I felt like my stomach was swarming with butterflies. I sat on my polo pony and looked around me.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the annual Nowegian/Dynasty polo tournament hosted by the Dynasty hotel. If you want to live like a king, you won't hesitate to book a room here, ask King Henrik, he stays here all the time when he visits... ' The commentator's voice boomed from the speakers.
There were three other players on my team including Anthony. Anthony was playing 'Number 3'. Basically the 'Number 3' player is the best player on the team, his job is to maintain a solid defence. He's also like a tactical leader.
The two other guys on our team were apparently Anthony's polo buddies, Asher and Demetri. Asher played in the 'Number one' position, his role is more offence oriented, his job is to cover the other teams 'Number 4' player.
Demetri played in the 'Number 2' position, his job is to score or pass to Asher to score and I was left with the number 4 position, my job was to be sort of like a goal keeper, to prevent the other team from scoring and to cover Anthony.
Prince Erling's team also comprised of four very muscular looking guys in matching green uniforms. Unlike our red ones that simply held our numbers and the Dynasty hotel symbols.
The Norwegian team's uniform had various patterns and symbols on them and had their names printed on the back of them.
Prince Erling was in the 'Number 3' position which actually didn't surprise me. I just wondered if he was as good as he made himself out to be.
All this wasn't what made me nervous though, what made me nervous was the large crowd that was seated in the make shift bleachers that Anthony had told me had been made overnight for this occasion.
They wrapped around the 'arena' we would be playing on.
Jason and his family sat in a special little open tent looking like the judges of the game. I could feel Jason's eyes on me.
I adjusted my red helmet on my head and tightened my gloved hands on the reigns of the horse.
Anthony had gotten me plain white denim jeans which actually fit perfectly and one of the team Jerseys which was over sized.
The other equipment was easy to find.
"Oh the teams look to be in super good form today. On the right, we have the Nowegian bucks headed by Prince Erling himself who looks to have kept his team, the defending champions, in tip top shape. And on the left we have the Dynasty team headed by Anthony Callahan. Now we haven't had the Dynasty team win in a while but maybe the tables might turn this year. We have the same team as last year only this time there happens to be a new player; miss Katelyn King has joined the Dynasty team and is taking the 'Number 4' position. Could she be what the team has needed all this time?"
Anthony turned to look at the rest of our team and gave each of us knowing looks.
I immediately knew what it meant. 'Let them win but don't make it too obvious.'
I still didn't like the idea but at this point I really had no choice.
I was still on some sort of probation here. One wrong move and I'd get on Mr Callahan's bad side and then who knew what would happen to me?
So I really had no choice but to play along.
The referee stood between our two teams and said some words to prince Erling and Anthony.
Both men nodded.
"Okay!" The referee yelled before blowing his whistle immediately sending all of us into action.
"Ladies and gentlemen, will you look at that, we're only a few seconds into the match and the Nowegian team already has the ball.... look at Morselow's form as he passes the ball to his majesty, Prince Erling, and now we have Anthony trying to get the ball but-oh-Prince Erling skillfully passes it on to Sniev and wow! Look at Erling's form, he definitely has been practicing. Now Sniev is trying to score but-oh-he just got intercepted by Miss King-"
I should probably mention that the last time I played polo was in high school, that was two years ago. Now I know that might seem like a long time but to be honest with you, Polo has always been in my blood, so when that whistle blew, I immediately nudged my horse into action. My first instinct was to do my job and keep the other team from scoring. It's only when Anthony gave me a pointed look that I realised I was doing way too well.
"...and Prince Erling steals the ball right back from Demetri Wells, he passes to Morselow and-Miss King fails to defend her post and there we go! The Nowegian Bucks score!"
Disappointment washed over me as I watched the other team celebrate. Losing sucks especially when I know how much better I can do.
The game continued like this.
I might have been having trouble with losing but the others were doing a good job at letting Prince Erling pass by them with the ball without making it too obvious.
Anthony managed to snag the ball a couple of times but seemed to 'accidently' lose it to the other teams 'Number one' who stormed past me and hit the ball towards our goal.
I could tell that Anthony was quite good and the way he twitched sometimes, I knew he wanted as badly as I did to actually try to win.
I followed his instructions and 'missed' the ball on numerous occasions which as if wasn't bad enough, I also got a lot of criticism from the loud mouthed commentator who was very open with his words.
"..ohh... There goes Miss King screwing up again. Wow! The Dynasty team must have not thought it threw when they picked out their new teammate."
The people sitting to the right went wild as they cheered for their 'winning team.
I really was starting to get irritated by this whole ordeal. I felt like just riding away now instead of enduring this humiliation.
The looks on my teammate's faces told me that they felt the same way. It must have really been worse for them, this was only my first and last time doing this, they had done this before and would probably have to do it more times in the years to come. All for a stupid business deal.
I had hardly talked to Mr Callahan and didn't know him at all but from the things I saw him let his children do, I wasn't liking him one bit.
By the end of the first half, I was beyond irritable and it didn't get any better when Prince Erling rode up to me and gave me a sly smile.
"And this is why we don't let girls play, sweetheart." He spoke with a laugh before riding off to his teams refreshment centre.
I fought the urge to ride after him and hit him with my mallet.
Anthony rode up to me.
"Having murderous thoughts, Katie Kat?" He spoke as if reading my mind.
I continued glaring. "You have no idea."
"Come on, lets get you something to drink, there's nothing that curbs the thoughts of assassinating a member of the Norwegian royal family than the famous Dynasty hotel 'sparkling water'."
Anthony jumped off his horse and I followed suit. The attendants came by to take the horses away from us and the rest of our team walked over to our refreshments table which was on the opposite side.
We were met by Jason who had since taken off his navy blue blazer leaving him in a plain white t shirt and khaki pants.
He handed me a bottle of water. I was about to question his behaviour then I remembered that he was still supposed to be my boyfriend so I just accepted the bottle politely and took a sip from it.
"Having fun losing?" He spoke in a teasing voice.
"Hahaha, shut up and hand me something that will actually calm me down instead of this stupid water." Anthony spoke.
I see I'm not the only one who was feeling irritable.
Jason shrugged. "Can't. Your darling wife who is also my temporary date gave me strict instructions to not let you drink any alcoholic beverage while you're riding a horse. She needs you to be alive in order to keep the Callahan name, you know." Jason spoke seeming to find humor in Anthony's misery.
"How caring of her." Anthony spoke before turning to face Asher and Demetri. "Please tell me one of you has something that can get me through this damned match."
Both men shrugged.
"Trust me, if I had something, I'd have taken it already." Asher spoke.
Anthony let out a sigh and turned back to his little brother.
"I'll give you anything you want if you punch me in the face right now." He told him desperately.
Jason patted his older brother's shoulder.
"Tempting but I won't do that. Consider this revenge for making me hang out with your delightful wife."
Anthony growled before turning to face me.
"Katie Kat? Do me this solid? Please? For all the times I have ever said something inappropriate to you."
It truly was a tempting offer but unfortunately when it comes to actual physical fighting, I'm as hopeless as they come.
"I can't, trust me, more harm would probably come to me than to you" I confessed.
Jason gave me a strange look. He looked like he was about to say something but then seemed to decide against it. He turned back to face Anthony.
"You only have like thirty minutes left. Do yourself a favour and lose with honour. After all, there really are no losers or winners here."
"Nonsense." Anthony hissed. "They're only winners and the people who aren't them."
Jason patted his brother's shoulder and shrugged. "If that's how you want to look at it, then go ahead, sunshine."
The sound of the referee's whistle was heard signalling that we had five minutes to get back on our horses and into position.
Asher and Demetri looked as reluctant to get back to the game but they forced themselves to walk back to their horses which were being brought back to us by the attendants.
"The things I do for my father." Anthony muttered before following the two boys.
I put my bottle down and was about to do the same but Jason pulled me towards him by my hand.
I raised a brow at him. He took off my helmet, which I had honestly forgotten I was still wearing and tucked the stray hairs that had escaped my pony tail behind my ears before putting his hands on my shoulders and gently pulling me closer. He placed a soft, warm lingering kiss on my forehead. A gesture that reminded me way too much of Alex.
It was something Alex would definitely do, something sweet and innocent, that was his style.
Jason pulled back but not too far. Just close enough for him to whisper.
"We still have to make it look good for the spectators. You never know who might be watching and taking pictures.
I instinctively looked up at the crowd and did realise that a lot of people had their smartphones out, who knew what they were doing on them.
I looked up at Jason, they really did kind of look alike. Why did they look so similar?
That was enough to send me spiraling towards all the emotions I had been feeling about Alex.
I had been trying to push them back, at least until the time to make my decision about leaving or staying came.
I tried not to break down.
I was back in my dad's Bentley.
It was spinning out of control... The screams.... my mum and dad unconscious.... my brother, Micheal, telling me it would all be okay and to keep my eyes open for him...
All that pain, physical and mental and just to think, Alex was somewhere close by... my Alex, the one who I thought could never hurt me even if he tried. He turned out to be the reason for the most painful experience of my life.
"Are you okay?" Jason's voice brought me out of my thoughts.
I nodded but I knew perfectly well that I probably would never be the same again.
Jason gave me a sceptical look before putting the helmet back onto my head.
"Don't fall off your horse and break your head or whatever." He instructed.
"Great advice, coach." I muttered dryly.
He just shrugged. "You should get out there. They're waiting for you."
I turned back and saw that sure enough everyone had already mounted their horses.
Great. Now in addition to thinking I was a horrible polo player, people would now think I had no respect for time.
I quickly pulled away from Jason's hold and ran to my horse which I petted soothingly. I asked the attendant if the horse, whose name I had learnt was Flapjack had had a snack and some water.
The attendant, who apparently wasn't used to players taking to him quickly told me that he had an apple and was allowed to drink some water.
I gave him a kind smile and thanked him. He offered to help me mount my horse but I politely refused and dismissed him.
I rode up to my position behind Anthony.
Prince Erling still had a smug look on his face. I tightened my hands around the reigns and took in a deep breath. Just thirty more minutes of this.
The referee blew the whistle and the commentators voice came back to life as we continued playing.
The game went on with us 'missing' or failing to keep the ball.
That's until the other teams 'Number 4' hit Demetri's left forearm with his mallet.
Demetri yelled out in pain and fell off his horse causing the referee to quickly blow his whistle, temporarily stopping the game. We all rode towards Demetri.
Anthony was the first to get to him. He quickly got off his horse and held out his arm for Demetri, helping him up.
I jumped off my horse to join them and Asher did the same.
"You okay, man?" Anthony asked him.
Demetri stretched out his left hand and winced a little. "Yeah, I don't think anything is broken." He spoke.
"You sure?" The referee asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Demetri replied dismissing the medics who had rushed to the scene. "But just to be safe, I don't think I should play 'Number two'." He confessed.
Anthony turned to look at me and Asher in a calculating way before finally saying. " Katelyn, can you switch with Demetri?" He asked.
"Er... yeah."
"Great!" Anthony exclaimed not even waiting for my response before turning to face the referee and telling him about the changes.
Demetri took off his polo jersey and walked over to give it to me, I did the same, grateful that I was wearing another long sleeved t shirt inside.
Demetri handed his jersey to me but before I could take it, he spoke quietly and hurriedly.
"They hit me on purpose because it looked like I was going to score. Be careful out there." He didn't even wait for my response, he just walked away.
I turned to look at Prince Erling's team and they seemed to be taking immense pleasure in Demetri's injury.
Okay, now I was mad.
I slipped on Demetri's jersey and walked over to Anthony who had just finished talking to the referee.
"Ready to go?" Anthony asked me.
I looked at the referee. "Could we have a very brief team meeting?"
He didn't look too happy at having the game delayed.
"Please, it will only take two minutes."
"Fine, two minutes, nothing less, nothing more." He spoke irritably.
He blew his whistle and told Prince Erling's team about our two minute break.
Prince Erling chuckled and said. "What's the point? They're still losing anyway."
I tried not to openly glare at him.
Anthony rose a brow at me. "What's up Katie Kat?"
I bit my lip before spurting out my proposal.
"Will one point really hurt us?"
"Kate-"
"I mean they already have four points on us... what will one lousy point do? Come on Anthony, just one to wipe that smug look off that idiot's face." I begged.
"It doesn't sound like a bad idea." Demetri spoke.
"Yeah, the jerk deserves to be put in his place even if it's just for a second." Asher added.
I looked at Anthony desperately. "Please, you know it will make you feel better too."
Anthony seemed to take this into consideration.
He looked back at the other team then seemed to reach a resolve.
"Fine, lets do it. Demetri, keep our end secure, don't let anyone through, Asher make sure Sniev doesn't touch that ball and Katelyn, can you steal that ball away from Prince Doucebag?"
I nodded with a smile. "It's what I was born to do."
I used to play 'Number 2' on my team back in school anyway.
"Okay, everyone, let's do this!" Anthony yelled.
We barely had enough time to mount our horses before the referee blew his whistle.
"Oh it looks like there have been a few position altercations. It looks like Miss King is now in the 'Number 2' position. Let's hope she'll be better there than she was in her previous position."
The game kicked off and Anthony immediately bolted into action at an insanely fast speed. He went straight for the ball and took it before Prince Erling even had the chance to blink. He obviously wasn't expecting that.
"Oh and a surprise steal from Mr Callahan's first born. That is definitely a twist but there goes Prince Erling back in action and he is gaining on Anthony..."
I was so engrossed in watching the game that for a second I actually forgot that I was part of it.
I nudged my horse forward but then I saw that that was exacting what Prince Erling's team would be expecting so I took a sudden turn and rode up the side.
"What the hell is Miss King doing? She's going in the wrong direction! She's going in the wrong direction! Oh there we have Anthony struggling to keep that ball. He's completely trapped with no one to help him out. Where the hell is Miss King - what is she doing? - oh what is happening?"
I caught Anthony's eye as I came up behind him. I gave him a look that I hoped he would be able to decrypt.
"Does Miss King even know how to play this game, I mean she just left her teammate - wait a minute! Did you just see that? Anthony just did some sort of backwards pass. Oh the Norwegian Bucks definitely weren't expecting that-and there we see Miss King springing into action Sniev is trying to catch up with her but he can't get passed Asher and Miss King shoots and she scores? She scores! Ladies and gentlemen! The Dynasty team has their first point!"
For the first time during the game, our side of the make shift stadium went wild cheering.
Asher rode towards me and gave me a high five.
"Way to go Katelyn." Demetri yelled.
Anthony also rode up to me and gave me a smirk.
I could hear Erling in the distance yelling about 'beginner's luck'.
"I really wasn't expecting that from you Katie Kat."
"Dito." I told him. "You were great too."
Anthony turned to look at Prince Erling.
He turned back and leaned closer to me.
"I changed my mind. Let's destroy them."
I didn't even bother arguing or questioning him on what Mr Callahan would do.
All I did was nod and smile. "Let's do it."
"Oh wow, it looks like the Dynasty team is really getting into the game with Miss King's new position.... and Prince Erling loses the ball again.... There goes Miss King scoring again... Prince Erling tries to score but woah! Demetri cuts him off... Anthony is really getting aggressive down there... Asher scores and that's another point for the Dynasty team... the Dynasty team is on a roll.. Miss King scores again! Wow I'd hate to be the Norwegian Bucks right now..."
By the time the referee blew the final whistle, I was out of breath, We hadn't won but we had nearly caught up with Prince Erling's team. The score was 7 to 6.
We all got off our horses and shook hands with our opponents.
Prince Erling latched onto my hand a little bit longer. I expected him to be mad but he actually smiled. "I guess I underestimated you, Miss King."
I gave him a smug look. "I guess you did, your majesty."
"Please, call me Erling, you've earned it."
I gave him a smile and nodded. He still didn't let go of my hand.
"You know if you're interested I'm having a little private party up in my room later tonight." He spoke in a low tone.
I wrenched my hand out of his grip but kept up my smile, I was still addressing a royal after all.
"I'll ask Jason if we can make it." I told him.
He chuckled. "I meant an actual 'private party' It's really exclusive. So exclusive, I was thinking it could just be you and me, Jason doesn't have to know."
I scoffed and gave him a disgusted look. Were all the guys in this world really all this nasty?
Before I could say anything else, Anthony appeared beside me. I never thought I'd ever be this happy to see him.
"Erling, good game." He spoke as he grabbed his hand and shook it.
"Likewise, Anthony." Prince Erling told him but his eyes were still glued on me.
"Maybe next time we'll actually kick your team's ass." Anthony spoke with a deep chuckle that wasn't at all humorous.
Prince Erling tore his eyes away from me and looked at Anthony.
He gave him one of his charming smiles.
"Lets not get ahead of ourselves. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a trophy to collect." He gave me a knowing look. "Miss King, I hope to see you again soon."
I just forced a smile at him and didn't say anything.
When he finally turned around to walk away, my smile dropped.
"Let me guess, he invited you up to his room for a 'private party'.''
I frowned at Anthony. "How'd you know?"
"He does it with all the Callahan girls. He takes immense pleasure in trying to get in their pants, he tried it with Isabella too, really the only girl it has ever worked on is Farah."
My eyes widened. "Farah, as in-"
"My perfect wife? Yes, her." Anthony spoke with a weak grin.
That was disgusting! I kept wondering why they all seemed not to like her but if she did things like that, I would hate her too. And not to mention, she was older than Erling, not that much older, maybe only a couple of years but it was still disgusting."
"Anthony, I'm so sorry" I told him soothingly.
He just shrugged. "That's a Callahan's life for you, it was before we were married anyway."
'A Callahan's life didn't sound as appealing as it looked on TV.
"Great game, King." Asher spoke as he came towards us with Demetri in tow and patted my shoulder. I smiled at him in gratitude.
"Thanks, you were great too."
"No, I was good. You are great." He spoke.
"Yeah, polo really is a game for 'Kings''." Demetri spoke, laughing at his own joke.
Asher started taking off his gloves. "Man if only Harry was here, he wold have loved to see this."
I felt like the world had suddenly slowed down with the sound of that name. "What?" I spoke.
"Oh Harry, he's Anthony's cousin." Asher explained seeming oblivious to my sudden change in mood. "Before he left, he would always play in the 'Number two position. Oh, you're actually wearing his jersey now-"
"We should go congratulate the King on his victory." Anthony spoke, cutting Asher off.
The other two boys nodded and walked off in the direction of the table where the King was talking to his son's team.
I remained planted where I stood, tears brimmed in my eyes, I heard Anthony say my name but I didn't respond.
I was wearing his jersey. I had put on his shirts many times before but this time it was different. I was wearing the jersey of the guy who murdered my family. The guy who had lied to me the whole time we were together...
I felt like even more of a traitor.
I felt hands on my shoulders. At first, I thought it was Anthony but then Jason's face came into view. I looked up at him, the tears were already blurring my vision.
He threw an arm over my shoulder and pulled me close to his body, I buried my face in his chest.
"I have to get her out of here." I heard him tell Anthony. "Cover for me."
I felt him slip his hands underneath my legs and pick me up bridal style.
I didn't even know where we were going, all I knew is that Jason was leading us away. I didn't dare look away from his chest. I was feeling so embarassed that I had actually started crying right now.
I heard him say something to the valet and in no time, he was putting me in the back of his car before taking his position in the front.
He turned around and handed me a handkercheif.
I dabbed my eyes and looked away from him. To my relief, he started driving without another word.
I took off the polo Jersey and furiously tossed it to the other side of the seat.
I caught Jason's hazel eyes looking at me through the rear view mirror.