Resisting The Bad Boy

Chapter Eight

Daxton’s POV

I was right, Monday sucked balls. Coach hauled my ass into the office first thing and chewed me a new ass hole whilst I sat with my mouth shut and took the tongue lashing. I was then given fifty extra of every warm up and made to run laps of the court whilst everyone else did drills. By the time I got back to the changing rooms I thought my legs were going to fall off from the aches in my muscles.

Maksim had laughed, clapped me on the shoulder and told me I got what I deserved before heading into the showers buck naked, a towel thrown over his shoulder.

It’s now Wednesday and the team and I have just dragged our asses back into the locker room after a punishing training session.

‘Diagilo!’ Coach barks from his office, our new Rookie snapping his head up before he stands, shaking his blonde hair out of his eyes as he drops his shirt onto the bench and strides toward Coach’s door, disappearing inside.

The kid is nineteen, just signed to the warriors and I’ve got to say he’s good. He’s not gunning for my spot, he’s a back up for Campbell who is pushing himself twice as hard since the kid got here. No one likes to know that their replacement is warming the bench just waiting for them to f*ck up.

‘You think he’s about to be bounced up to starting point forward?’ Jared Grange, a tall lanky guy with black hair calls out to Campbell who flips him his middle finger in response, making the guy laugh loudly. ‘Hey, maybe coach has decided you are more interested in p***y than the ball, you sure looked tired out there today’ he goads, ‘is it time to hang up your jersey? Maybe Coach thinks it’s time to give the Rookie a shot, see what he’s got to offer.’

‘Piss off Grange’ Campbell retorts mutinously, ‘no one is taking my spot.’

I knock his shoulder, getting my friend’s attention, ‘hey’ I murmur, ‘don’t let the guy get under your skin, you know that you are going nowhere.’

Campbell shakes his head, tugging angrily at his laces, ‘yeah, I know, asshole just doesn’t know when to shut his mouth’ he mutters darkly.

A few seconds later, Maverick Diagilo steps back out of the office, a small smile on his face.

‘Yo! Diagilo, what was said?’ Jared calls out eagerly as we all turn toward the newbie who looks a little shell shocked.

‘Uhh, I have someone who is going to help me with my online stuff’ he mumbles uncertainly.

Jared laughs, ‘yeah, is it a woman? is she sexy?’ he asks hopefully, ‘my first PR girl was, man I had a boner for the first year of being with the team’ he adds wistfully.

Maverick looks confused whilst Maksim who has walked back out from the shower throws his towel at the laughing man, hitting him in the face.

‘Hey, we don’t talk like that about the people who help us’ he growls, ‘if Diagilo has a lady getting him exposure he needs to keep his mouth shut and his d**k limp. These people get us good endorsements that bump up all our pay checks so we don’t f**k around with them, got it?’

He glares around at us all as Jared’s eyes widen, ‘hey man, I’m just messing, no harm no foul’ he mumbles uncertainly, ‘we know that the PR people aren’t like the ball chasers standing outside the arena.’

‘Good’ the huge black man growls as he drops to the bench and starts towelling himself dry with a second towel.

I glance over at my friend, but he ignores everyone, rubbing the droplets of water from his body before chucking the towel into the dirty linen basket and pulling on his clothes.

‘Dax’ Campbell’s voice draws my attention back and I raise my eyes to the guy in front of me who is now fully dressed in a suit and ready to head out. ‘You heading down to the bar?’ he asks, hitching his thumb over his shoulder as he speaks.

I open my mouth to agree just as Coach Warner appears in his doorway and glares at me. If looks could kill, I’d be buried already. I shake my head regretfully, ‘nah mate, I’m out’ I reply, ‘I could do with crashing early.’

‘Come on dude, I need my wingman’ Campbell groans, crossing his arms over his chest as he gives me a pitiful look.

I grimace but stick to my guns, ‘sorry dude, next time’ I sigh, ‘I need to ring my sister anyway.’

The Point forward’s smile widens as he claps my shoulder, ‘how is Kota?’ he asks immediately, ‘and the baby? He must be getting big now, he’s what four months?’

All the guys love Dakota, she’s been over a few times to visit and they treat her like she’s their own flesh and blood. I didn’t even have to warn the guys away from her, not that I got the chance, Declan staked his claim in front of the entire team and made it clear that anyone who so much as looked her way with heat would be struggling to see through two black eyes afterward.

‘Seven months’ I correct, a smile tugging at my lips as it does every time my nephew comes to mind. I love the little booger more than I thought possible and I hate that I see him so irregularly. I’ve only seen him a handful of times since he was born, and video calls are not the same as seeing the little guy in person.

‘Damn, already?’ Campbell huffs out as he drags his fingers through his damp hair, ‘soon he’ll have a job and a girl and we’ll all be old farts that he used to know.’

I laugh as I shake my head, ‘he can’t even walk yet dude’ I retort.

Campbell waves a hand, ‘that girl needs to bring him up here to visit’ he says sternly, ‘tell her that Uncle Campbell needs some serious time with the little guy.’

I raise an eyebrow at him, ‘you just want to walk out with him into the crowd of girls so that they fawn all over him and give you their phone numbers’ I reply.

Campbell laughs nodding his head, ‘you know it’ he replies, ‘babies are chick magnets man, especially when they find out that the kid isn’t yours.’

I growl teasingly, ‘you are not pimping out my nephew to pick up women’ I snipe, pointing a finger at him. ‘If anyone is going to use him to get girls it’s going to be his uncle Daxton.’

The point forward chuckles as he moves toward the door, ‘fine’ he grumbles, ‘though I know it’s just because you’re jealous that Denver likes me more than you.’

I scratch my nose with my middle finger, ‘keep telling yourself that’ I retort, ‘but I’ll always be number one uncle.’

I turn away to finish getting dressed, the locker room almost empty by the time I’m in my suit and slamming my locker door shut. The only one left is the Rookie and I have a sneaking suspicion that he’s waiting for everyone to leave so he can head back to the court and put some more time in. I’ll give it to the guy, he’s hungry for a starting spot and he’s not afraid of the work needed to get there.

Grabbing my bag, I head toward the door, my fingers curling around the handle as I glance over my shoulder at Maverick who is messing around with the lace on one of his sneakers.

‘See you tomorrow Diagilo’ I call out causing the Rookie to jump slightly as his gaze swings toward me.

‘What? Oh yeah, see you’ he replies, giving me a small wave.

Chuckling, I head out of the door, letting it swing shut behind me and start to head down toward the entrance of the building.

Walking past the drinks machine halfway down the corridor, I stop and back up a few steps, dropping my bag by my feet as I rummage in my pocket for some bills to buy a sports drink.

‘You have got to be kidding me’ suddenly comes an angry voice from behind me, stopping my hand inches from the slot in the machine as my shoulders bunch instinctively.

I know that voice, but I can’t be right, I haven’t seen her in a couple of years, not since Wade’s wedding. Turning around I come face to face with the furious gaze of Lilian Sanchez, my sister’s best friend from college.

Unable to stop it, a smirk crawls across my face as I lean against the drink machine, my arms crossing over my chest as I let my gaze run up her body, soaking her in.

‘Lil’ I drawl when my eyes finally flick back up to met her own again.

‘It’s Lilian’ the bronzed beauty in front of me snaps as she flicks her thick black hair over her shoulder. The same hair I have wanted to wrap around my fist and use to hold her too me since the day she called me a man w***e and informed me I would never ever see what was under that cute pirate outfit she had been sporting at a frat party a few weeks before.

Dammit, just the thought of that fancy dress outfit had me shifting uncomfortably as my body reacts to the mental image that may or may not have been a part of my s***k bank ever since.

‘What are you doing here Lilian?’ I continued, giving her my signature smirk that normally have the women fawning over me. Not Lilian Sanchez though, if anything, my smile ratchets up her fury by another couple of degrees.

Throwing me a look of disgust, she hisses back, ‘I am here to see a client, what are you doing here?’

My eyebrows raise in surprise, ‘I play for the San Francisco Warriors, didn’t Kota tell you?’ I added curiously, though by the look on the face of the woman in front of me, she hadn’t.

Lilian blinks, shock flickering across her features as she grips the briefcase in her hand tighter. ‘No’ she scowls, ‘no she didn’t.’

‘she didn’t mention a damn word, which is something we will be discussing later’ she adds under her breath and I have to turn slightly to deal with my body’s reaction, angry Lilian has always done it for me.