The Jock and the Geek (Gone Geek Book 3)

  The Jock and the Geek

  Gone Geek

  Sidney Bristol

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  The Jock and the Geek

  Gone Geek 3

  Samantha Grant is at a dead end in life. Fired from her job because her father happens to be the Secretary of State is just the icing on the cake. At least she has Monster-Go to fill her empty hours. Except she's not the only one playing the augmented reality phone game. Her ex, the jockiest jock of all is, too. And he just happens to be on the rival team. She'll take this competition to a whole new level in the name of winning the title as the best Monster Master in the Capital.

  Oliver Falcón is in love with his boss' daughter. The problem is, she hates him with the passion of a thousand, fiery suns. He broke her heart to protect her once, and now he wants her back. Strategy has always been his gift, and this time he's got a plan to not only win Sam back, but show her just how much he belongs in her world. He's gone geek, and he's never going back. Past secrets haunt the former lovers, and as much as Oliver wants Sam back in his arms, he'll break her heart again if it means protecting her.

  To all those who have wanted to live a fantasy.

  Even if we don't understand each other, that's not a reason to reject each other. There are two sides to any argument. is there one point of view that has all the answers?

  Give it some thought.

  ― ALDER, POKÉMON BLACK AND WHITE

  Table of Contents

  1.

  2.

  3.

  4.

  5.

  6.

  7.

  8.

  9.

  10.

  11.

  12.

  13.

  14.

  15.

  16.

  17.

  18.

  19.

  20.

  21.

  22.

  23.

  Epilogue.

  1.

  Oliver Falcón knew she was there. He didn’t even have to look to know she’d entered the ballroom for the state dinner. There was simply an awareness of her. Always had been. Always would be.

  He turned casually from the French dignitary so he could glimpse the entrance of Secretary of State Timothy Grant and his family. Timothy’s history of supporting the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and subsequent political career had made him a favorite for the office when he was asked to consider it. He was a man who spoke softly and carried a big stick, as the Americans liked to say. But tonight it wasn’t Oliver’s boss who commanded his attention. It was the young woman behind him, the one wearing a polite, if bored, expression.

  Samantha Grant.

  She hadn’t said a kind word to Oliver in years, and yet the sight of her always made him smile.

  How was she doing?

  How was she handling this transition period?

  He wanted to ask her, to find out how she was doing, but she’d never give him a straight answer.

  She’d been forced to leave her public relations position with a prominent Senator because of her father’s new role in the government. The last Oliver had heard she was “taking time to herself to evaluate her career path.” Polite words that meant her options were limited due to her father’s success. Oliver doubted that she’d stepped down without a fight. She’d probably given one hell of a Hail Mary before the score was tallied. For as long as he’d known her, Sam had never given up on what she wanted. Once she made her mind up, that was it. He even had the scars to prove it.

  Her gaze swept the ballroom. He held his breath.

  Would she look him in the eye?

  Not this time.

  Her gaze skipped over him without so much as a raised eyebrow or a hint of acknowledgement. He’d simply ceased to exist in her world. The way it had been between them since college. Try as he might to bridge the gap, she didn’t want to make amends.

  They were bitter rivals.

  Like the Yankees and the Red Socks.

  The Packers and the Bears.

  Could he blame her? Ten years and change later, he still felt the deep bite of guilt for what he’d done to her. That her father treated him like a son made it that much worse, and he was acutely aware of that.

  “Oliver?”

  “Sorry, you were saying?” He shifted his attention back to Hugues Durand. As part of the Secretary of State’s staff, Oliver had to have big ears and Hugues liked to talk.

  Oliver focused on what the man was saying, his concerns about the future of the European market and America’s place in it all. He was barking up the wrong tree. Secretary of State Grant had very concrete ideas about trade and the markets weren’t going to be shifted by one person’s wants. Oliver couldn’t say that, however.

  Sam strolled into his line of sight, shadowing her older sister, Lily. She was…radiant. Her pale blue, sparkling evening gown hugged all the right curves while remaining tasteful. She had the gift of simple elegance without even trying. In a room full of people, she stood out. Poised. Ready. Articulate. Intelligent. Many people assumed that her tendency to listen first meant she was a pushover, but Timothy Grant didn’t raise his daughters without a spine of steel. She’d grown up into a ballsy, take-no-prisoners woman—not all that dissimilar from the teenage girl who’d dressed him down, chewed him up, and spit him out with reason.

  The day she’d left him standing speechless at his locker after busting his balls—watching her single, long braid swish back and forth—was the day he knew she was…something to him. He hadn’t figured it out until college and then…well, he had a lot of regrets.

  “I’ll be sure to pass along your concerns to the Secretary. Enjoy your evening, sir.” Oliver smiled and turned away from the man, eager to get a moment of peace.

  He turned to face the wall and hoped no one else approached him. Most of the world was still trying to figure out how to interact with the new Secretary, and an easy way to feel him out was through Oliver and the rest of the staff.

  Okay, what he really wanted to do was check out the ongoing Monster-Go battle taking place over at the White House dojo. Ever since the game hit the news, the Secretary had wanted to know more about it. Was it a security risk? Could they use it to interact with the public? How did it work?

  Timothy could always have asked his middle daughter, Rashae, for the scoop. The game was totally in her wheelhouse. But for some reason, he’d wanted the rundown from Oliver. He hadn’t understood the initial craze and neither had anyone in their office.

  So he’d installed it.

  And it all went downhill from there.

  At first, he’d simply done what anyone curious about the game had done.

  He’d signed in, captured his first little…monster…thing, and gone outside. The game wasn’t all that intuitive, but he’d caught on fairly quick. He followed where the screen led him by identifying places within the game that were associated with real world landmarks. The first one he’d gone to was a waystation where Monster Masters congregated to fill their digital bags with equipment. When he’d run into other people staring at their phones, he’d asked them the need-to-know facts he hadn’t figure out on his own and gone from there.

  Yeah, in the first two weeks he’d grumbled about it and played off his addiction by blaming it on work.

  It wasn’t work.

  He was hooked.

  The concept was easy. Walk around looking at his phone, and when a monster popped up, capture it with little yellow and white balls. In addition, players could join one of three teams and compete for things called dojos where monsters and their masters traine
d. That was what had hooked him. Having the most badass monster…and winning. It appealed to his competitive streak, but also gave him something to do when he needed to clear his head.

  He activated the app and waited for it to load.

  His avatar appeared on the screen. He was just out of range to pick up what was going on in the dojo not far away. Though he was in the White House, the dojo was in the public areas clear on the other side of the building. Lightning bolts signified the dojo was still hotly contested.

  Maybe if he went out on the balcony he could check in?

  Chances were, he didn’t have any monsters at a high enough level to participate. Landmarks like the White House brought out the Monster-Go All Stars, people with behemoth creatures that were near impossible to beat. It didn’t mean he wasn’t invested in the outcome. He was a proud team blue member, after all.

  Oliver glanced around, his gaze lingering on Sam’s bare back.

  He’d had her once, and he’d fucked that up. He was man enough to recognize that now, and that Sam would never let him forget it.

  He ducked out to the empty balcony. This time of year, it was hot and humid in DC, plenty enough of a reason for most sane people to be inside. And yet, here he was, about to sweat his ass off for the chance to get in on the Monster-Go action. If only Rashae could see him now. She’d laugh at him.

  He loosened his tie a bit and went to the very edge of the balcony. He could barely pick up the dojo, but he got the current rankings. His team had overtaken it about an hour earlier, painting the digital location blue. Of the other two opposing teams, red was the only one who stood a chance at knocking them off the pedestal. From the looks of things, someone was actively chipping away at their power base.

  How long could he be away from the party? Long enough to give his team a bit of a boost?

  If he went into the dojo and trained, he could contribute to his team.

  Oliver shouldn’t, and he knew it. But the temptation was too great. It was a contest. And he could never say no to anything that tickled his competitive urges. He clicked into the dojo, and powered up his best monsters.

  It was summer. Everyone took a little time off in the summer, right?

  Samantha peered at her phone and bit her lip.

  “Will you stop?” Lily swatted at her hand.

  “I’m checking out the rankings.” Sam pushed her sister’s grasping fingers away. She didn’t expect Lily to get that this was a Big Deal. The dojos at the heart of DC were hotly contested for worldwide bragging rights. It wasn’t just about Sam—it was about the whole team.

  Besides, it wasn’t like she had anything else to do. Getting sacked because her dad was now the Secretary of State royally sucked. About the only thing that had gotten her out of the house in the last six weeks was playing this game her older sister Rashae had gotten her hooked on. Sam was too busy walking around and meeting new people to get sad or depressed. She’d gotten a lead or two on a new job opportunities thanks to her addictive new hobby, but so far they hadn’t panned out into anything she was interested in.

  “Stop it. People are going to start talking,” Lily muttered under her breath.

  Sam knew it. She was well aware of how appearances could alter a vote, change a person’s options… The public responsibility to maintain appearances could be debilitating at times, which was why she’d always fiercely guarded her private life. Watching Rashae get torn apart for doing what she loved taught Sam that very important lesson. She had to keep something for herself.

  “I’ll be back.” Sam slid her phone into the pocket of her gown.

  Lily muttered something under her breath but let Sam go. Lily had taken the smart route and gone into law. Having dad promoted was a feather in her cap.

  Rashae got some blow-back, but her world was so separated from politics that it didn’t matter to her. Sure, Dad’s people hated how people pointed at her and the costumes she made, but it didn’t really matter.

  But for Sam? It was a career ender.

  No one wanted to have the Secretary of State’s daughter as head of their PR department, for fear of appearing to be in the secretary’s pocket. It’d been one thing when dad was just a Senator. She could work for someone else in Congress and still be considered impartial. But not when her dad was the Secretary. Too many people were waiting to see what he would do and how he would handle the current political climate.

  It was a hard job, but her dad was up to the challenge. She was proud of him and everything he’d accomplished. But it still sucked to be her. And it wasn’t as if he was unaware of the impact his choices had on his daughters. He’d told her first, before the others, about the opportunity. Even asked her permission. She’d known what this was going to do to her career, and yet, how could she say no?

  They were living history.

  Someday she’d look back on this with pride.

  But the present sucked big hairy toes.

  Sam paused near the curtains and glanced around. Lily was right. Someone was always watching, but not the important ones right now. AKA, her sister, mother or father.

  The coast was clear-ish!

  Sam ducked out onto the balcony, a place she hadn’t ever been allowed while living under her parent’s roof. Her mother claimed bad things happened on balconies, even in the White House. Sam had suspicions about her parent’s activities on balconies, but she kept those to herself. There was only so much about her parents she wanted to know.

  “Shit,” she muttered.

  Still not close enough to the dojo to pick up the signal.

  The red team had lost the dojo maybe an hour ago. Sam hadn’t been in range, but the team chat had been on fire, calling for anyone in range to show up and take it back, and never mind that the public areas of the White House were closed for tonight’s dinner. The regular White House contingent were all over her to help lead the attack. Too few of their people were within range. Besides two servers, a chef and maybe one or two other people, she was their best chance for reclaiming the dojo.

  Getting fired was hell, but a blessing to her Monster Master career.

  She was so focused on the screen, on putting one step in front of the other, she didn’t even realize she wasn’t alone.

  “Hi, Sam.”

  That rich, deep voice was so close she could feel it rumble across her skin.

  She gasped and jumped sideways.

  “Oliver!” She glared at him, holding onto the initial surge of anger.

  How dare he?

  One side of his mouth hitched up. His thick, black hair never cooperated, and tonight he had a few curls falling over his forehead in a sexy, Latino Superman kind of way. He’d always been aware of his charm. The son of the former Venezuelan ambassador, he’d lived most of his life here, in DC. In her circles and on the fringes of her life.

  “Sorry,” he said, “you seemed really engrossed in your phone.”

  And she’d been about to walk straight into him.

  She hated Oliver.

  And she needed to remind herself of that.

  In public, around her family, she had to act as if nothing were wrong. As though he was the adopted brother she’d always wanted. She could put on a brave face and pretend he wasn’t the man who’d so cruelly broken her heart after taking her virginity. Some days, she fanaticized about popping her father’s bubble. Oliver wasn’t perfect. He was exactly like his father, the playboy ambassador. But that would break Dad’s heart and as much as she wanted to strangle Oliver on a daily basis, she would never hurt her father’s feelings like that.

  Which was how she’d wound up unemployed and addicted to Monster-Go.

  “Sorry, doing a thing. Don’t mind me.” His smile amped up a bit, and then he dropped his gaze to his phone.

  This was how it always was with Oliver. He smiled and pretended as though nothing was wrong. As if he hadn’t been her first, true love…

  “Mm-hm, and what’s the latest thing’s name?” She shouldn’t ask. She really
didn’t want to know, but she couldn’t help being catty when it was just them. It was ugly, petty, and she hated herself for it. Did he have any idea how much he’d broken her? How she’d cried? Did he even care?

  “Doing a Mystic right now, actually.”

  Wait a second.

  A chill raced down her spine.

  Had she heard him right?

  Sam stared at Oliver tapping at his screen.

  Oh. No. He. Wasn’t.

  Had he just said he was a fan of a mys-take?

  He was the enemy!

  “You mean bitch-stic?”

  Sam didn’t know what kind of reality they were in where Oliver would play the augmented reality phone game, but she wasn’t about to roll over and let him contribute to the blue team. She clicked the dojo, determined to do her part now more than ever.

  Screw Oliver and all of the blue team with a rusty chainsaw.

  “What are you? Yellow?” Oliver glanced up.

  “Please.”

  “Red? Really? You’re one of them?”

  Oh, he didn’t…

  She clicked into the dojo, selected her six most powerful monsters and hit the button to initiate the battle.

  “I really didn’t peg you for a red girl.”

  “Shows how much you know about me.”

  The dojo was a level five, which meant she needed to battle her way through five competitors to take it down. Her team was already chipping away at the blue team’s hold. Though some of her team mates couldn’t take down the nearly twenty-eight hundred level Naporeov, they could defeat the lower level monsters. The Naporeov was a workhorse when it came to dojo battles. It could take a huge beating and dish out just as much with its epic water pump attack. For such a cute little water fox, it was a beast to take down. Which was why every little bit helped. For every monster her teammates took down, it made her job easier.

  “Oh, look, your dojo just got down-graded,” she said in a sing-song voice.

  Perfect timing, too.

  The first monster was an eleven-hundred power level Nlareof, a creature that looked like a cross between a fox and a flame. Her choice was easy. She tapped her team and put her twelve-hundred level Syradog into the mix.