ZAVA HAD DECIDED THAT HE DID NOT WANT TO SHOW UP TO HIS WELCOMING CEREMONY. That made them really nervous, but he had signed a contract with them. So, everything was fine. It was just a bit embarrassing. Later, Willie was getting some water when the newest member of their team just came up to her and stood there until she noticed. She jumped slightly when she did, his tall figure a tad looming. "Oh, hi, Zava."

"Hello, Ms. Carrie," he greeted in his heavy accent.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and then, she realized that he was talking about her last name. She was honestly probably lucky that he got that close to saying it right. She corrected, "It's Carlisle."

"Your work is inspiring," he informed her, and she was a bit shocked by the sudden compliment. It was clear that he was proud of himself for being so kind. His sunglasses were on the tip of his nose, which meant that he had to turn his nose up at everything so that they did not fall off. "Please, let me know if you need anything."

"Oh, uh, thanks.," she responded with a nod and a confused smile. He did nothing and just stood there for a moment before turning around and walking away. It walked at a snail's pace, and was going to take him about ten minutes to get all the way down the hall.

She did not get to see it, though, because a strong arm grabbed her hand and pulled her into the empty training room. She was startled and a bit scared until she looked up to see Jamie's face, which eased her nerves. However, she did not even get a chance to say hello before he asked, "What was he talking to you about?"

"Oh. um..." she started.

He cut her off before she could even answer because he was freaking out. There was no way that Zava was taking his team, his locker corner, and his girl. The other two, he could get over, but not Willie. "You really don't want to like him. He's a huge diva, and he thinks he's God's gift to football."

She shot him a pointed look because she knew someone who was exactly like that, and he was standing right in front of her. He had gotten better in the last years or two, but, man, was he a diva.

"Calm down, Jamie. I definitely don't like Zava," she assured him, shaking her head. If she was being honest, the man kind of freaked her out. Plus, man buns were just not her style. "I only talked to him for about thirty seconds, and I'm pretty sure he's married."

"I still don't like him," he told her, and he had this sneer on his face as he looked at the wall and thought about the man. He seemed to be the only person on the team that did not kiss the ground that Zava walked on, and it was very interesting to see.

"He's just like you, except everyone worships him instead of hating his guts," she explained, and that caused him to glare at her. She chuckled at his reaction, but before he could get mad, she told him, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'd pick you over Zava any day."

Now, that made him happy. A smirk appeared on his face as he began to take a few steps toward her. Before, they had been about a yard apart, but that distance was shortening by the second. "Oh really?"

"Now, I think I'll take it back," she responded, a bit nervous. She took tiny steps back as he moved toward her. She was getting pretty close to the wall, and her heart was pounding in her chest as he got closer and closer and closer.

"You can't take it back," he replied. She was now against the wall, and he was looming over her, their faces inches apart. He tilted his head at her, and she would never tell him how fucking hot that was. He reminded her, "You already said it."

His breath was fanning across her lips, and one of his hands rested on her wall beside, almost trapping her. She shrugged, and her shaky voice was not convincing either of them. "Maybe I didn't mean it."

"I think you did," he said. Half a second later, his lips were on hers.

She felt like her whole body was on fire. His hands were on her waist, her hands were in his hair, and she could barely breathe. His fingers tickled the exposed skin of her torso where her blouse had come untucked from her pants. Her nails raked against the back of his neck.

He slid his hands down to her thighs, and, knowing what he was doing, she jumped. He picked her up with their lips connected and carried her over to the table in the middle of the room. He set her down and moved his hands to the top of her thighs to brace himself as he leaned in further. Their lips moved in sync, and it felt like they were molded for each other.

The click of the door caused both of them to fly apart. Jamie backed up to the other side of the room, and Willie worked on tucking her shirt back in. They looked up to see the woman that worked in the training room with her earbuds in. She had not noticed them yet, and she was just going along and doing her thing.

The two that had just been attached at the lips just nodded at each other before shuffling out of the room.

《❂》

ZAVA WAS WORKING FUCKING MIRACLES. The team had never done so good. They were quickly rising towards the top of the charts, and he was scoring goals left and right. He was honestly unstoppable. So, to celebrate all of their recent victories, Sam had invited them to his new restaurant. It had not officially opened yet, but it seemed to be in great shape.

Lois was talking to Richard, and Willie was sipping a drink and trying some samples that the kitchen handed to her when she saw Jamie sitting alone at a table in the corner. He was frowning down at his drink, and she sighed before making her way over to him and having a seat at his table. "What's up with you?"

"Zava."

She figured that was the problem. He had been down ever since the man joined the team. He had actually almost scored the other day, and Zava came in and stole the goal from him, kicking it in when it was already on its way. "Man, he's really got your panties in a twist, huh?"

"Zava is coming nowhere near my panties," he insisted, and she giggled at that. He exhaled deeply and he was gripping his glass so hard that his knuckles were white. "I'm just so used to being the best on my team, and this prick has to come and screw it up."

"Jamie, you're not always going to be the best at everything you do. I know it sucks, but it's true. Zava might be a better player, but you're a better person. And if you ask me, that's what really counts," she told him. The corners of his lips turned upwards in a smile at that.

They both looked up as Roy sat down on the other side of Jamie. There was a moment of silence between all of them before the Kent man spoke up. "You frowning while we're on a win streak, that's a bad look. "

"You frowned your whole career," Jamie reminded him with a scoff. It was true. Willie could not remember the last time that she saw Roy with a smile on his face. Actually, she could, and that was when he was with Keeley.

"No, I never smiled," he corrected him, even though it was kind of incorrect. He did frown. It was not a neutral expression, it was a mad one that they all never wanted to be on the opposite end of. "That's different."

Zava walked into the restaurant with his arms above his head, awaiting the worship of his fellow players. They all cheered, and Dani gave him the friendship bracelet that he made for him. Jamie groaned. "For fuck's sake. There he is, God's gift to those who have everything."

"Best player on the team," Roy commented, and Jamie looked over at him with a glare. Willie had to stop herself from laughing at the sudden comment and the look on the Tartt man's face. "It's true. You used to be the best. Now you're not. It happens. I mean, you still could be if you weren't such a pre-Madonna."

"Did you just call me a pre-Madonna?" Jamie asked, and Willie tilted her head in confusion. It was prima donna, not pre-Madonna. Maybe Roy just said it weird. "It's prima donna. Who the fuck says 'pre-Madonna'? What the fuck does that even mean?"

The Kent man scrambled to defend his thought process. "It means before Madonna, female vocalists didn't have to work that hard."

"Are you mad? You never heard of Tina Turner? Fucking Stevie Nicks?" Jamie scoffed angrily. There were a lot of really good female vocalists before Madonna.

Willie's eyes widened, and she found it so extremely attractive that the Tartt man liked Stevie Nicks. She used to have posters of her on her wall when she was a teenager. "God, I love Stevie Nicks."

"Point is, he's the best player on the team," Roy interrupted, changing the topic of conversation back to what they had originally been talking about. He pointed a finger at the kid. "And right now, all you gotta do is try and keep up with him."

Jamie sighed, shaking his head as he glanced over to where Zava was sitting, so effortlessly talented that it made him mad. "I don't wanna just keep up with him. I wanna be better than him."

"I could train you. But only if you fucking mean it," Roy offered.

Willie's eyes widened. Never did she think that she would see Roy Kent voluntarily helping out Jamie Tartt. The younger man nodded frantically, jumping at the chance to get better. "Yeah. I do mean it. When do we start then?"

"Right fucking now," the older man snapped, and as Jamie was trying to take a bite of food, he slapped the fork out of his hand, causing the dish to plater across teh white tile behind them. A server gave them a dirty look. "We start tomorrow. Four a.m. Clean that up."