My Ex's Football Rival Wants Me
Russell James called me plain. He said I didn't have what it took to drive a man crazy, then crawled back into bed with the supermodel he'd been hiding from me. I found out the hard way, with my own eyes and what little dignity I had left. By then, he'd already signed his professional football contract, become a rising star, and decided I was no longer in his league.
A year later, my life is falling apart. My mother's surgery is unaffordable. My younger brother's hockey dreams are slipping away. My final semester fees are overdue.
Then my half-sister offers me a deal.
Seduce a powerful fashion executive at an elite Madrid nightclub and help secure her place in Europe's most prestigious fashion show. In return, my family's problems disappear.
I say yes.
I spend the night with the man she described.
By morning, I discover I've slept with the wrong man.
"Connor?" he repeats, amused. "My name's Andre."
Andre Fernandez.
Real Numancia de Madrid's golden boy. Europe's most sought-after footballer. Forty-eight million followers. A €150 million market value.
And the biggest rival of the ex-boyfriend who shattered my heart.
Before I can process what happened, Andre finds me. He clears my family's debts and makes one impossible demand:
"Be my girlfriend."
I say no.
Andre Fernandez clearly isn't used to hearing that word.
When paparazzi catch us kissing at a high-profile party, the internet explodes. To save Andre's reputation, his PR team pushes us into a fake relationship complete with staged appearances, rehearsed interviews, and public displays of affection.
None of it is supposed to be real.
Except the longer we pretend, the harder it becomes to remember where the performance ends.
Russell sees the photographs and is annoyed at his rival's proximity to me.
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Chapter: 43: Fighting Over Her?Russell's POVTanya waited three days before she brought up the cruise, which was longer than I expected from her.By then I had already sat through two training sessions, a recovery appointment and one conversation with my agent in which he managed to use the phrase "containment of unnecessary narratives" without once sounding embarrassed by himself. Nothing had leaked publicly, at least not in any useful form, but football had its own private bloodstream. News moved through dressing rooms, group chats, assistants, girlfriends, agents and people who had no business knowing anything but somehow always did.I walked into my apartment after training and found Tanya sitting at the kitchen island with one leg crossed over the other, scrolling through her phone. She did not look up immediately. That alone told me she had come to argue."Hello to you too," I said, dropping my keys beside the fruit bowl.She placed her phone face down on the counter and looked at me. "You fought Andre Fernan
Last Updated: 2026-09-07
Chapter: 42: What He Had No Right to SayCarmen's POVI was already in Andre's room when he came in, opening the door quietly. For one second he only stood there looking at me. His shirt was still the same one he had worn on the cruise, except the collar was pulled slightly out of place now, and there was redness along one side of his jaw where Russell had hit him.I was on my feet before he could say anything. "Are you okay?""I'm fine.""Andre.""I'm fine."I walked closer and reached for his face. He let me touch him this time. The skin near his jaw was warm, not badly swollen, but enough that I could see where the punch had landed."That doesn't look fine."
Last Updated: 2026-09-07
Chapter: 41: The Rest of the NightRussell's POVCallum got to me the moment I fell to the floor, grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the corner while one of the other England lads moved between me and the people still trying to separate the mess behind us. The music had barely stopped. That was the strangest part. A few metres away, people were still drinking, laughing and moving under the lights as though nobody had just thrown a punch.The cruise staff reacted quickly. Two of them blocked off the corner without making a scene, and one of the sponsor representatives was already speaking quietly to the people who had been closest to us. No shouting, no security dragging anyone across the deck. Nobody wanted a private event involving international footballers turning into tomorrow morning's headline."Move," Callum said."I
Last Updated: 2026-09-07
Chapter: 40: FirstAndre's POVRussell came toward me, turning completely away from Carmen. Until then, most of his attention had been on her. He had been talking as though the rest of us were interruptions to a conversation Carmen had already made clear she did not want to have. The moment I stepped between them, that changed. Whatever he had failed to get from her, he seemed determined to find another way to make the night hurt.He stopped close enough that neither of us needed to raise our voices over the music. For a few seconds he said nothing. His eyes moved past my shoulder toward Carmen, and when he looked at me again, some of the arrogance had gone out of his face."I miss her."I almost thought I'd misunderstood him.Russell gave a quiet, bitter laugh when he saw my expression. "I said I miss her."There was no performance in it this time. He looked miserable saying it, which seemed to irritate him almost as much as the fact itself. His mouth tightened before he continued, like every word was
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: 39: You Have My Attention NowCarmen's POVRussell removed his hand only after I said it a second time. The relief of being free of him lasted less than a second because he stayed directly in front of me, close enough that leaving would require walking around him. Music from the main deck filled the corner we were standing in, loud enough to swallow most conversations beyond a few metres."What are you doing?" I asked."Talking to you.""You don't need to hold my waist to talk.""Fine. I shouldn't have done that."The bland apology surprised me enough that I looked at him properly. Russell had been drinking, although not enough to slur or lose his balance. His tie was gone and the top button of his shirt was open. He looked less polished than he had at the stadium, less like the version of himself designed for cameras."What do you want?"His eyes moved over my face before settling on mine. "You really don't know?""If I knew, I wouldn't be asking."He laughed once, but there was no humour in it. "You spent months
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: 38: Phones at the DoorRussell's POVThe attendant sealed my phone in a numbered pouch and placed it in a locked case before I had finished deciding whether I liked the idea of being unreachable for the next three hours."You'll get the same number back when you leave," she said."Comforting."My teammate Callum handed his over beside me. "Try not to start an international incident while nobody can film it.""You say that like I'm the problem.""I say it because I have met you."We boarded just after ten. The yacht was large enough that the party never felt crowded, even with both national teams, federation staff, sponsors, families and invited guests spread between the enclosed lounge and the upper deck. Music carried through the main level without reaching the volume of a nightclub, and the organizers had clearly spent an unreasonable amount of money making everything look effortless.I saw Fernandez standing near the bar with Jadon and two Spanish players, jacket open and one hand around a glass he had
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
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