Chapter 2 - Fred Ashford

Fred POV

“What are you thinking?” I hear a girl’s voice behind me and for a split second, I close my eyes, pretending to be asleep. “I can make you forget whatever it is you’re thinking,” she says, and I feel a chill down my spine.

“No thanks,” I say as I sit up on the bed, placing my feet on the floor. I stretch my arms up and stand up. I realize I am naked but I was never a prude and walking naked in my own house has always been a guilty pleasure for me. I find my boxers on the floor and I quickly pick it up, pulling it up my legs and covering my junk.

“Maybe you should get dressed and leave,” I say as I look back over my shoulder to the blonde girl lying on my bed. Her eyes widen as she looks at me and she pulls the sheet away from her body, revealing a milk color skin to her naked body.

“Or maybe you should come back to bed,” she says and I shake my head as I put on a t-shirt I found on the back of the chair.

“I think you need to go,” I say and she pouts as she crawls on the bed, reaching to the end where I am standing. Her hands move up my torso as she stands on her knees. Her arms serpent around my neck and Slowly I love my hands to her wrists pulling her away from me.

“I think you need to leave,” I say again and she sits on her ankles and crosses her arms under her large breasts, making them look bigger. I can’t help but scan them before I turn my back to her and walk into the bathroom attached to my bedroom. I close the door and turn the shower on. Maybe she will get the hint now.

I rest my hands on the sink as I close my eyes. My life has been turned upside down and there’s nothing I can do to fix it. I am waiting for the lawyers to work with the police to clear my name, but in the meantime, I am being accused everywhere of rape. I have never touched a woman that didn’t want to be touched. Consent has always been a very important thing to me.

I open my eyes and look at my reflection in the mirror. I look like a ghost of the man I used to be, everything has been taken from me, my life, my girlfriend, my friends, and my career. One girl coming out and lying about me made me lose everything. I shake my head as I feel like punching the glass to chatter it into a thousand little pieces.

I get rid of the clothes I gathered from the floor and walk into the shower. I keep replaying that night over and over in my head. I remember Carter and Mike inviting me out for drinks. We went to our usual spot next to the stadium. We had a few beers and some food, then we met some girls and some of the other guys joined us. I know we ended up in the owner of the girls’ houses.

I was way too drunk to get anything to work at that point. I remember calling Jude to pick me up because I was way out of it and I would not be able to get home by myself. How the fuck would I even be able to force myself into a girl? I had a girlfriend at the time as well. I might be a lot of things, but I am not a cheater.

I loved Caroline my entire life, and when she finally gave me the time of day, I was the happiest man alive; I dropped my Playboy conquests; I started going home straight after the games and training sessions. I am tamed by the girl, except that night.

I shake my head as I feel the hot water falling down my back as I keep trying to remember more. I can’t even remember the girl that is accusing me of rape. My lawyers keep saying they will get me out of this clean. There’s no evidence, but I will still have to go to trial, and I will be put in front of a jury. I just want this fucking nightmare to be over.

I want my life back. I want my girlfriend back. A knock on the door brings me back to reality. I look over my shoulder to see the door opening and the blond walking into the bathroom. I take a deep breath as I move my hands over my face, shaking my head.

“I thought I told you to leave,” I say, and she shakes her head as she opens the glass door and walks into the shower standing next to me.

“I know you don’t want to be alone. No one does, especially with everything that is going on with you,” she says as she moves her hands up and down my chest. I look at her small hands and close my eyes for a split second while she moves them down toward my junk.

“Don’t,” I say and she looks up at me as she kneels. I grab her wrist and make her stand up, pressing her back against the icy wall of the shower. She gasps at the movement and smiles, biting her lower lip.

“I told you to leave. I will call security if you don’t leave in the next two minutes,” I say and her eyes widen as she looks around and then back at me.

“Maybe you deserve what is happening to you. I was trying to help you, you jerk,” she says as she walks out of the shower and into the bathroom. Her ass moves in perfect motion as she walks and I shake my head as the water falls down my face. I close my eyes, trying to think about what to do next.

I can hear the door slamming and I feel like I can finally breathe as I am alone again. Finally. I take a deep breath as I turn the water off and wrap a towel around my waist. I have a meeting today with the team to meet the new PR person. I hope the guy won’t fuck me up too badly.

I walk into my walking closet and dressing room to find one of my navy suits ready to be worn. Whenever we have to be seen walking to the stadium, we need to wear a suit. That’s what is expected of us and that’s what I do.

After getting dressed and putting on my watch and some aftershave, I decided to drive. I am giving my personal driver some time off. The guy has a family and I don’t want his kids being associated with the image that is being painted of me. He is a nice guy, and he doesn’t deserve that. He told me several times he wouldn’t mind; he believed in me, but hey… I am just a guy being accused of raping a girl that is underage.

I always check every girl’s ID. I am always very cautious about that, but because we were all together as a team, I never thought an underage girl would be between over ten hockey players. Fucking Puck bunnies.

Once I arrive at the stadium, the boys have finished the training session. I miss training with them; I am not even allowed that anymore. I have to keep my distance. I can’t even come to watch the games. The managers are keeping me away because of how my bad image can reflect on them. At this point, I am even surprised how they still have me in contract and they haven’t found a way of getting rid of me.

I walk through the corridors to the changing room, and I can hear the boys cheering and whistling. When I open the door and they see me, they all smile and start greeting me. These fuckers are the only ones besides my family that believe in me. They are my ride-or-die. They know I would never do that to a girl, let alone an underage girl.

“Ashford, how have you been?” Moore asks as he shakes my hand and I smile, patting his back.

“I’m good, man. How’s the girls?” I ask, and he smiles, walking to his locker and retrieving the picture of his two little girls. “Fuck, they are growing fast,” I say and he nods, looking lovingly at the picture.

“He’s going to buy a gun soon. Shine is almost a teenager,” Thomas says as he rests one hand on my shoulder and I nod.

“Keeping the guys away,” I say, and Thomas laughs, nodding.

“I can already see him running after the guy,” Thomas lets out as Moore smacks him on the back of the head.

“And I can see you running around the stadium if you don’t shut the fuck up,” Moore says, and I can’t help but chuckle. I miss the guys. I keep greeting everyone until the coach calls me into his office. “See you in a second, boys,” I say as I follow him.

“How have you been Fred?” He asks as I sit on the chair and cross my legs.

“Same shit, different day. When can I come back, coach?” I ask, and he crosses his arms.

“We have to see what the new PR team is going to say,” he tells me and I nod. I have been waiting far too long for this, and I sure hope the new guy doesn’t make me quit the team. We spend a good ten minutes chatting when a knock on the door brings us back to reality.

“It’s time,” Moore says and we nod, walking back into the changing room. When I look around, all the boys are sitting on the benches in front of their lockers watching a girl talk.

“Who’s the chick?” I ask, nudging Moore and he smiles and points at her.

“The new PR,” he says, and when she turns, I recognize her. I frown, look at him, and smile.

“Why is an I*******m model pretending to be PR?” I ask, and he frowns, looking at me.

“Do you have anything to say to the team, Mr. Ashford?” She says and I clear my throat, standing up and doing the button of my jacket. All the eyes are on me as I walk to her offering my hand.

“Frederick Ashford,” I say, and she looks at my hand and then up into my eyes and crosses her arms in front of her breasts. They are small but perky. I can see her nipples pressed against the soft fabric in front of them.

“I know who you are, and you better go back to your seat and listen to me, because if we are under a PR nightmare is because of you mostly,” she says, and I dry swallow, and everyone whistles and cheers her on.

“Shut the fuck up,” I say, walking back to my seat, and Moore rests one hand on my shoulder.

“That one doesn’t seem to care about our charm. She is a tough cookie,” he says, and I take a deep breath as I watch her move. Her jeans are glued to her ass as if they are one size too small while her white blouse floats a little, but still lets us see her perky nipples against it.

“My eyes are up here Mr. Ashford,” she says, and I snap my eyes up to her, and she looks like she is about to kill me. “I won’t tolerate anyone looking at me in a sexual way, I am here to clean up your mess, to make you look like a gentleman, and to make the fans fall back in love with you and the game, Don’t make me regret accepting this job,” she says as she moves her eyes from mine to the other guys around.

“Yes ma’am,” we say in unison, and she nods as she turns her back back to us and keeps writing on the whiteboard she is facing.