Page 83 of Playing for Possession
About fucking time.Sean was every bit as guilty as me. I’d thrown the first punch, but he’d come back at me like an animal. At least I’d laid some good ones on the bastard. However bad my face looked this morning, his would look worse.
Curious eyes burned into me as I shuffled to the desk to collect my belongings. The desk sergeant passed me my phone and my wallet. He glanced over his shoulder and lowered his voice.
“I shouldn’t say this, but any chance of an autograph?”
“Will you arrest me again if I say no?” My mouth was like sandpaper.
The desk sergeant inclined his head. “I’ll arrest you if you lose to Palace next season.”
“That’s fair. I’d arrest me for that.”
He passed me a pad to sign. I flexed my fingers. Pain shot from my bruised knuckles.
“Any chance of a selfie together?” the desk sergeant asked.
For fuck’s sake.I raised a wry eyebrow and regretted it because the slightest flex in my forehead made my head pound. “Sure. Why not? Get the whole station.”
He flashed an overbright smile. “Cheers. They’ll love that.”
I posed for selfies even though my brain felt like it was liquefying. After everyone in the police station, including the cleaners and canteen staff, had posed for selfies with me, I turned the corner to see Jack waiting for me in the reception area.
He raised a wry eyebrow as he took in my disheveled state. To my shame, it wasn’t the first time he’d dragged my arse out of a police cell. The last time was when I’d snatched a paparazzi’s phone and dropped it down the toilet. I couldn’t regret that one. That’s what you get if you try and take a photo of a man having a piss.
He twirled his car keys around his finger. “Heavy night?”
“You could say that.”
He flashed a small smile. “Come on, bro. Let’s get you out of here.”
Jack parked his Lambo in the lot of a drive-through coffee place, and even though I’d spent a fortune in swanky restaurants over the years, nothing had tasted better than this cheap coffee and stale pain aux raisins. It was still dark outside. The moon cast a pale shimmer over the rows of cars.
Jack’s head hung low. “I’m sorry.”
I kept my gaze fixed ahead. “You don’t owe anyone an apology, least of all me.”
A brittle silence pulled tight.
He pressed his forehead to the steering wheel. “I don’t know what to do about Sean.”
Me neither. The worst part was how helpless this made me feel. I’d always done everything I could to give Jack what he needed, but sometimes I didn’t have a clue.
I twisted my disposable cup in my hands, seeking comfort from the heat after that freezing cell. “I’m too old for this shit. It’s costing me too much.”
“What shit?”
“Every time you ask me to go out drinking, I can’t say no. I’m trying to keep an eye on you. But the partying has messed everything up. Rob is pissed off with me. I got passed over to play for England last time. All I’m trying to do is be a good brother.
“I’ve lost Joanie. I don’t know how to fix any of this. She won’t forgive me. And I’m sorry. I know none of this is about me, but I don’t have all the answers. I don’t have any answers for this one.”
“What do you mean, you’ve lost Joanie?”
“Mortimer Fox made me promise not to touch her.”
Jack pressed his palm to his forehead. “I take it you couldn’t follow the rules?”
I turned my face to the window.
He laughed. “Did you even try?”
