Page 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

SILAS

The morale of the guys heading into the locker room after the game was the opposite of when we’d first stepped onto the field today. We’d needed this win, even if it was close.

I hadn’t checked any social media before the game, turning off my phone once I arrived at the field. Practice had been quiet as we waited for word on Nate. Lee made sure to check the guys over before practice just to make them, and all of us, relax.

I’d felt their relief as much as mine after the final out. We proved we could still win, and losing someone important for hopefully just a little while wouldn’t mess with our heads and stop us from doing our jobs. The win hadn’t mattered much in the standings, as the team above us had won today too, but for moving forward period, it was crucial.

We had two more nights here before I could head home to Rachel and finally make a plan to come clean to her job about us. I’d talk to Kent and make him speak to her boss and somehow convince her that this wasn’t a tawdry fling like the one that made them implement the stupid rule in the first place. Then we’d deal with whatever we had to after together.

I had to run it by Rachel first, but I knew she was as exhausted as I was. Her sister wouldn’t miss out on anything— neither of them would—even if I had to convince her to see it that way.

“Good game, guys,” Kent said, his smile forced and fake as he glanced around the locker room. “When you have a moment, Silas, meet us in the office.”

Adrian stilled next to his locker, the rest of the guys also frozen to the sticky floor.

The grim pinch in Kent’s brow didn’t ease any of the nerves I’d been trying not to think about, but I needed to know so we could all come up with a plan for the rest of the season and maybe after.

“What’s going on?” I asked, shutting the door behind me. Kent and Cole, the managing partner, both met my gaze with the same wary eyes, and that had the hairs on the back of my neck sticking straight up.

“Is it Nate?”

“Nate tore his rotator cuff. They don’t think it was related to the issues he’d been having at the beginning of the season, but the doctor said with surgery and therapy, he should be fine for next year.”

“Okay. Sucks for the rest of the season, but glad to hear the prognosis is good.”

Kent nodded, dropping his gaze to the table as if he was having trouble maintaining eye contact with me.

“It’s a loss, but the guys had a good game today. I know we all have our eyes on a wild card spot, but the best thing to do is take it one game at a time.”

“No, we aren’t worried about that.” Cole shook his head. He was about Kent’s height, slim with a gray beard, and he stayed mostly silent in management meetings. He sometimes traveled with Kent, but I’d never been part of a meeting with only the two of them.

“Okay, so then what is this meeting about?”

“You haven’t been on social media today, have you?”

“No, I shut my phone off when I arrived at the field. Did something happen?”

“A few pictures of you were posted last night. You and Rachel from the PR agency.”

I fell back in the chair, clenching my jaw so it wouldn’t go slack.

“What kinds of pictures?” My mind went to that moment at the bar when I’d fingered her under the counter and when I’d pinned her against the wall outside my hotel room. I’d known it was risky, but I’d been too happy to see her and too turned on to care or notice if we’d had an audience.

“Nothing too graphic, but suggestive enough to show you were…together. A few influencers found out that she’s a published author too.”

“Jesus Christ,” I said, the wind getting knocked out of me for the second time in ten minutes.

“We’ve had a word with the photographer. She wasn’t supposed to show faces,” Kent said with a quick wince.

I pulled out my phone and turned it on, my leg bobbing as I waited for it to power up, when what he said hit me.

“The photographer? What are you saying? Whoever took these pictures works for the Bats?”

“Not exactly,” Cole said. “I’m sure you understand. We’re a new team and don’t have the deep history of some other teams in the city and state. Until we start breaking records, popularity is how we keep the ticket and merch sales up. But this went too far, and we’re sorry.”

“Wait just a fucking minute,” I said, my words slow as rage roared through me. “Someone on your payroll followed me, took pictures of what were supposed to be private moments with my girlfriend, and then showed her face by mistake and took away all her privacy.”

“Yes. And we’ve spoken with Gayle,” Kent said. “We both agreed the agency letting her go is the best thing to do to quiet things down.”

“Best thing for who? She’s raising her teenage sister. Did you even think about what losing her job could cost her?”

“It’s a terrible solution, but she is in breach of contract by fraternizing with a client. Letting her go and allowing this all to fade is best. We did get more hits on our pages today than ever before.” Kent’s smile faded fast when he met my furious gaze. “You can go back to being a bachelor who had a fun night, and we can keep the hook we have left for the rest of the season.”

I shot up out of my chair so fast, it clanged to the floor behind me.

“I am not a fucking show pony. I had a successful twenty-year career in baseball and have been working my ass off with this team to have a good season. I should walk right now, leave you without a star player and a manager so you can figure out another hook .”

“No, don’t do that,” Kent said, shaking his head as his eyes grew wide with panic. “We regret the trouble this caused Rachel, especially because of her sister. The best way to let it die down is?—”

“For me to pretend we’re not together? Nope. Fix this another way, or you’ll be hearing from my lawyer about breaking my contract and then whatever else I could sue you for.”

“Look, Silas, I know you’re angry. And we sincerely regret all the trouble this caused both of you. There’s a press conference for both managers in a few minutes,” Kent said. “Where you can talk about the win and about Nate’s recovery and however you want to set the record straight.”

“Fine. But I want you to remember something.” I stalked over to them both.

“You hired me to manage a team. Whatever your reasons were, that’s what I’ve done. And I’ve done a damn good job. My life with the woman I love is not subject to exploitation, and my love life period is none of your business or part of my employment.”

“We know that,” Kent said, having the decency to look me over with a cautious gaze.

I should have stopped this much earlier, from the minute Kent told me to stay eligible and single for their new fan base , but I never thought playing that up would harm the people I cared about. I’d thought the front office’s obsession with my popularity was a harmless inconvenience, and that misjudgment was all on me.

“Again,” Kent began with a sigh, “I’m sure that after the pictures come down, things will go back to?—”

“Normal?” I scoffed. “For who? Rachel is still out of a job and her identity is all over the internet. You’re going to make sure she gets her job back.”

“I don’t think we can,” Cole said. “She went against company policy?—”

“Tell them you’ll pull the account. And if that doesn’t work, you can contribute to a big severance package for them to offer her. Something substantial, that would probably be a lot less than what you’d have to pay if she sued you.”

“She’d want to sue us?” Kent gaped at me, the color draining from his face at the horror of potential bad publicity.

“She would after I suggest it.” My lips curled into a smile. “Remember my lawyer? The one who made you draft four contracts? He’d get her a good five years of salary and more, I’d bet. He’ll also be taking another look at my current contract to make sure you can never use my personal life to sell tickets ever again.”

I left the room as they regarded me with the same widened, panicked eyes.

I leaned against the doorway as I unlocked my phone, cursing as I saw all the pictures Kent had mentioned. I closed the app when I caught the comments about her, ranging from her weight to if I paid her by the hour.

Instead of protecting her, I’d thrown her to the fucking wolves.

I only had a minute to calm down, and if I had any hope in salvaging any of this, I couldn’t go out there like the madman I felt like.

I’d promised I’d take care of her, not ruin her life.

I hoped I still could. This wasn’t how I planned to announce us to the world, but we weren’t going back. I’d love her out loud and out in the open, and I wouldn’t let anything take her away from me.

I only hoped that after I’d cost her this much, she still wanted me too.