Page 36 of Playing for Possession
Chapter 16
Joanie
We drove through one quaint village after the next in silence.
Kieran glanced at me from the driver’s seat. “Talk to me. Are you OK?”
“I can’t believe I said that to Elena. She’s going to think I’m a diva.”
“You’re not a diva. Trust me. You should see the men’s team on photo day at the start of the season. I’ll show you divas.” He frowned. “Anyway, you can’t control what other people think about you. That’s their business. People can think whatever the fuck they want. It’s fine. You stood up for yourself, and the world didn’t collapse.”
“We’re going to get into trouble.”
“With who?”
“The Fizzz people . . . the club.”
“Fuck them. They need us more than we need them.” He shot me a wry glance. “Everyone is in too deep. They already gave us the lifetime supply.”
I didn’t have it in me to laugh. Silence fell between us. Maybe if I had the goal-scoring track record of Kieran, I could throw myweight around like this. I didn’t have his leverage. I couldn’t shake the uneasiness inside my chest.
“I don’t like letting Claire down.”
“Claire is letting you down if she expects you to do something that makes you uncomfortable. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take the heat. Blame me. I’m always in trouble anyway. What’s a little more?”
A rush of anxiety made me throw my hands up. “That bikini though! It’s like dental floss. What are they thinking?”
“Probably that the sight of you in a bikini distracts people from the fact that the drink is disgusting. They’re pulling out all the stops.”
“It’s going to take a lot more than that.”
“I don’t think so. I’m sure it would be very diverting,” he said quietly.
Another compliment? I dared a glance at him. His expression was level and his gaze fixed ahead as though he hadn’t said anything.
“I just hope they can sort it out without involving the club. You’re going to have your work cut out trying to win Elena back. She looked so mad at you.”
He flexed his fingers around the wheel. “Areyoumad at me?”
How could I be? His confidence had helped me find the strength to stand up for myself. “No. I just want to do the right thing.”
“You are. The right thing for yourself. You don’t have to follow other people’s rules all the time.”
“And you don’t have to break them all the time either.”
He cut me an amused glance. We drove in silence the rest of the way until Ramirez’s grand house loomed ahead. Kieran cleared his throat. “You know the first rule of Fizzz club?”
“Don’t talk about Fizzz club?”
“No.” He kept his face level, but humor threaded his voice. “Don’t shake the can.”
A laugh burst out of me. “I can’t believe how much of a dork you are sometimes. Seriously, that’s a sensational level of dork-hood.”
“Should it be dork-hood or dork-dom?”
“The fact that you’re seeking clarification qualifies you as the king of both realms.”
Amazing that a man who never smiled could have such a good sense of humor. I liked his wit. He was so deadpan in his delivery that you’d miss it if you didn’t pay attention. He also didn’t mind me poking fun. I’d met all manner of celebrities through Dad, from minor reality stars to Hollywood A-listers. Fame could be toxic. But it hadn’t corrupted Kieran. Not in the way I’d first imagined.
