Spring Training

by KB Winters

Danny shrugged. “This and that. Nothing specific. I’ve mostly been filling in for sick leave as needed.”

  I nodded. “Gotcha.” There was some kind of flu bug running rampant through the office and was taking people down one at a time. So far, I’d managed to avoid it, but that was likely because I didn’t spend much time at the office and was away when the epidemic started.

  “You wanna go get a coffee? You still owe me for the tip off about Trey at the airport,” he said, leaning to brace himself against my desk.

  I glanced at his smile and tried to return it. “What about all the rumors? You know, about Trey and me. That doesn’t bug you?”

  Danny shrugged. “Should it? I mean, it’s over, isn’t it?”

  “Why would you assume that?” I asked, having no idea where the frantic and overly defensive tone came from. I sucked in a deep breath.

  Danny held up his hands, realizing he’d overstepped. “I just figured you would have led with that if you two were still together…or a thing…or whatever.”

  “Oh.” I pursed my lips, wishing I hadn’t said anything at all. “Well, we’re not together. We never were. It was just a—”

  “Hey, Jo, you don’t have to explain it to me, okay?” Danny said, his voice soft and soothing. “It’s just an invite to coffee. Don’t overthink it.”

  “Right.” I nodded and caught a glance at an uncovered corner of my notes. Inky doodles covered the page and as an afterthought, I realized that one of the patterns I’d drawn was a design from Trey’s large, back tattoo. I bit back a groan, shoved the pages into a messy stack and stuffed them into my messenger bag.

  Danny chuckled as he watched me. “Is that a yes? Or you getting packed up so you can run away?”

  My cheeks warmed and I tucked the bag under my desk. “Coffee sounds good.”

  “Okay, perfect.” He jumped to his feet and started out through the main newsroom. I followed a half step behind, surveying the hustle of everyone in the room. Everyone was preparing for the nightly news. A surge of envy bubbled up in my stomach and I swallowed it down with a bittersweet smile. Mr. Jones was leaving me alone, and his offer to get on the nightly news still stood. I just had to figure out my story. But as each day passed without a crack, I was becoming more doubtful that I’d find it. But hey, it was better than being fired as soon as I returned from the disastrous road trip with the Warriors.

  TV monitors hung over the desks. The crew used them to watch different news feeds and they were constantly on, the volume low, and available for anyone to stop and watch. Right now, they were lit up with two competing stations’ five o’clock broadcast. The goal for our team was to spin their stories and get them ready for our six o’clock broadcast. The anchors would be getting camera ready. The teleprompters loaded. Everything ready for a smooth night of news.

  Danny turned toward me as we walked, a carefree smile on his face, and he opened his mouth to say something, when all at once, loud beeping sounds rang out over the bank of computers. I froze in place. I knew that sound. A big story was coming in. Danny stopped too. “What the hell—”

  The reporters ran into action, all checking their feeds.

  “I got it! I got it!” Katerina Rodriquez called, raising a pen over her head. Everyone rushed to her desk. I started to go too, but the TV monitors overhead lit up with the story and I was instantly frozen in place, my feet suddenly made of cement blocks.

  Trey Delgado was on every one of the TV screens. His face in a box to the right as the live feed played on the rest of the screen. He was wearing a business suit, walking into some kind of clinic—or hospital. I couldn’t focus long enough to listen to the anchor. In the footage, Trey towered over a really pretty petite blonde woman and looked like he was yelling something at her. She pulled back her fist and slugged him in the face, a scuffle broke out and it was impossible to follow the action. Some people jumped into the line of sight and dragged him away from the woman. The woman sagged down to the floor, wiping at her eyes, obviously wailing, though the sound was cut.

  What the hell was Trey thinking? Was he really stupid—or arrogant—enough to think that there wouldn’t be cameras all over him? Especially in a place like that? Damn it, Trey. What the hell are you doing?

  “Sorry?” Danny said, turning to me.

  “Oh. I didn’t realize that I…nevermind.” I didn’t mean to say anything out loud.

  A reporter filled the screen, the disturbing footage dropping away. She took a beat and then continued the story, “Superstar Trey Delgado of the Oklahoma City Warriors has been going through an intense paternity case with his ex-girlfriend, Kimberly Holmes. Today, the two clashed at a health clinic where each was there to provide DNA for the paternity test. It’s unclear at this time where Kimberly’s son was, but we’re told he was not injured in the altercation. Trey was taken into police custody and is being held for arraignment.”

  My legs went to jelly underneath me. Danny glanced over. “Oh, shit!” he uttered, right before catching me from falling. “Jo? Jo, are you all right?”

  I clawed my way back to standing on my own two feet, trying to ignore the trembling muscles in my legs. How could this happen? Is she the mother of his child?

  “Are you all right?” Danny repeated.

  I straightened up and realized that all eyes were on me. My skin warmed and I tucked my chin and let my hair fall forward, hiding my burning face from their stares. “I’m fine,” I muttered, glancing up to see the quickest exit strategy.

  “Jo, don’t you know him?” one of the assistants called to me, her voice feigning ignorance. As though she—and everyone else in the room—didn’t know how well acquainted Trey and I were.

  “Guys, come on,” Danny said, coming to my rescue.

  “I’m just saying…if she knows him…she could get him to tell us his side of the story. This is gonna be even bigger than his trade!”

  Danny sighed. “Leave her alone, guys.”

  I snapped my head up and squeezed Danny’s forearm, silently thanking him. I could fight my own battles. Twenty plus sets of eyeballs were fixated on me, their mouths open, waiting for me to offer some assurance that I could get the story. Something I had absolutely no intention of doing. “I’m not in communication with Trey Delgado. All right? Let’s just get that out there right now. Whatever happened in that clinic…” I paused, glancing up as they replayed the footage. God, it was going to be on repeat all night long. I shook my head and refocused on my co-workers. “This isn’t even news. It’s a highly personal matter and Mr. Delgado deserves his privacy. How would you like it if a bunch of reporters were butting into your weak moments, embarrassing choices, or worst days?” I glared at them, fixing them each in turn, daring one of them to argue with me.

  Kat raised her pen again. “If I was a superstar athlete, I’d know that lack of privacy comes with the game. Besides, Josie, you’re a reporter. This is your damn job.”

  I snarled in her direction. “And when did you get the promotion to station manager, Katerina? Oh, that’s right, you’re not. So how about you just lay off and get out of my business!”

  Kat opened her mouth, ready to argue, but I spun on my heel and stalked from the newsroom before she could fire off another word. Footsteps sounded behind me but I didn’t slow down or bother to look back.

  “What the hell was that all about?” Danny asked, catching up to me at the exit.

  I snapped my arm out of his reach and cut him an angry sideways glance as I pushed out the heavy door. “What was what? You heard that twit. She was way out of line. I don’t take orders from her.”

  Danny stared at me like he had no idea who I was. I’d suddenly changed from the Josie he knew five minutes before into a completely different person. Hell, maybe I was. Seeing that footage of Trey snapped something deep inside of me. “Everyone in there is thinking Trey is this big, beefy ball player who just disrespected that little mouse of a woman. They don’t know the other side of the story!”

  Danny folded
his arms. “And you do?”

  “Yes. Actually, I do. Trey told me about her. She’s been stalking him for months. Claiming she has his baby but she won’t take the damn test to prove it. She’s just a gold digging bitch! She’s slept with his whole team out in California.”

  “So, she deserves to get treated like that? Is that what you’re saying?”

  My mouth worked, flopping open without a sound coming out.

  Danny shrugged and dropped his arms. “I’m just sayin…it sounds like you’ve already chosen Trey’s side.”

  “Go to hell, Danny. You don’t know anything about it. You’re just another sheep who believes whatever the media tells you!”

  I stormed out and was ten feet from the door, when Danny’s final retort filtered out to me, “The Josie I know wants to be a part of the media.”

  I spun around and threw my hands up in the air. “I do! But I want to tell the truth! I’m not in this job to spread more sensationalized bullshit around.”

  “And that’s what we do here? Can I get you on the record?”

  “Fuck off.”

  This time I didn’t stop walking until I got to my car. I threw the door open so hard a twinge in my shoulder screamed at me to calm down before I tore myself apart. I jammed the key in the ignition and the radio automatically came on, playing the same story. With a frustrated growl, I punched it off and slammed the car into reverse.

  I had no idea what had gotten into me, but I wasn’t going to stop, or calm down, until I knew where Trey was and got his side of the story. I wasn’t going to let the media hang him out to dry for the umpteenth time. He didn’t deserve that.

  Not the Trey I knew.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Trey

  “Son of a bitch, Trey.”

  I groaned at the sound of Mason’s irritated voice. No, irritated wasn’t strong enough. Irate. And his face was a matching shade of purple. “I didn’t—”

  He threw up a hand and stopped me. “Nope! Not here.”

  I pushed up from the cold metal bench in the holding cell and waited for the officer at Mason’s side to step forward and unlock the door. He held it open and jerked his chin at me. Don’t need to tell me twice, buddy, I thought, glaring at him as I passed him.

  Mason locked his hand around my arm and tugged me toward the closest exit. His grip was tight and constricting but I didn’t dare to complain. I’d never seen him this pissed off before. It was unnerving. Mason was my one last friend in this whole damned world. If he turned on me…

  I’d be good and royally fucked.

  I waited, forcing my jaw to remain clenched, until we were in Mason’s car. He turned it over, ignoring my presence entirely, and only spoke once we were out on the highway. “All right…I think I’m ready…tell me what the fuck you were thinking.”

  “Mase, this wasn’t my—”

  “Nope! Facts only, Delgado. I don’t want bullshit excuses or lies right now. I can’t take it.”

  I sighed as much as my tight chest would allow. “Mason…”

  He never called me Delgado. This was bad.

  Mason glanced over at me and then rolled his fingers in an impatient circle. “Come on. I have so many fuckin’ phone calls to handle when we get you back to the hotel. I need the whole story so I can come up with a statement.”

  I nodded and stuffed down my objections. “Kimberly called me the other day, desperate for money, actually, no, she wanted a car. Some SUV. Anyways, I told her I’d buy her the damned thing if she would take the test and prove he’s my kid. Apparently she blew all the money from selling her sad little lies all over Hollywood.” I paused, working my jaw for a minute, clenching and unclenching like a pissed off shark. “Whatever, she agreed to take the damn test. So, I showed up at the clinic. She insisted on picking it. She thought I would pay off the tech if I were the one picking it. Fuckin’ delusional bitch…”

  “Trey…” Mason’s tone was sharp. A warning.

  I nodded, getting myself back in check again. “She wasn’t even supposed to be there, Mase! I told her I didn’t want to see her. But there she was, as soon as I got done, and she didn’t even have the kid with her. The test doesn’t work without him.”

  “Where was he?”

  “No fuckin’ clue.” I fisted my hands, the wash of tense memories threatening to overtake me again. The walls of Mason’s rental were closing in on me. He’d flown out as soon as the story broke and must have grabbed the car at the airport as soon as he landed. I ended up being at the police station for over six hours, being questioned over and over again, until they finally had to cut me loose. Although I still wasn’t sure why. Was I on bail or some shit like that? It wasn’t my first rodeo, but there was a heaviness to these charges that went way beyond any of the dumb shit I’d gotten myself into in the past.

  Mason turned his blinker on and we cruised around a corner, onto a street I’d never been on before. “All right, so she’s there, kid’s not. What happened next?”

  “I asked her where the kid was and she started making excuses. Like always. I just…I couldn’t take it. I want this nightmare over with! And yet again, she fuckin’ played me and no one gives a shit.”

  Mason flexed his jaw and then looked over at me. “Witnesses came forward and said she threw the first punch. It wasn’t caught on the security cameras, but someone got a different angle on a phone camera.”

  I exhaled a huge sigh of relief but it quickly channeled into irritation. I twisted in my seat to glare at Mason. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that sooner! You’ve had me over here losing my shit for ten minutes!”

  Mason stared at me for a beat. “I wanted your side, unfiltered.”

  I groaned and raked both of my hands through my hair. “I didn’t hit her. How could you even think that I was capable of that?”

  Mason pulled into a parking garage and didn’t answer me until we’d come to a stop. “I didn’t think you hit her, Trey. But I wasn’t sure what happened. The video shows you two screaming at each other, then you take a step closer, you’re towering over her, and then the next thing you know, you two are going for each other like alley cats. Your bodyguard, or whoever that was, jumped in and there’s a whole bunch of people running around and blocking the view of the camera. It’s a clusterfuck.”

  “But witnesses said I didn’t hit her?”

  A deep wrinkle was etched between Mason’s brows as he stared at me. He was about my age, but looked twenty years older. I figured that was mostly my fault. “A witness caught it on camera. That video has a better angle and shows you restraining Ms. Holmes.”

  “Devil woman…”

  Mason ground his palms against his eyes. “Listen, Trey, we’re gonna lay low here for a few days.”

  “What about practice?”

  Mason dropped his hands and stared at me. “There is no practice. You’ve been suspended from the team.”

  “What?” My heart shot up into my throat.

  “I’m sorry. They don’t want to make it look like they’re giving you a pass on this just because of your star power and what you’ve been able to do for the team so far.”

  “So, what then? One week off? Two? What am I looking at here?”

  “I’m still working with the management. But, as of right now, there isn’t a time table on it.”

  I stared, open mouthed and stunned. Thoughts whizzed around my head, crashing into one another like fireworks blowing to shit in the sky. “What the fuck am I supposed to do?”

  Mason shook his head. It was obvious the turn of events was just as shocking to him. “I booked you here,” he said, glancing at the roof. “It’s a little…quieter… Your belongings will be here within the hour. I need you to lay low until the lawyers can sort this out.”

  “I want those test results,” I growled, my fists balling into tight knots.

  “I know you do. I’m working on it. The lawyers are speaking to the clinic to see if her son was even present. No one knows the whole s
tory right now. Things are moving quick, but it’s a puzzle. That’s why you need to sit tight.”

  “Fuck.” I punched the dash of the car. How long was Kimberly going to get away with this shit? What good was it being a superstar if some spoiled, little bitch with an agenda could come along and fuck up my entire life?

  * * * *

  By the time Mason got me checked in, I was just a notch down from homicidal. He dumped me at the door, told me not to break anything or drink myself into a stupor, and then left to go to his own room a few doors away—something that probably wasn’t a coincidence—to do whatever agents do. Probably make phone calls and get updates on shit. I spent twenty minutes pacing the room, resisting the urge to go full on rockstar and smash the place to pieces.

  I grabbed something alcoholic from the mini bar. The hotel was nice enough, but their selection wasn’t exactly top shelf. Whatever. It would take the edge off. That’s all I needed. Bottle in hand, I crossed to the living room, threw myself down and grabbed the remote. The back of my jeans buzzed and I set my drink down, ready to tell whoever was on the other line to ‘fuck off’.

  “What the hell do you want?” I growled into the phone. I secretly hoped it was a reporter so I could tear them a new asshole. It’d feel good.

  “Trey?”

  The soft voice froze my anger, trapping it in a ball, and I immediately felt like the world’s biggest asshole. “Josie?” I asked, dropping my voice.

  “Yeah, it’s me. I hope it’s okay that I called…”

  I shook my head, stunned by her words. “Of course it is. Where are you?”

  “Home.”

  I pushed up from the couch and started pacing again, my mini-drink abandoned on the end table beside the couch. “I’m sure you saw the whole fuckin’ mess on TV.”

  She hesitated. “Well, at work, actually.”

  I winced. “Even better. Damn it. Josie, I—”

  “Hey, Trey, I didn’t call to get news or anything. I just wanted to see if you’re okay.”

  I stopped walking. Who was this woman? She just witnessed a very nasty scene of me and another woman and yet, instead of asking me a million questions, she just wanted to know how I was holding up?