“Pardon?” I asked. “I played my arse off. Just like the rest of these guys. We fucked up. We lost. We feel shitty enough as it is.”
Everyone was watching us.
“No,youfucked up, Bradley. You let your team down. If you wear that band, you need to act like a leader. I didn’t see a lot of leading out there today.” Jack tore the band from my arm. “Training starts at eight sharp tomorrow morning.”
Everyone groaned.
“Suck it up, ladies. That’s what happens when you lose. You put in extra time. Be prepared to sweat.” Jack stormed from the dressing room.
“He sure knows how to give a motivational speech,” Alan joked.
“He’s a total jerk,” Finn said.
“A jerk who’s used to winning, boys. Remember that. It would serve you well to follow his advice. To listen to what he has to tell you,” Mario piped up and then turned to me. “And Bradley, keep your personal shit off the pitch.”
“Fuck off, Mario. I’m always professional.”
Mario never came down on me. Not ever.
Mario didn’t say anything else and followed in the direction Jack had gone.
“Damn, they’re a bunch of moody cows,” Shane grumbled.
“Mario’s right though, Bradley, your mind wasn’t in it. You let us all down because your lady left you,” Nolan said.
“Don’t start, Dubois,” Alan warned him.
“If you keep playing like that it will put a serious kink in your negotiations with Liverpool,” Nolan continued, a sneer on his face.
Everything went silent.
You could hear a pin drop.
“Shut your gob, Frenchie,” I snarled, clenching my fists.
“What’s he talking about? I thought you had turned down the Liverpool offer,” Alan asked, glancing between Nolan and me. Shane, Nick, Craig, and Bruno came closer, listening intently.
“They’ve offered him twenty million quid, of course he’s thinking about it. I’ve heard they’ve added a nice signing bonus too.” Who was feeding him information?
“You’re leaving the team, Gov?” Stoney asked, looking a mixture of sad and betrayed.
“I never said I was—”
“Twenty million quid? Why are they offering you that much? You’ve played in the Premier League for half a fucking season? Some of us have been kicking around longer than that,” Shane exclaimed and I could tell he was getting angry. It was true that money and contracts could tear a team apart. I was seeing that right now.
Everyone stared at me. Some were openly hostile. Most were hurt.
Fucking Nolan Dubois. I was going to kick his arse.
“You’ve just been waiting to drop that bombshell, haven’t you?” I asked, deadly calm. Alan knew the look in my eye was dangerous. He moved to stand between me and the man I was starting to hate above all others.
“I just think the team should know how committed their captain is. Or should I say howuncommitted.” Nolan shrugged in that nonchalant European way that made me want to bash his brains out.
“You slimy, motherfucker—”
“Don’t start on Nolan because he let your secret out. He wasn’t the one thinking of bailing on his squad,” Nick snapped.
“So you’re telling me if Man City or Chelsea came knocking offering you millions of pounds you wouldn’t be tempted?” I asked, my voice rising to a shout.
