It’s amazing how your luck can change just like that. One minute, you could be in the middle of the most boring event, asking yourself why you even showed up, and the next ... In a room with a masked stranger while you’re both far from below, far from the logic of self-preservation, and yet, still feel more alive than ever before.

We first kissed like strangers. It wasn’t like this was my first time with guys, but it almost felt like it. He kept whispering to me, though. One arm, clutching my waist, while the other rummaged the curly mass on top of my head.

“You are brave. Coming in here with a stranger, why so trusting??”

Hearing that, you would think I should have listened, maybe even tear myself from him and just dash back into the main hall, but the hunger had taken over completely.

I didn’t know if it was the pressure of the upcoming season, the news I heard about some hillbilly forward that we were signing, or the many times I had to endure the slurs directed at me from the opposite fans, but whatever it was, I just wanted to take it out on someone.

So, without even thinking – too tired of thinking, I spun with him, switching our spots before I pushed him flat onto the bed.

“Maybe ... but the same thing could be said about you”.

He laughed, well ... It came out sounding more like a cackle. The kind you heard from a villain on TV.

I wanted to comment, but then he suddenly stopped, eyes rolling down before he asked.

“We don’t have any lube”. He genuinely sounded worried, but I couldn’t quite tell under the mask. One thing was for sure — and that was the fact that I knew he could see the disappointment creep into my face.

His observation was so annoyingly correct, I mentally cursed myself for not remembering the “one thing” up until this point.

Thankfully, a depraved idea flashed through my mind, carving a one-sided smile on my face as I knelt on the edge of the bed, trapping his legs between my knees.

“Let’s just say, I’m full of surprises”.

He cocked one eyebrow, then attempted to speak, but my hands were fast, shutting him up quickly as each finger worked at his belt, then his trousers. I didn’t hesitate until all his bottoms were pulled to his knees.

“Mhmmm!!” A satisfied hum escaped my lips ... Just before I bent low, my tongue lapping his shaft in until it throbbed deep in my mouth, and all he could do was to let out a hungry groan.

We didn’t stop. Both of us took turns until the night ended, and I was left to my own devices in the morning. Alone and half asleep – still dipping in and out of the recent memory that was last night.

--------------------------

Six hours had passed after my “thrilling rendezvous”, and to be honest, it was all I could ever think of. Even with my headphones on and my agent’s voice – Angie Stewart – currently streaming into my ears, his husky tone still managed to weave its way into every one of my thoughts and actions. It really took the stadium coming into view to be the one time my heart flustered, and it wasn’t because of the mystery man in my head.

“Home,” I mumbled longingly to myself, not aware of the fact that someone was on the other line, ten toes deep into the story I was narrating to her.

“What!!! You were saying about the guy you smashed last night.”

“Woah, woah, Angie! Calm the fuck down. Someone in this walkway might hear you.”

“Ohh! No one is with you. I know how early you get to training. Besides.... “She sucked in her breath, then let out a high-pitched...

‘I want to know what you are going to do next”.

Fuck! Another thing I didn’t think of. Although it wasn’t as if the answer was so obvious. The dude was literally wearing a mask. So, the only logical response was a hard “I DON’T KNOW”.

She wasn’t satisfied, at least it sounded like that when she asked, half yelling through her speaker.

Luckily for me, one of my teammates, Jamie Hodgeson, suddenly appeared right ahead, forcing me to lean my head to one shoulder as I hung up on Angie, letting the classic “I’ll text you, later” mark my departure.

He rushed at me with open arms, and when we embraced, the same term of endearment left our lips. “Bro!!!”

“Where have you been, man. I missed you at the gala last night”, he said after stepping back from the hug, his arms still extended to my shoulders.

“I know, I know, I just ... had to clear my head after ... “, I trailed off, my throat clogging up, as if saying her name had too much behind it.

However, Jamie didn’t let me ponder for long because as soon as my face fell, he drew me closer to one of the walls, our noses nearly touching before he spoke again.

“Speaking of which. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What, what do you mean by that ...’’, I started to probe, but didn’t follow through because some of our teammates had started to jog past us, each one getting a nod from him and I. This continued to the point where every time our heads dropped, he would always start from wherever he stopped, and from the looks of it, everybody passing us seemed to carry this sense of “urgency.”

It was starting to get me curious.

“Why was everyone so anxious to get to training?” I made a quick thought and was about to follow it up with a question, but then, the next person walked by, and suddenly it felt like I was watching a demigod in stride.

Tall, dark, and handsome couldn’t do justice to the man swaggering up to us. Still, his pristine features didn’t hit me as hard as they should. Instead, it was his aura. His presence. His name... Alejandro Barros — that had my belly doing flips.

I blinked thrice, as if this was some sick trick my mind was playing, and yet... he was still here, shoulders nearly behind Jamie now, with our jersey slung over his shoulder and his chest sleek with sweat.

We both gawked at him as he sauntered down the corridor, his brows a little furrowed when he returned the favor, and by the time he disappeared into the distance, that awe suddenly clawed at my liver.

I doubled over, not from pain, but from realization, just as Jamie’s voice trickled down into my ears, breaking my heart with the words I wasn’t prepared to hear.

“I saw you on the transfer list, Miki. Ally’s... Alejandro’s gonna be your replacement.”

The world had never felt so narrow, and I’d never felt so torn. Yet, the moment I felt Jamie leave me with an apology, his “I am sorry” fading along with him, there was only one emotion coursing through my veins... Raw anger. The kind straightening me up while one thought thundered at the back of my skull.

”They would have to claw me out of here first.”

Yes, those were the words I planned to barge in with as my feet carried me forward, chin raised toward the only place fitting for my outrage.

The manager’s office...