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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Christy

I wake up in absolute bliss, wrapped in Evan’s arms. Last night was unbelievable, and this is the cherry on top. If this is how our life is going to be together, then I’m more than all in.

I hear my phone vibrating on the end table next to me, but I ignore it. When it goes off again, I jump up, knowing my sister is the only person who would hang up and call right back.

“Something must be wrong,” I say, heading back to reality with my motherly instincts kicking in.

I reach for the phone and see Sasha’s name flashing across the screen, making my heart drop.

I panic as I answer the call. “What’s wrong? Is Nolan okay?”

“Nolan’s fine,” she says.

My chest loosens a little bit, but then it hits me. “Then what’s going on? Why are you calling so early?”

She hesitates, and that feeling of panic fills me again.

“Someone took pictures of you last night and posted them on social media.”

My mind runs through our night in the suite, and I sigh. “Okay, I guess I should have expected that, seeing as a lot of the team was in the suite with us. Why are you calling me so early though?”

“It wasn’t in the suite.”

“Everything okay?” Evan asks, kissing my shoulder.

“It’s my sister. She said someone posted pictures of us together last night.”

“Good. I want the world to know we’re together,” he says, kissing my cheek, making me warm all over.

“No, this isn’t good,” Sasha says, interrupting our moment.

My phone dings, and I put my phone on speaker to see what she sent.

“Please tell me you guys aren’t fucking in the hallway because that is what everyone is saying.”

“Oh my God!”

Evan grabs my phone from my hand. “What the hell?”

I cover my face with my palms after seeing the photo that most definitely looks like we are having sex with the way Evan has his hand under my skirt, pressing himself into me while my head is dropped back.

“We weren’t,” I plead.

“Yeah, well, everyone is having a field day, thinking you were,” she says.

“We were only like that for maybe thirty seconds.” Evan stares at the photo.

“It only takes two seconds to take a photo,” she says.

“But we were in a restricted area. No one should have been back there,” he says.

“It wasn’t a baseball game. It was a concert with who knows how many groupies or road crew who couldn’t care less about protecting you as a player on the team,” Sasha reprimands, sounding like our mom.

“Hey, we thought we were alone.” I check her tone.

“You’re dating a professional baseball player. You’re never alone. Someone is always watching,” she reminds me.

He drops his head to his chest. “She’s right.” He lifts his head and meets my eyes. “I’m sorry. Let me call my agent to see what can be done.”

“There’s nothing that can be done. It’s already everywhere, reposted on multiple different accounts,” Sasha informs us, then takes a deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry I’m being so snooty about this. I just want to protect my little sister, and this—what people are saying—is not good.”

“I know. I agree,” Evan says, getting out of bed. “I’m calling to see what we can do—at least put out a statement or something saying we were not having sex and they caught us in a playful moment that only lasted seconds.”

“I’d be careful putting out there that you only lasted seconds. People will take that shit and run with it,” she teases, breaking the tension slightly.

He chuckles under his breath and leaves my bedroom to call his agent.

“You good?” she asks me.

I laugh out loud. “I was until you called.”

“As Mom always says … this too shall pass. At least you look hot in the photo.”

I pull it up again and shake my head. It would be an amazingly hot photo, if it wasn’t me in it.

Evan

I walk into the locker room, knowing I’m going to get all kinds of shit from the guys.

Of course, Jake is the first one to approach me with his hand out to welcome me in. “My guy,” he says as he slaps my hand and brings me into a bro hug.

“It wasn’t what it looked like,” I respond.

He slaps my chest. “Uh-huh. I believe you.”

Carter laughs along with him as I head toward my locker.

Chase comes up, asking, “How’s your girl handling it?”

I sigh. “Not so good. Her sister was pissed this morning when she called to tell us the news.”

“She’s protective. I get it. Dating guys like us comes with things a lot of other people don’t have to deal with. Unfortunately, the girls get caught up in the mix.” He taps my shoulder with the back of his hand. “It will all blow over. Don’t worry about it.”

I nod and get ready to head out for BP. He’s right though. My agent said there’s not a damn thing we can do and just warned me to be more careful next time we decide to do anything in public.

With a sigh of frustration, I close my locker door, grab my bat, and head out to the field.

When I get there, Eddie Stone is standing on the other side of the field, talking to Coach Declan in what looks like a mildly heated conversation.

“What’s going on there?” I ask Gunnar.

“You, lover boy.” He slaps my chest. “Owner isn’t happy.”

“Seriously? Why would he care so much?”

He shrugs. “Who knows? We’ve had much worse scandals—if you can even call your photo a scandal. Welcome to the big leagues, bro. If you thought you had some kind of privacy before, that shit flew out the window faster than that fly ball you dive to catch.”

He raises his eyebrows at me as he walks away to take his turn to hit.

I watch as Coach Declan raises his hands to Eddie in a final way and turns to head straight to me. I stand up a little taller, making sure he knows I’m not scared because I didn’t do anything wrong, no matter how bad it looks.

“So …” Coach Declan says with a sigh. “Eddie wants me to bench you for what happened last night.”

My eyes open wide. “Are you serious? I?—”

I try to plead my case, but he holds up his hands to stop me.

“I told him he has no say in how I run my team. Your little photo was not against any of our player guidelines.” He stares me right in my eyes. “I went to bat for you. Don’t ever make me do it again, and you’d better play your ass off today so I can prove to him even more why you deserve to be in the lineup. You got me?”

“Yes, Coach,” I say without a millisecond of hesitation.

He nods and walks past me to stand behind the cage to watch people hit.

I make the mistake of looking at Eddie and am shocked by the expression he gives me.

I head toward him to try to talk to him, but I hear my coach yell behind me, “Don’t you dare go talk to him. Let it go. It’s time to hit.”

I exhale a deep breath, toss my bat in the air, catch it with a little more force than I planned, and walk up to the plate.

“Let’s go. Focus that energy toward the ball,” Coach Declan says, so I do just that.