Compared to other sports, the off-season for soccer is very, very short. Only a couple months long, depending on a team's playoff schedule. But this past couple of months have been some of the most fun I can remember in a long time.On the party front, things died down a lot. The players who are married with families tend to go on a lot of vacations during the off-season and spend a lot of time at home while they can. And most of the single players head to their home town during that time. It's easier to save money when they're living with their parents and doing their off-season training at a local gym.Rowen, however, stuck around. And I suspect it had to do with me.We spent those months really getting to know each other. We explored tourist spots all over the city. We went to Galveston for a day trip. We did a lot of people watching.We went to almost every museum in Houston including my favorite, the John C. Freeman Weather Museum. There's so much to see and do there, including a

I watch Tiffany from across the room while I nurse my beer. A smile lights up her face as she chats with one of the newest players, a rookie who just came to us from Tulsa. Darren something-or-other. No doubt they're talking shop. She always looks happy when she's talking sports. She's so damn beautiful. And of all the guys she could have chosen, she chose me. Unbelievable.She hasn't made eye contact with me since the incident with Mack. I knew she would turn him down. At least, I really hoped she would. But I can't figure out how I ended up being the bad guy in that exchange."What are you doing over here while your woman is over there?" Daniel sits down next to me, slapping me on the back in greeting."Hey. What are you doing here? Quincy let you out of the house?""She's having a girls' night with Geni or something. Besides, I always come to the first party of the year.""Really?"He shrugs. "Just to make a showing. Team unity and all that shit." I nod and suck in my beer some more

I hear the commotion as people surround us and feel my head ricochet back when her fist connects with my mouth. Immediately my hands are on my mouth and I taste the blood on my tongue.Within seconds, she's being ripped off of me. Her legs are flailing and she's screaming for the man to put her down. And she's holding a chunk of my hair."Let me go! She's a fucking whore and she doesn't deserve to be here! Let me fucking go!"Quincy is almost immediately by my side. She puts her arm around me and leads me to the door. "Come on. Joe! Take us to the training room. You know where it's at?""Yes, ma'am," the bartender says and opens the door, stepping out in the hallway with us following behind him. There's blood all over my hands and my head feels like it's been pounded with nails. We walk about a hundred yards before security joins us and leads us the rest of the way around a maze of hallways. We end up in a brightly lit room where three or four guys in Mutiny staff uniforms are loungin

Tiffany was basically fine. I knew that when I took her home that night but I think I was a little shaken up by seeing her bloodied up. If it had been a man that had lifted a fist to her, I would have tracked him down and given him a taste of his own medicine. But being that it was another woman, well, the only thing I could do was take care of Tiffany.Nate and I had words, first, though. He was pretty pissed when he found out his wife had gotten smashed at a game and acted like that. But that didn't keep him from running his mouth off at me. He vowed to make my life hell if I ever got in his face again, to which I rolled my eyes and walked away. Telling him to get his wife's behavior under control was hardly stepping out of line, especially when someone else was injured by her actions. Not to mention, the owners don't like it when people close to the organization draw unnecessary press to the team.After Daniel found out what had happened, he went straight to Coach and warned him bef

I fucked up. I fucked up so bad.I told her she was worth more than that. That she wasn't just an object for someone's pleasure. That she was letting herself be disrespected. And then I treated her like a groupie whore.And I hate myself for it."What are you still doing out here, Rookie?"I look over at the sound of Daniel's voice. He and Christian are headed my direction. Everyone else went straight to the locker room after practice except me. I decided to stay and do some drills for my cross kick. It's not bad, but it's not as good as I want it to be. Plus, I have this whole mess with Tiffany on my mind so I have energy to burn right now. And I definitely don't want to be in close quarters with Shivel."Just doing a little extra practice," I say as I flip the ball up with my toe and catch it as they get closer."Three hours of drills and scrimmage wasn't enough for you?"I shrug. "I'm still keyed up. Might as well take advantage of it."Daniel squints at me, like he's assessing me.