by Alice Ward
She was always so professional, even when cold and bossy. It may have been strange, but it was the first time she actually appeared human to me.
“Calvin and Todd aren’t fighting over Whitney, I can assure you of that. It was simply an issue on the field. They’re still learning to work together,” I insisted.
“Well, it seems pretty fuckin’ ironic that the day Whitney lands in Daytona, those two, who’ve been okay on the field all this time, decide to go at it,” she hissed.
My heart sank deep into my chest. Whitney was here? I didn’t know she’d arrived. I'd heard Calvin and the guys talking about Whitney, Holly, and Newman’s baby possibly showing up, but she was here? Was that why Todd was so upset last night and needed someone to hold him? I’m such a fool.
“You’re right. I’ll get to the bottom of this,” I promised.
“I don’t need you to be Nancy fuckin’ Drew, Katrina. I need you to be my media manager and manage the fucking media. That means picking up your phone when I call, watching your Google alerts, even in your asleep. You need to prevent this shit from happening. The fans don’t need to be nervous thinking Rhett made a mistake bringing on Morris.”
“He didn’t make a mistake. It was a smart move. I’ll fix it.”
“So, what are you going to do to fix this?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I’ll talk to the guys. Make sure they keep their personal shit off the field and out of the media.”
She tapped a long nail on her arm. “Yeah, and you need to create some event, pulling the two together. A charity event maybe, something that shows they can work together.”
“I don’t know why you’re here, to be honest. You don’t have the experience to handle this job. Was this a favor Rhett owed your dad? Or are you doing some favors for Rhett?” Her words sent chills down my spine. The hatred in her eyes was growing as she looked over my shoulder and toward my closed bedroom door.
“Why’s that door shut?” she asked.
“It’s my bedroom,” I replied, worried by her question.
“Yeah. But I just woke you up.” Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared as her face became a mask of fury. “Is Rhett here? Are you fucking him?”
Was she serious right now?
“No, and I don’t appreciate what you're insinuating,” I snapped, my own voice growing angry.
“Well, you were certainly doing something or someone last night. I can’t imagine what else would blind you to the drama unfolding at your feet.”
She pushed past me toward my bedroom door, moving too quickly for me to stop her. My heart raced as her perfectly manicured hand turned the knob and opened the door, knowing what she’d find on the other side.
I rushed into the room behind Lana. My bed was a mess, blankets tossed halfway onto the floor, but it was empty. Even Todd’s clothes that had been placed on the back of the chair were gone.
“See, there’s no one here,” I said quickly, ushering her back into the living room. “There’s no reason for you to barge into my personal life.”
She laughed. “Oh, sweetie. The day you signed on, you gave up your right to privacy. You’re in the limelight now, like it or not. So you better keep your nose clean. You can’t have secrets.”
Secrets. Todd and I had a secret, a big one. Was she right?
“If I have to come back here, Kat, just know it will be the end of your career with the Beasts,” Lana warned.
I couldn’t stand her calling me Kat. Hearing the pet name my father gave me, the one Todd used to seduce me come from her lips drenched me in anger.
“I told you I’d handle it,” I snapped, ushering her to the front door.
I was furious. My body was shaking as she finally left me to deal with Todd. I walked into my room, looked around to try and see where he’d hid. He was good. I didn’t see any trace of him anywhere.
“She’s gone,” I said calmly and sat on the edge of my bed.
Todd emerged from the closet, fully dressed, and sat down beside me. He wrapped his arm around me, pulled me close, and assured me it would all be okay. “I’m sorry if I distracted you from work,” he said.
He had distracted me, but it wasn’t his fault. I wanted it. I needed it. But I still felt like a fool.
“Did you know Whitney was here?” I asked, trying to make my voice strong with no accusation.
He nodded.
“Is that why you were so upset and didn’t want to be alone?”
He blew out a long breath. “It may have shaken me up for a moment. But no… that’s not why I came here.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him. I wanted to.
“The fight between you and Calvin, did that have anything to do with Whitney?” I asked.
“Not on my end. Maybe that’s why he was on edge so badly though. He knew she was coming. I didn’t.”
“Ugh, Lana makes me crazy!” My fist slammed down onto the mattress.
“Don’t let her get to you,” he consoled me, threading his fingers through mine.
“She actually insinuated that I don’t belong here. That I only got this job because of my dad, or that I was screwing Rhett? Who does she think she is?”
Todd laughed, squeezed me gently, then kissed me on the cheek. “She’s your boss.”
“Rhett’s my boss,” I snapped, feeling petulant.
“Well, maybe you just answered your own question.”
What did he mean by that?
“Just prove to her you that belong here,” he said.
“How?”
“Well, start with doing what she asked and doing it well. You got my word that I’ll be on my best behavior around Calvin. The problem we have is him with me, not me with him. Anything you decide, charity event, or whatever, I’m there. All smiles for the cameras,” he promised.
“Thank you.” I leaned my head on his strong shoulder, finally feeling a little calmer after my abrasive morning meeting with my boss. He even waited for as long as he could before leaving my room, just in case Lana was peering around some corner.
As my cab stopped at a red light, a yellow bus pulled up beside us. The side read M.R.D.D. Daytona Beach School for Children. Kids inside the bus had beach balls they were passing back and forth, large umbrellas stacked against the windows, and some wore thick white stripes of sunblock on their noses. I smiled at one boy who waved at me through the window. That’s it!
I knew what I would do for the charity event, not just for Calvin and Todd, but for the entire team.
The guys were already practicing out on the field when I arrived at the stadium. Two women stood at the fence behind home plate, one carrying a baby on her hip. When they turned around as I squeezed in behind them to get to my seat, I recognized them as Holly and Whitney. The baby was smiling, reaching for me as I passed. He was cute, and his flirty behavior certainly reflected what I knew about his daddy.
“You must be Holly.” I extended my hand and introduced myself. “And you must be Whitney.” I extended my hand to her in the same fashion.
I couldn’t help but feel a little envious of how beautiful Whitney looked. Her long hair, her bright eyes, and a smile women would kill for and men would die for. The thought of her with Todd made my stomach churn, but her warmth quickly made that fade.
I liked them, both of them. I hated they’d been pulled into the media because of their men. But as Lana said, there is no privacy once you sign on, and they’d both signed on for the long haul.
“I have an interview with Calvin today,” I told Whitney, explaining quickly what Rhett had asked for.
“That’s a great idea. But I don’t see many of the guys opening up much,” she warned.
“Well, the media is eating them alive. We need to do something. The Calvin and Todd squabble has gone viral,” I slipped in carefully just to see if she would react.
React she did, blushing immediately. “It’s so embarrassing. I mean, why would Calvin have an issue with Todd? That was ages ago. A fli
ng.”
Relief instantly fell over me to hear her refer to her time with Todd as nothing serious. “Well, they have me setting up a charity event to pull them together.”
“Calvin is a very charitable man. I’d love for the fans to get a chance to see that side,” Whitney said with a smile.
Calvin and Todd weren’t paired up during practice. Instead, Todd was with Blake Osborne, my dad’s old teammate. I knew I’d have to work with the coach to get them back together. It wouldn’t be easy.
Calvin walked over to my seat after practice, sitting down beside me and swigging from his water bottle like he was dying of thirst. “Gettin’ hot out there?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. Feels great,” he said, smiling and taking another long drink.
I started out the interview talking about his offseason, what he did, where he and Whitney vacationed, then worked my way into the deeper issues at hand. “Do you really despise Todd being on your team?”
He looked surprised that I'd asked him that question, or maybe that I’d worded it so bluntly.
“I don’t despise him being on my team. I’d just prefer he was on someone else’s team,” he replied with a smirk.
“Because of his past with Whitney?”
“Partly,” he said and turned up the water bottle again.
“What else is there?” I asked carefully.
He scratched his head as if he was trying to come up with another answer. His eyes stared into mine, his lips curving into a smile. “Okay, you got me. That’s the only reason. He’s actually an amazing catcher. I’ve already learned quite a bit from him. You tell him that, and I’ll deny it.”
“Would you be up to working with him again?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ve actually hated it out on the mound without him. His eyes are amazing, and his reflexes off the charts. He really does know how to read a batter. That’s gold when you’re out there alone on the mound.”
Wow, so Calvin respects Todd.
My confidence grew quickly as the coach agreed to pair the two hotheads back up together for the next game. This was feeling like it would be much easier than I originally thought. Todd had promised to be on his best behavior, and after talking to Calvin, I had no worries that he’d only bring his best to the field, and away from it.
The team played strong together with Calvin on the mound and Todd behind the home plate. The other team couldn’t get a man past first with Todd’s amazing eye and Calvin’s quick reflexes. By the end, relief flooded my soul. Everything had gone great, and with a score of 11-0, I had no doubt the media would all be good, at least for the night.
I grabbed my notes, shoved them in my bag, and started to work my way out of the stadium before the crowd rushed the exits. The players were all headed toward the locker rooms, already shaking hands with the other team, and enjoying a celebratory moment on the field.
Todd waved at me, his arm stretched high above his head. His grin was so wide, his eyes so bright. I knew he was proud of himself. I was proud of him too. Ace ran past him, jabbing him in the ribs, from what I saw, on purpose. Todd pushed back, stopped, and yelled something toward Newman. Within seconds, the two men were in each other’s faces, screaming, pushing. I gasped when I saw Todd’s fist cocked and loaded, ready to land on Ace’s face right as Calvin gripped it, stopping him from the horrid mistake. He was working to pull them apart when cameras flashed like sudden lightning. Fuck! Are you kidding me right now? Everything was perfect.
This wasn’t going to be easy at all. In fact, herding cats into a shower would be easier.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Todd
What the fuck was wrong with Ace Newman anyway? I hadn’t done anything to him. Katrina wasn’t cold, but she wasn’t the same after that incident on the field. It had been a week, and she’d barely said three words to me. It wasn’t my fault, was it?
She sat in the locker room, her legs crossed, showing off her toned thighs as Coach announced we’d be forfeiting our next practice for some good publicity. “Katrina will fill you in. I expect you all to listen and do exactly what she says,” he warned, motioning for her to get up and take over the room.
Her eyes were focused on the group, not one player in particular, certainly not me. “We have some very special kids coming in for a training session tomorrow,” she said.
Some of the guys grumbled. I remained silent. I would do whatever it took to get back into her good graces, and her bed. After the night we spent together, intertwined in her bed, sleeping alone had become rough.
“The special needs children from Daytona had a field trip scheduled to come watch you practice tomorrow. I thought it would be a great opportunity for you to show your appreciation to your fans, and to show you are not truly beasts by spending the day with these kids, letting them play out on the field with you.”
“Well, I think that’s great,” Blake spoke up first.
I’d heard he had an autistic son so this was obviously something close to his heart.
“I expect you all to behave. Show these kids a good time,” Coach said.
“The kids will arrive at nine in the morning tomorrow. Don’t think because you have a day to sleep in that you can run amuck. Everyone is expected to be in their rooms by ten o’clock tonight. No exceptions.” Katrina spoke with an authority that made my dick twitch.
The guys all started to grumble, especially Luke and Kane. “We’re on curfew?” Luke argued.
“Yes, and you will remain on curfew for the remainder of your time here,” Coach replied sternly.
My eyes lingered on Katrina, trying desperately to get her to see me. She gathered her belongings, didn’t turn around as she called out, “See you all in the morning,” and left.
I’d heard everything Lana said to her that morning I hid in her closet. Since we hadn’t spoken since then, I had no idea if Lana had been back on her ass after the last incident. It did make the papers. Front and center, as always. The picture the media decided to run with, of course, was the one where it looked like Calvin and I were in an altercation. That was the furthest thing from the truth. He’d actually saved my ass by stopping that blow headed for Newman’s face.
Ten o’clock curfew wasn’t a big deal for me but some of the other guys were still fuming. “We’re not children,” Kane stated.
“Some of us are,” Calvin laughed.
I finished my beer, tipped the lounge bartender a twenty, and patted Kane on the back. “You should feel lucky we’re allowed out unsupervised at all after some of the past stunts from this team.”
“Watch it, Morris,” Ace warned.
“Fuck off, Newman. You’re the reason we’re all on lock down,” I snapped.
“No. It’s my fault. My petty shit with you.” Calvin directed his comment to me.
Wow.
“We’re past that. We’ve been past that. I just want to know what this one has a beef about.” I nodded toward Ace.
He stood against the wall, his hands pushed deep in his pockets, his back slouched like he didn’t give a shit about nothing. “I don’t have a beef.”
“Good. Then don’t fuckin’ push me again,” I warned.
His eyes narrowed, his lips pursed tightly together, and his hands slid from his pockets. I watched them reach up, slide his fingers through his thick locks before crossing his arms over his chest. “I just don’t like anyone who brings tension to my team.”
“Your team?” I laughed.
“Stop. I was so excited to be on this team. To play with the greats, but you all act like children…” Kane spouted and then sucked down the last of his beer. “I’m going to my room. Like a child. Thanks to you, the fuckin’ greats,” he added before walking away.
I slid back onto my bar stool. “Can I buy you guys a beer?” I asked.
“Hell yeah. But make mine a Mountain Dew,” Newman said quickly with a laugh, taking the seat next to mine.
“What about the curfew?” Calvin asked.
Ace shot him
a look. “Don’t be a pussy.”
Calvin seemed to blush a little at Ace’s prodding. I wondered what it was like when those two were partying together. I couldn’t picture it, no matter how hard I tried. Calvin was just so straight-laced, so small town naïve. He just didn’t fit with Ace as a partner in crime.
We didn’t talk about the past, about our grievances, or about what Kane had said before he stormed off. I think it was mutually agreed upon that he was right, and it was high time we started acting like the greats we truly were.
Luke poked me in the ribs hard as I took the last swig of our second beer past curfew. I turned, ready to snap at him when I realized that his poke was a warning.
“It’s after eleven o’clock,” Katrina said, staring directly at me when she spoke. Oh, now she wants to give me some attention?
“We were just bonding. That’s what you wanted, right?” I said, a little more sarcastically than intended.
Her eyes darkened. “If you’d done that earlier, I wouldn’t be here ordering you to bed like a bunch of twelve-year-olds.” Her hand jammed onto her hip like my fourth-grade teacher before sending me to the principal’s office.
“You’re right. We’re going,” I promised.
The guys all quickly slapped money on the bar and scampered from the tiny room. We were alone. After all this time, Katrina and I were finally alone.
“We worked out a lot,” I offered as an excuse for my betrayal of her rules.
“Go to bed, Todd,” she murmured.
“Whose bed?” I asked, trying to be flirty but sounding drunk.
She smiled. Her hand fell from her hip, and her body shifted to relax her weight from one side. “Your bed.”
I barely remembered going to my room, but as my alarm blasted, I was certainly there… alone. I showered, dressed, and met the guys in the lobby to eat breakfast before catching the shuttle.
Katrina was sitting on a large white sofa in the main lobby, scribbling something in her notepad. “You hungry?” I asked, stopping before passing her by.
Her eyes looked tired, exhausted really. I hated that I was to blame for her stress. “No,” she replied.
“You gotta eat.”
