Player Problems (Westbrook Wolves), page 1
player problems
WESTBROOK WOLVES
BOOK 1
SAMANTHA BEE
Copyright © 2024 by Samantha Bee
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover by: Dream Echo Designs
Proofread by: Words of a Feather
Created with Vellum
dedication
For all the girls who have been tossed in a bush because a
boyfriend’s crazy ex tried to run them over…
Oh? Only me?
Okay then, to Alysha for always having my back.
Thanks for being the Potato to my Karma
contents
Playlist
Foreword
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Isla and Wells’ Texts
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Isla and Wells’ Texts
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Group Chat
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Group Chat
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Group Chat
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Group Chat
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilogue
Afterword
Also by Samantha Bee
About the Author
playlist
Player Problems
Players by Col Leroy
X by Kxlly
STRUT by EMELINE
Parents by Riley Roth
Keep Your Head Up Princess by Anson Seabra
Collide (feat. Tyga) by Justine Skye, Tyga
…Ready For It? By Taylor Swift
Teeth by 5 Seconds of Summer
House of Memories by Panic! At The Disco
Delicate by Taylor Swift
Nonsense by Sabrina Carpenter
You Are In Love by Taylor Swift
Falling Slowly by Vwillz
Safe in Your Love by Rose McClellan
Curls In The Wind by Mark Amber
So It Goes… by Taylor Swift
Breakfast by Dove Cameron
Sweetest Pie by Megan Thee Stallion, Due Lipa
I Think I’m In Love by Kat Dahlia
Endgame by Taylor Swift
foreword
If you’ve read me before, let me prepare you…this book is very different from my other series. Player Problems is a hockey standalone with a male/female couple in a monogamous relationship, though they may disagree about the relationship part.
I wrote this book because I wanted something fun and light-hearted and these two idiots and their band of friends is really all about that. I hope you giggle and roll your eyes and fall in love with these characters the same way I have.
However, we do touch on some dark topics so please be mindful if you do have any triggers. There are mentions of abuse, assault, domestic violence, sexual assault, and our fmc is being stalked. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me or my team. Overall, this book stays very light.
This is the first book in an interconnected standalone and will end with no cliffhanger, but we will continue to see these characters throughout the Westbrook series.
Happy reading,
Xo Samantha Bee
prologue
BUSHCAPADES
Istare down at my phone in disbelief. He can not be serious.
Jack
Come outside
I’m here
Torryn
Wtf do you mean you’re here?
We need to talk
No
You can’t just end it like that. Come out
I groan aloud, as I struggle to find my shoes. Why did I ever think it was a good idea to try and date a friend I’d known for over a decade?
Fuck it. Forget the shoes. I’ll just go down there and tell Jack I’m not in a place to date.
Jack
I’m not leaving until I see you
I growl at my phone in disgust, stopping only to slip on shorts under my large sleep shirt. Why is he doing this? I’ve been trying all week to have this conversation. To go back to just friends. Now he finds time to see me after I finally gave up and ended it over text.
Slipping out of the house without anyone noticing is as easy as usual. I grumble to myself as I make my way down my grandparents’ driveway. At least Jack had the common sense to not park in view of their bedroom. I can only imagine my grandfather’s reaction if he saw him outside the house.
Passing the small garden we have in the front of our house, my eyes land on Jack pacing in front of his car, staring at his phone. I stop for a moment, watching the anxious look as the light from his phone illuminates his face. Why does he look so devastated?
He did this.
I shake off the thought, clearing my throat and making my presence known as I take the last few steps to the bottom of the driveway.
“Ryn,” he says, relief and something else I don't understand lighting up his face. He locks his phone and tosses it on the front seat of his car before slamming the door shut. Running his hand through his hair, he tilts his head down and looks at me through his lashes, giving me a sheepish smile. “You came.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I cock my head at him. “Didn’t seem like I had much of a choice.”
His smile dips and he sighs. “How could I not fight for you?”
It’s a struggle not to roll my eyes. “There’s nothing to fight for, Jack. Let’s just go back to being friends. We worked for years that way.”
There’s no sign of the smile that graced his face only moments ago. “How can you say that? I thought things were good with us these last couple months.”
I squeeze my arms tighter over my chest. Maybe I should have taken the time to put on a bra. I feel too exposed, too vulnerable. “What part of you continuously picking your ex over me sounds good?”
“It’s not like that,” he huffs out dramatically.
I wave his words away, already knowing the spiel. “Right, right. You aren’t picking her over me. She’s just crazy. You’re doing it to protect me.” Why is it always the girls that are the crazy ones? Why are we always the ones painted in a bad light?
Unsurprisingly, he misses my sarcasm. “Exactly.” He beams and I don’t hold back the eyeroll this time. “You know I’ve never been happier than when you finally decided to give me a shot. Just give me a little longer and I promise I’ll sort things out with Siri.”
“I don’t need you to sort things out with her. Not for me.” I check my nails so I don’t have to look at his face. “Maybe sort them out for yourself, because this is unhealthy.”
Jack looks like I struck him. A small inkling of guilt flares in my gut, but I’m quick to smother it. I knew the toxic mess between him and his ex. All of our friends know about it. Fuck. At this point, I’m pretty sure the whole school knows about it and most of us have never even met Siri. Her reputation precedes her.
I’m starting to wonder how much of it is really on her though. From where I’m standing, Jack is not so innocent. He still goes with her to visit her grandparents. Continues to respond to her every time she texts. Doesn’t talk to me when she’s around, even after swearing to me she’s aware the two of us are dating.
Being there for a friend after their latest falling out was easy. Being his shoulder to cry on is a spot I’ve occupied for the majority of our lives. Sitting at his kitchen table, talking with his parents, keeping him out of trouble, and mitigating their disappointment in him. I’m used to taking care of him. Understanding and trusting him was easy. I never had big ideas about love and relationships anyway.
Comfort, a spark, fun. It was all I needed to believe in. We had that much. So when he looked at me with those soulful brown eyes one night, when he held his breath and leaned in, when the moment slowed and the tension built, I didn’t break it. For the first time in our friendship, I didn’t turn away. Didn’t clear my throat and laugh awkwardly. I leaned in too.
I sigh as memories flash in my mind. “Don’t give me that look. I know you better than anyone. You have no shot of finding your happiness until you cut ties with Siri and sort out the mess in your head that constantly self-sabotages.”
His brown eyes weigh on me. “And will you still be there when I figure it out?”
I look away from him, clenching my fists. “I will always be here for you. As your friend.”
He scoffs, rage bleeding into the sound unlike anything he’s ever pointed in my direction before. “Of course.
Well, I’m not exactly known for my warm personality. I stay silent though, waiting for him to get whatever is brewing behind that rage off his chest.
“You give just enough. Just enough to garner interest. Just enough to tease that you might be willing to be something real. But as soon as shit gets too deep, you pull away. Erect your walls even higher than before. Go back to being a stone-cold bitch.”
Each word cuts deeper than the last, but I’d never let it show. Instead, I click my tongue. “Are you done?” There’s nothing else to say. I’m not going to defend why I am the way I am. He, of all people, should know. He was there. He got closer than almost anyone. He could have had everything he wanted so damn badly. If he had just chosen me. Plucked up the courage to tell Siri to fuck off once and for all. Stopped this charade of being helpless against her and holding on to both of us.
His laugh is a bitter and chilling sound. “There she is.”
I tap my fingers against my arm. “What would you like me to say, Jack? That you’re right? You know you are. But if you don’t have anything new to add to the insults I’ve heard all through high school, save your breath and let’s end it here. Yeah?”
“Tor, please don’t.” His tone suddenly shifts to begging. Where did all his anger go?
I take a deep breath and prepare the speech I’ve been practicing all week. Despite what he, and everyone else seems to say about me, I don’t enjoy hurting someone. Especially not someone I’ve considered a close friend for most of my life. “You are stuck on a messy merry-go-round. You and Siri chase each other for a high I can’t even comprehend. You fight to one up the other. Never getting off the ride, just going faster and faster. You swore this time was different. That you were finally leaving the never ending cycle. All our friends thought this time was different. I thought this time was different. But we’ve all been lying to ourselves. Everyone thought we were going to be good. You’d get me to open up, and I’d keep you off the ride. But we were all wrong because you didn’t, Jack. You didn’t get off the merry-go-round, not even for a moment. You just dragged me onto it with you.” I smile sadly as I think about the hope in our friends' eyes when they found out about us. Turns out it was too much pressure for me. Being the one to save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.
“I want off, Jack. I don’t want to be wrapped up in this mess any longer. Wondering if I’m enough. If I can compete with the high you get from fighting with her. I don’t compare myself to other girls, and I’m not starting now. Not for this. You want the adrenaline? You can have it, but I won’t be a part of it anymore. I’m too busy to compete for something that should never be a competition.”
His fists clench at his sides, but he looks struck. Lost. Heartbroken. It tugs at my heart.
“You’re always too busy, Torryn. Too busy to look in my direction for years. Too busy to go to parties together. Too busy to come to my house after school. Too busy to get high at lunch. You always have something better to do. Somewhere to go. Someone to take care of.”
I close my eyes against his anger.
“How was I supposed to get off the ride when you wouldn’t give me anything to hold on to instead?”
Why wouldn’t it be my fault? Why wouldn’t it come back to this? I never should have leaned in. I should have known better. I was never going to be enough.
“I think you should leave. We should both stop before we say something we can’t take back and ruin what little friendship we still have.”
His hands slam down against the hood of his car and I hug myself tighter, shifting on my feet as the wind picks up. “I don’t want your friendship, Ryn. I want you, all of you.”
I shake my head. “You had the chance and you blew it. I’m getting off the ride now.” I start to say something else when I notice his eyes widening. “I’ll still be your friend. Please just be happy with that,” I continue, weighing my words as I watch his expression shift into something I don’t understand. His hand lands on my bicep and squeezes, his eyes not on my face at all. I huff in exasperation. He’s not even listening anymore.
“Are you seriously just going to ignore me now?”
Still, he says nothing, his head now turned away from me and looking down my street. I turn to see what has captured his attention so thoroughly, but don’t see anything other than a car heading our way.
He’s murmuring something to himself and his hand tightens around my arm. “Ow, Jack. What the fuck?” I try to rip my arm from his grip, but he doesn’t release it, still watching the car headed for us. Shit.
It’s headed right for us.
Or me.
It’s headed straight for me, faster than it should be going.
A yelp is torn from my throat as he curses, yanking me by my arm and throwing me out of the way just as the car comes to a screeching halt where I was just standing. I look up in a daze from where I landed in a bush. Thorns pierce my skin, making it sting. But I can barely spare a thought as I watch Jack throw himself against the door of the car that just tried to hit me.
The door slams shut before it even really has a chance to open against his heavy body. Screams reach me, but I can barely sort them as I watch the scene unfold before me. A girl I’ve never seen in person, but instantly recognize, howls as she scrambles over the center console of her car and climbs out the passenger side door, screaming my name.
I huff a shocked laugh as I disentangle myself from the bush. A bra and shoes would have definitely been a good idea after all. Jack moves faster than I’ve ever seen him move as he blocks her path to me, using his arm to halt her so abruptly her legs fly in the air as she tries to throw herself at me.
Ow, fuck. I cup my elbow and my hand comes away covered in blood. Lovely.
“Ryn, go inside!” Jack yells at me as he holds Siri’s small body back.
I tilt my head to the side as I watch them. This all seems too familiar for the pair of them. The way he recognized her headlights, how quick he was to react. It’s not the first time any of this has happened. I shake my head.
Okay, maybe she really did deserve to be called crazy. Bitch just tried to run me over and he’s not even surprised.
How did she even have my address?
“My neighbors will call the cops if you guys don’t stop yelling.” I point out as she unleashes her rage on him.
“Torryn,” he snaps. “Stop standing there and go inside.”
She never stops screaming my name. Screaming about how he’s hers and I’m just a bitch in the way. That I can fight her if I want him so badly.
I blink slowly, holding my elbow to my chest, the blood making my hand slick. “Ask him why he’s here,” I say. Jack continues to yell at me to go inside. Nothing is going to come from continuing to stand here. I shake my head one last time.
“Shut the fuck up. My neighbors really will call the cops.”
I turn around and begin walking back up my driveway. How is any of this real? All of a sudden, a lot of his excuses and stories about her seem a little different. More real. A bit more terrifying. She actually is psychotic. But he’s allowed it. I can’t make him get off the ride if he doesn’t want to.
My phone starts vibrating in my hand as soon as I get back to my room. I don’t recognize the number, but I know who it is.
How does she have my number?
one
HOEDOWN
The story has me and several other people captivated as we stand around Isla and her best friend, Torryn.
“Was it really her?” Wells asks, disbelief coloring his tone.
Isla snorts, but Torryn just smirks silently as she has for the entirety of the story. “She’d stolen Tor’s number out of Jack’s phone one day when they were hanging out after finding out about her.”
This is fucking wild. Too wild, to possibly be the entire truth.
