by Len Webster
“AJ, like your uncle Max said, there’s no proof of the article. When the matter gets dealt with, everyone will forget. All of Boston is with you. Don’t worry. It’s one of the things I’m certain about when it comes to the Boston faithful. They love you. They’ll make sure The Daily Sportsourage is nothing in the morning. And I’ll personally go to the dean of admissions at Stanford and fight for you.”
“You would really fight for me?”
“I’ve already been fighting for you since the day we could talk. Can’t see myself stopping now.” He sighed as his palm cupped her jaw, his fingers pressing ever so gently on her neck. “If we leave, Alexandra, you’ll give them fire. Stay. Stay right here and be strong for me. They can’t touch you with me by your side.”
Her eyes fell closed as she wrapped her fingers around his arm and settled comfortably against Evan’s chest. “We’ll stay,” she whispered. “On this bed, we’ll stay.”
“Where no one can hurt you,” he added in the softest voice she’d ever heard. A voice that held so much truth and such promise that her heart leaped the moment his index finger traced a gentle circle on her cheek.
Before the table was set and her mother began dinner, a decision was made. AJ would not sue Kyle Gilmore or the Red Sox. Evan talked her parents into siding with them. It wasn’t about the money for AJ. The Boston Red Sox had done nothing but welcome her into their family, and she couldn’t do that to them. Suing them would be a betrayal not only to the club but also to the fans. They wouldn’t understand. AJ hadn’t understood herself until Evan reasoned with her to understand her lawyers’ and her parents’ position. Mr. Gardwell had respected her decision, and her parents would support her. Evan made a lot of sense when he said suing them would bring more attention to them. And her parents wished to avoid that.
Now, AJ sat at the dining table next to Evan as her father told them about his day talking to the Hong Kong division of G&MC. Her father had been one of the few who helped expand G&MC to the Asian markets almost twenty years ago. He wasn’t fluent in Cantonese, but he did know how to hold a lengthy conversation. He also knew Spanish, too, which came as a surprise when he had helped her with her ninth-grade Spanish assignments.
“Will you have to go to Hong Kong?” her mother asked as she handed AJ the plate of bread rolls.
Her father sighed. “Maybe. I don’t know. Since they hired that Italian manager to take over, it hasn’t been functioning well. I told him that his way wouldn’t work with the Chinese employees, but he didn’t listen. He hasn’t even bothered to learn Cantonese.”
After AJ took a roll and set it on her plate, Evan took the bread rolls from her. “Dad, only you go to such lengths as to learn another language.”
“Well, it makes my job a lot easier,” her father said. Then he gazed down the table at his wife and asked, “If I go to Hong Kong, will you come with me, Clara? We can take a few days off to go to the markets and try some of those spices you were talking about.”
“You remember those spices? I spoke about them months ago.”
Her father grinned. “I remember the spices. You wanted to add them to the winter menu. It might be late for this year’s, though.”
“You really do listen,” her mother said in awe.
AJ rolled her eyes as Evan smirked next to her. Suddenly, a knock caught their attention. Sighing, AJ got out of her seat and said, “I’ll get it. You guys continue.”
Walking out of the dining room, AJ brushed her hair behind her ear and headed toward the front door. She flicked on the porch light, and then opened the door, instantly stilling at the unexpected guest at her door.
“Kyle,” she breathed. “What are you doing here?”
The guilt flashed in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Alexi. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know about the article until yesterday—”
She stumbled back, her hand falling away from the doorknob. “Yesterday?”
“Yeah,” he said with a nod.
“You knew yesterday and didn’t tell me? Kyle, do you have any idea what I’ve been through in the past six hours? I’ve had the police at my door. I’ve had to speak to a lawyer. I’ve had men send me emails asking when they can have me.” Her voice was low to avoid her parents and Evan from hearing her.
Kyle grimaced. “I’m sorry, I should have told you. I didn’t know how to handle it.”
AJ stepped forward, pressed her palm against his chest and pushed him back. Then she stepped outside and closed the door behind her. “No, you didn’t know how to handle it. You left me to handle it. You left the Red Sox and the MLB to handle it. They both made statements, yet you didn’t. You let an article that could affect my future get out to the public. You hid instead of standing up for me. You let them write an article that encouraged rape culture. How dare you not tell me, Kyle!”
“You’re angry.”
“Of course, I’m angry!” she yelled. Her plans of not letting her parents and Evan find out that it was Kyle would surely backfire now that she had pitched her voice. “You ignored my calls. I needed you, Kyle, and you let me down when I needed your support. Instead, you gave me silence. You let the people of Boston stick up for me. Do you know I was advised to sue you and the Red Sox today? You let me be exposed to all of this. I didn’t want to be Little Miss Red Sox. All I wanted to do was support you, and you let me down.”
“Alexi,” he begged, reaching out for her, but she slapped his hands away. “Please let me explain.”
“You have one minute, which is a lot longer than your voicemail greeting,” she said bitterly.
Kyle sighed as he combed his fingers through his brown hair. He inhaled deeply before he straightened his spine, fear lacing his eyes and causing her to still.
“I couldn’t make a statement because I didn’t know what to say to make it right. To make it all right without lying.”
“What?” she breathed. “What are you talking about, Kyle?”
“That article opened my eyes.”
She winced as if he’d slapped her across the face. “To what? You see me that way? In all that vulgar—”
“No,” he said, exasperated. “Not that way. But I have been waiting until you turned eighteen so I could tell you.” He paused and reached out to grasp her hand. AJ was too shocked to pull away. “Alexi, I love you. That part—and only that part—was true. I’ve been waiting until you were eighteen to tell you. I love you.”
Oh, my God.
Kyle Gilmore was in love with her.
Kyle Gilmore, the captain of the Red Sox, was in love with her.
Twenty-four-year-old Kyle Gilmore was in love with her.
“But I’m not eighteen,” she reminded as she finally broke their contact. His face contorted by her actions. She knew she hurt him, but his silence had hurt her, too. “Kyle, I’m seventeen. I’m still a minor. Even if I turned eighteen tomorrow, that wouldn’t change that article or the message it sent out to men and women, and young boys and girls. That article humiliated me and reduced me to a piece of meat. I tolerated the paparazzi and fans for you. But I’m not going to allow you or the media to brand me. What’s Stanford or Harvard or Yale going to think of me now? No one will take me seriously, and I’ll be a joke in the science community. This article could ruin my chances at a good college.”
“I know,” he said in a tiny voice. “I’m sorry.”
Her chest tightened as the regret consumed his face. “You should have just answered my calls, Kyle. We could have handled this together. But now that I know you’ve known about the article since yesterday, I’m really angry with you. How can I trust you after this?”
“I know, you can’t. I’m sorry. But didn’t you hear me? I told you that I love you, Alexi.”
She balled her hands into fists, hating that she had to do this. “I heard you, Kyle. But …” She pressed her lips together, holding the truth from him just a li
ttle bit longer. Though the longer she held it, the more pain consumed his face. “I do love you, Kyle—”
“Then we can be together,” he said, hope filling his eyes.
She shook her head. “No, Kyle—”
“We can be together. The moment you turn eighteen, we can tell people and be public. Then that article won’t matter.”
AJ sighed. “Kyle, I don’t love you like that. I’m not in love with you. I-I’m sorry, but there can’t be an us.”
His eyes widened as he shook his head in disbelief. “Why can’t there be an us?”
“Kyle, even if I were eighteen, people would still speculate. You’d still have people question our relationship and when it started. They’ll think you abused your position with me. But that doesn’t matter because, Kyle, I don’t love you.”
“You could, Alexi. You just need time to process—”
“I don’t need time,” she insisted.
“Why?” he begged.
She took a short breath as she looked him in the eyes. She knew what she had to do. What she had to say. “I’m in love with someone else.”
His lips parted. “You’re …?”
“I’m in love with someone else,” she confirmed. Her heart soared and spiraled out of control; she had finally confessed she was in love.
It was true.
She did love someone else.
AJ was in love with Evan.
“And right now,” AJ said, finding a little courage from her confession, “I can’t trust you. You hid the fact that you knew this article existed twenty-four hours before I did. You let my image suffer when all I’ve ever done is protect yours. And I can’t ever love someone who would betray me like that.”
“Alexi, please, I love—”
“AJ,” Evan said from behind her, saving her from Kyle’s heartbreaking confession. “What are you doing here, Kyle?”
Kyle popped out his chest. It was a defensive tic he had that she’d noticed through the years. “Having a conversation with Alexi.”
Evan set his hands on her shoulders. “You need to go before her parents realize it’s you at the door. You promised you’d never hurt her, and you did just that by not protecting her from that article.”
“I …” Kyle’s brows furrowed as he stared at Evan and then at her. His eyes widened with realization. “Alexi?”
Did he know that she was in love with his brother?
She sensed it.
Saw it in his eyes.
He knew.
“Evan?” he asked. AJ kept her mouth shut as he took a step back onto the step.
“What, Kyle?”
Kyle shook his head. “Alexi, I’m sorry.” He took another step down the steps, spun around, and retreated to his sports car.
She’d broken the captain of the Red Sox’s heart.
But he broke her trust and ruined her image. The image she had tried so hard to maintain for him.
“AJ …” Evan squeezed her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
She craned her neck to look at him. “I don’t know. Evan …”
“Yeah?”
Sadness plagued her chest with the truth that would leave her lips. “I don’t think I can go back to Fenway for a while.”
40 Zr
zirconium
EVAN
Now
Milos: Hey, Ev. Your friends from one of your sports management classes stopped by and left some notes for you. They’re handwritten. Do you want me to scan them and email it to you?
Evan pushed AJ’s small suitcase out of the elevator. He had trouble getting a signal in the elevator, but the moment he stepped out, he had full bars, allowing him to reply to his roommate back in California.
Evan: Hey, Milos. Thanks, man. If you can scan it and email it to me, that would be great. I’m sorry I just left without giving you much info. I had to leave California for a while.
Milos: For that girl in the picture you always stare at?
Evan: Yeah. The very girl. I appreciate you doing this for me. I gotta run. Thanks again, Milos.
Once the message sent, Evan tucked his phone back into his pocket and pushed AJ’s suitcase down the hall toward the honeymoon suite. When he reached the room, he knocked on the door, remembering that he’d given AJ the room key.
He waited as seconds passed.
No reply.
Not even a sound.
Evan tapped his knuckles on the hotel door again. “AJ?”
He wondered if she had fallen asleep. He had been gone for a while. Sighing, he knew he’d have to go back to the front desk and get another key card. He didn’t want to wake her up because they’d both had a long day. Just as he was about to walk back toward the elevator, he heard the door handle turn. It opened to AJ with tears in her eyes and moisture on her cheeks.
“Alexandra?” he said. His gym bag fell from his shoulder and landed with a loud thump on the ground.
“I forgive you,” she said in a small voice. “I read your emails. I forgive you for that email, Evan.”
His heart throbbed in relief.
“You forgive me?”
It was all he wanted.
All he’d wanted since he had sent that stupid, regrettable email.
“I do. I forgive you. I felt your sadness and regret in each email you sent, and I’m so sorry I ignored them for so long.”
Not caring about their bags, Evan pushed the door wider and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to his chest. He felt her sob against him as her arms wound around his waist. He breathed in her floral perfume as he rested his chin on top of her head.
It felt so right.
To have her forgiveness.
She only forgives you for the email.
The thought had him freezing.
Just the email.
She doesn’t forgive you for prom.
For her having to choose Duke.
She hasn’t forgiven you for MIT.
He pulled back and settled his hands on her shoulders. He remained still for a moment longer, then trailed his fingers along her shoulders and up her neck until he cradled her face.
“You forgive me for the email?”
She nodded. Her glorious green eyes gleamed with her unshed tears. Her hands were on his hips as her lips parted. “I do.”
He wanted to ask if her forgiveness extended to prom, but he knew it wouldn’t. She would have said so. They still had a ways to go.
But he’d earn her in every way again.
It would just take time.
And here, in a Virginian honeymoon suite, he had earned her forgiveness.
AJ stepped back, bringing him with her. “Can you bring the bags inside? I need to change before bed.”
His thumb brushed along her cheek, wiping away the remains of her tears. “You don’t want to order room service? We missed dinner.”
“Maybe later.” Her hands dropped from his hips as his hands fell from her cheeks. Then Evan spun around, opened the door that had closed behind him, and brought their bags inside the room as AJ held the door for him. “Thank you,” she said when he pushed the suitcase to her.
AJ grasped the handle, smiled her appreciation, and then went to the bathroom. The bathroom door clicked closed as he noticed the rose petals on the carpet. He followed the roses and took in the large suite and the petals that covered the bed. He set his bag on the floor and kicked off his shoes. He bent down, unzipped his bag, and pulled out his gray sweatpants. While AJ was changing in the bathroom, he decided to change in the suite. He pulled his shirt over his head and let it fall on top of his gym bag. Then he unbuttoned his jeans, pulled the zipper apart, and pushed his jeans to his ankles. After he removed his jeans, he sat on the bed and picked up the sweatpants. He threaded his legs through and then got off the bed, p
ulling up his sweats just as AJ walked out of the bathroom with her suitcase rolling next to her.
She was in a pair of dark blue PJ bottoms and a gray tank top. Her eyes traveled down and lingered on his bare chest for a moment before she glanced away and then made her way to the bed. She bent down and laid the suitcase flat on the ground. Once she stood, she scrunched her nose at the bed.
“Do you think they thought about how to clean all this up when they were scattering petals all over the place?” she asked and began to pick up each petal.
Evan laughed as he noticed her struggling to keep the flowers in her palm. He walked to her side and removed the petals from her hand and dropped them on the floor. “It’s supposed to be romantic.”
She hummed. “Well, I’m tired, and I don’t want to wake up with a bouquet’s worth of petals in my mouth or something.”
“There’s an easy fix.”
“And what’s that?” she asked, sweeping more petals from the bed and onto the floor. Then she picked up her purse from the bed.
He stepped around AJ and held the corner of the blanket. As he pulled it toward the end of the mattress, AJ stepped back and watched as the flowers easily fell to the ground. When he was satisfied that the bed was clean, he fixed the blanket back in place and patted the pillow on the side where AJ stood.
“There.”
She smiled. “Thank you. That was a lot easier than what I was doing.” AJ climbed onto the bed, set her purse on the bedside table, and covered herself with the thick white blanket. Then she turned her head and asked, “Are you not coming to bed yet?”
“Just making sure you’re in before I turn off the lights.”
“You’re not gonna order room service? You said you were hungry before. You can order if you want, Evan. I’m just gonna sleep.”
He shook his head at her. “No, I’m pretty tired. We’ve had a long day.”
“I agree.”
With that, he walked toward the hotel door, turned off the lights, and went to his side of the bed. Evan slipped under the covers, reached for the switch on the lamp, and turned it off. Then he shifted in his spot until he felt comfortable. Lying on his back, he stared up at the ceiling.
