.

  Denver leaned forward. “Like a priest who just took his vows. Those are the ones who can’t be tempted. They’re practically ready to meet the good Lord.”

  I pressed my lips together.

  “How the fuck is the coach going to keep tabs on that?” That part was even more intriguing. Being a Centaur equaled collateral in the form of the most beautiful women at our beck and call. No way was he going to be able to tell who couldn’t keep their pants on the night before the game.

  “He’ll know.” Matt laughed. The subtle music around us changed to something more upbeat swallowing his laughter.

  “Well, I guess I’d better be on my best behavior, then.” I was half joking. Like fuck was I ever going to live by such bullshit. The T-shirt earlier was fine. I didn’t mind that. This? No.

  Denver laughed. “You’re saying that, and you’ve been looking at that girl since she stepped in here?” He tilted his chin and motioned to Vanessa. “You know who that is, right?”

  I smiled at him. “I know
who she is.” I didn’t tell anyone Vanessa and I had history. That was something I always kept to myself, but I could share that I knew of her on account that she was the team owner’s daughter.

  “Did you know Vanessa Cartwright plays a serious game of hard to get?” Denver quirked a brow.

  Now I was curious. “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  Matt looked over at Denver and grimaced. “Denver, don’t you dare get any ideas.”

  “Too late, man. The ideas are rolling into my head.”

  “What’s on your mind?” I asked.

  “You don’t plan to keep your pants on the night before the first game, do you?” Denver challenged.

  I smiled at him. The man knew me too well. “I don’t know yet. I can’t help myself when I start thinking with my dick.”

  “Okay, then, her… get her. Get laid the night before the game, with her.”

  I widened my eyes at him. What had Vanessa been up to? I knew what Denver was like. He wouldn’t say something like that unless there was some impossible challenge.

  “Her?” I chuckled.

  “Denver, are you crazy?” Matt asked. He actually gave him an incredulous stare. “She’s the team owner’s daughter. You’re fucking crazy.”

  “Yes I am. Bro, you know I can’t resist a game.” Denver chuckled.

  “I’ll kill you myself if we lose.” Matt pointed at him.

  Denver ignored him and looked back to me. “Two hundred grand says you don’t get her.”

  Oh wow, this was getting even more interesting. “Look at me. Why the hell do you think I wouldn’t get her?”