Playing to Win (The Players #3)

by Monica Murphy

“Lavender Haze” - Taylor Swift

His confidence practically resonates throughout the room and it doesn’t hurt that he’s gorgeous. His best feature is his beautiful smile—it’s broad and friendly and slightly mischievous. From where I’m standing, he appears to have a beautiful everything.

We stop in front of the newly, publicly launched couple, a pang in my heart when I see the way Cam looks at my sister. As if the sun rises and sets on her head. Like she’s the only person he sees.

“You were pretty confident in your pursuit of me,” Cam tells my sister. Blair glances over at Cam, her eyes wide with surprise. “You think so?” “Oh yeah. You wore me down.” He leans down to kiss her and she reaches out, pinching his lips together. “Ow.” “Wore you down,” Blair mumbles, shaking her head. “More like you couldn’t resist me.” “Same difference.”

“Introduce me, future brother-in-law. I want to meet that guy.” “Ruby.” Blair’s eyes are wide, like she hates that I just said that, but I couldn’t resist. Cam doesn’t appear to mind though. The smile on his face is soft, like he might even enjoy the idea of being part of the Maguire family, and that’s when it hits me.

“Nice to meet you, beautiful.”

Ruby Maguire is a hot piece of ass.

“Oh shit. Ruby.” He starts toward me and I hold up my hand, stopping him. “Fuck off, Ace.” Before I can hear him say anything, defend himself, whatever… I’m gone.

Though there is someone on the team I’d rather avoid… I’d rather not think about him at all. That’s been my plan since I walked onto this campus.

The man is obsessed with her and she seems to feel the same way about him. I guess I can’t blame her. They’re madly in love. They want to be together as much as possible.

since Blair did the same thing as Joanna and she’s now living with Cam.

“Take the job if they offer it to you. Make his life a living hell,” Natalie says, sobering up quickly.

“I hate him.” “You do not.” “I do. If you hate him, I hate him.”

I don’t hate Ace Townsend. Though I am still pissed over what happened on New Year’s Eve. I thought we had a connection. We definitely had chemistry. That almost kiss in the bathroom still ranks as one of the hottest moments I’ve ever experienced, but then he had to go off and ruin everything.

Kissing another girl on New Year’s Eve isn’t necessarily a crime, but I don’t want to deal with a guy like that. He can’t commit. Not even...

At the time, my thoughts were all about someone temporary. The good-time guy who knows how to have fun. But he couldn’t even manage that and over the last eight months, I’ve had some…thoughts. No more settling for the guy who obviously doesn’t want to commit. I deserve a man who’s totally into me. I...

I’m the type who goes all in. I either wanted to party all the time like I did my first year in college, or like last semester, when I threw myself completely into my studies and focused on nothing else. I need to learn how to balance myself out a little more, where I can have fun, but I can also be serious. It’s like I don’t know how to be one with the other.

“Of course, you can. You’re Ruby Fucking Maguire. You can do anything you set your sights on,”

I’ve never let my insecurities get me down. Throughout high school, I was a total overachiever, both in class and in my extracurriculars. I love a schedule, staying busy, creating things, doing things. But the moment I graduated high school and went away to college, I’ve felt…wayward. A little lost. Unsure of myself. I can’t explain why. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing here, if that makes any sense. What’s my purpose in life? Why are we expected to have our life plan in place at eighteen and know what we want for our future career?

These girls don’t understand that sometimes I just want to…be. Instead of dealing with the constant fangirling I can’t shake.

My gaze snags on a woman in the distance, her back to me, long blonde hair spilling down her back. She moves in a way that feels familiar and I sit up straighter, hoping it might be— The woman turns, her profile visible and I slunk back in my seat, disappointment filling me. She’s not Ruby Maguire. Not even close.

I stalk her social media.

Ruby feels like the one who got away. The one I blew it with. That tantalizing moment with her in the bathroom on New Year’s Eve still lives rent free in my head and I can’t shake it. I didn’t even kiss her. It’s one of my biggest regrets—that I don’t know the taste of Ruby Maguire’s lips. I should’ve tried to explain myself better after she caught me at midnight with someone else. I should’ve never let that girl drag me into the bathroom in the first place. Talk about a colossal mistake.

I’m still hung up on her.

“Ugh, that guy.” Gwen blows out a harsh breath, her expression turning guilty when she notices I’m glaring at her. I mean, I know she’s my superior, but she’s bashing my brother. Right in front of me. That’s not cool.

I’m the lone Maguire left. Do they even care? I know there’s one who might, but from the vibe I got from him that night at the New Year’s party, I’m sure he’s already moved on. I don’t matter to him. And he doesn’t matter to me either. Considering I’m going to avoid Ace Townsend at all costs, I’m not too worried about this. At all.

“Ace Townsend is kind of an asshole.”

The other half of my brain is wondering how I’m going to deal with seeing Ace tomorrow. Am I making a bigger deal about this than I need to be? Probably, but that’s always been my mode of operation. I sort of make a big deal over…everything. I guess Ace is no exception.

He definitely blew it that night. I would’ve done pretty much anything with him to experience that heady, all-consuming chemistry I felt with him during that moment in the bathroom. I haven’t experienced something like that with a guy before or since. And it really better not be a one-shot moment only with that guy. If that’s the case? I’m freaking doomed.

“Wait a minute. I recognize that blonde,” Derek mutters. I check out the blonde he’s speaking of, my heart tumbling over itself when I realize I recognize that blonde too. Oh shit. I’m pretty sure that’s Ruby Maguire.

I really hate it when he calls us boys, but I live for putting on a show and I’m ready to perform. Especially for Ruby Maguire. Is she on our social media team? Looks like it. How fucking lucky can I get? From what I remember last year, we had a lot of interaction with them. After a while, we didn’t even notice they were there, because they were always around. Don’t know how that’ll be possible with Ruby. I mean, look at her. How can I not notice her?

Ruby Maguire is sexy as fuck and she’s not doing a damn thing. Just standing there, while my body reacts like I’ve just been completely overstimulated. Damn it, I need to focus.

I take a step closer to her, regretting my decision the moment I do it. Her scent is even stronger now. And I can see the delicate spray of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Actual freckles. She’s adorable.

“Hopefully you’re up to the challenge.” “What challenge?” My eyebrows shoot up at her tone of voice. “You’ll need to be the stuff of every girl’s fantasy.”

“I can handle that.” “Really?” “Definitely.” I grin. “I’m sure I’ve starred in a few of your fantasies.”

No flirting with Ace Townsend allowed.

“I thought you were going to be supportive.” “And I thought you had your shit together.” He grins,

“You said my name.” He rests his hand on his chest, full of drama. “Does this mean you forgive me?” “What do I need to forgive you for?” My tone is overly-exaggerated and I’m blinking at him like I’m some sort of dumb doll. He drops his hand at his side. “You know what I did. At that party.” “Oh, how you kissed some other skank at midnight? After trying to feel me up in the bathroom?”

“Yeah. That.” His expression turns serious. “I feel bad about it.” “It was nothing.” I wave my hand dismissively. “Just to let you know, she kissed me first. I didn’t kiss her.” He levels his gaze on me, his expression dead serious.

“Hey, Townsend.” Derek nudges me extra hard in the side, making me grunt. “Isn’t that your girlfriend over there?” I whip my head around, ready to claim whoever the next female I set eyes on as my girlfriend. “Where do you see her?” I ask, playing along. “Right there, idiot,” Derek mumbles, and when my gaze lands on the familiar face, I nearly pass out with relief. It’s Ruby.

Ruby frowns. “Red?” “Well, yeah.” “My hair is blonde.” She picks up a chunk of it, showing me like I’ve never noticed before. “I know.” “Why are you calling me Red?” “Your name is Ruby. And a ruby is red, you know?”

Damn, she’s pretty.

“Yo, Maguire.” We both turn in Derek’s direction. “Your boy here called you his girlfriend.”

This man is off limits. I can’t think about doing anything with him because it puts my job at risk. And I like my new job. I don’t want to lose it for some dumb jock who’ll eventually disappoint me anyway.

Ace nods, drumming his fingers on the table. I stare at those fingers. They’re long and almost elegant and they can throw a ball like no other. I wonder what else they can do? My body goes warm, thinking nothing but dirty thoughts. His fingers undressing me. Sliding around my neck. Pinning me in place…

“You’re staring.” “You’re hot.” I’m taken aback by his blatant statement. “Seriously?” “Are you fishing for compliments?” His brows shoot up. “Come on, Red. You have to know you’re sexy as fuck.”

Ummm…I wasn’t expecting that. “I’m definitely not fishing for compliments.” “Right. You just want to hear me call you hot again.” He leans in a little closer, his gaze lingering on my lips once more. “You’re pretty fucking hot, Red.” “That is a dumb nickname,” I murmur, refusing to let his words make me feel a certain way. “People won’t get it.”

“We don’t need anyone else to get it.” His smile is small and a little sneaky and a lot sexy. Ugh. ...

“I have a feeling we’d be really good together.” I hate how rattled his words leave me. How intrigued I am by him. Maybe we would be good together. In fact, we might even be freaking fantastic together. I get the sense Ace knows exactly what he’s doing sexually. He’s in peak athletic form. I saw the way he moved out on that field earlier. If I let him, I’d bet he could fuck me into oblivion and I’d die happily satisfied.

He’s the type of guy who pulls you into his orbit, makes you feel like no one else matters but you, and then promptly dumps you without warning when someone else catches his attention. I’ve dealt with this sort of thing—this sort of guy—before. I’m not interested in putting myself through that again.