Page 29 of Playing Hard to Hate

“You must be fucking kidding me.” She paused before reading this one as though she has to steel herself.

“CelebScoop says, ‘ Is Tatum Grace the One Who’s Taming Griffin Silver? The Notorious Bad Boy of Baseball Finds Love in Childhood Friend .’ All right, this is too much.

Millie is spam-texting me. So is Dustin.

I thought your manager was going to fix this. ”

She and I both. Nick had obviously not been able to keep the lid on this one, and now we’d just have to live with the consequences.

Ten minutes before I dropped her off, I remembered her dog, Buster. “Whatever happened to Buster?” I glanced over at her, and she swallowed slowly.

“He died.”

“I didn’t think he was still alive.”

“He got hemangiosarcoma, which is cancer in his blood cells.”

I didn’t know what to say. That dog was a crucial part of my childhood, and it felt like I was losing him all over again.

“He was special, really fucking special. Mom kept his leash by the front door for years after it happened, and we couldn’t afford to get another dog. Now I don’t know that I can let another one into my heart.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Their life is so fleeting. When you buy or rescue a dog, you know they’re going to live a max of what? Ten years? Ten years compared to our eighty. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“If I wasn’t on the road so much, I’d go rescue a dog right now,” I told her truthfully. “You’re supposed to let people and dogs in, you know. Dogs are good for the soul. They fill parts of you you didn’t even know needed to be filled.”

“You sound like one of those ASPCA ads.”

“Do you regret having Buster?”

She was silent for what felt like eternity, with just the road noise of the tires in the cabin of the car, then a tear rolled down her cheek.

I stayed quiet as I knew talking wasn’t what Tate wanted or needed. She wanted a moment of silence for Buster. I could tell she was picturing all the memories he gave her. “No,” she replied, which was followed by a deep inhale.

She shakes her head. “No, of course not. He was my best friend. He never left my side, even in his last days. He slept beside my bed every night. He waited for me on the front porch every day when I came home from school. When you left, he stayed.”

“Then you answered the question, Tate. You would do it again.”

“Maybe one day, but financially, I’m not in any kind of position to care for anyone but myself.”

It had been twenty-four hours since the slew of articles popped up. I’d been asked to give my statement more times than I cared to admit, and I know Tatum had been hounded as well. I saw a video of them trying to get information out of her as she went to the gym.

This whole situation grated on my nerves. She wasn’t supposed to get dragged into the worst part of my life.

No one liked the paparazzi.

I called her on a whim the following night, and at first, she didn’t answer, so I called again.

“What’s up?” she answered, the sound of water in the background.

“Can I see you tomorrow?”

“You’re supposed to stay away from me. Nick’s orders,” she reminded me.

“Right, Nick’s orders. See I’ve been thinking about all this. And…and…” For some reason I couldn’t finish the sentence, as if the words got stuck in my throat.

I could feel her frustration building. “Hmm…and, and what, Fin?”

“And what if you moved in with me?”

“What?”

“You know, you …me…cooking, laundry.” I tried to be cute and lighten the mood.

“Are you fucking crazy? That would only make things worse.”

“Look, you have a lot more issues now. Hell, even working out needs to be planned out for you now, and I feel bad that it’s because of me. Listen, I have my own private gym. You don’t have to leave the building. My meals are all cooked and ready to go every week, which means so are yours.”

“As tempting as your offer is, I’d like to remind you of two things, Griffin. One, I have a life. Two, we are just friends and just barely that. Now, have a good night.”

I tried again the next morning, feeling unusually anxious. She cut me off quickly and wouldn’t even let me continue my sentences. She kept walking and ignoring me like I was some sleazy salesman trying to sell her life insurance. She declined again and told me to stop bothering her.

She was cold sometimes, really fucking cold. I tried calling her again that night, but it went right to voicemail, then I tried again Tuesday.

*Ring*

*Ring*

Your call has been forwarded .

Thursday.

*Ring*

*Ring*

*Ring*

Your call has been forwarded.

Friday.

*Ring*

Your call has been…

Again, she declined. What did I possibly do so wrong to deserve this from her? The girl I grew up with, the girl I fell for more and more each day…was I nothing to her?

A week later, after numerous calls that she wasn’t answering, we were meeting at a secret spot for the jewelry photo shoot.

Nick wasn’t going to allow any more close calls, and I was on board with that.

Thankfully it was indoors, and we were told to enter from two different entrances from two different cars.

All kinds of procedures were now put into place for security reasons.

The owners of Devereaux & Co. were salivating at how much extra attention Tate and I were attracting, but the dollar value of the jewelry being showcased in the shoot was Nick’s main concern.

As outlined in the liability agreement, if you break it, you buy it.

Between the value of the jewelry and our current status in the news, the owners of Devereaux & Co.

were overly excited to exploit the situation.

They had us wearing wedding bands and Rolex watches, along with a hundred other pieces from their new signature collection coming out.

Tate looked absolutely stunning in the white dress they had picked for her.

So utterly perfect that I wondered what it would be like if this was real, not just a stupid campaign.

By the end of the day, I never wanted to put another piece of fucking jewelry on, and Tatum appeared to be just as agitated, if not more.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” I said when I finally got a moment alone with her.

“You can’t keep asking me to move in. It’s crazy.”

“I just want you to be safe.”

“I’m perfectly safe in Newsom Creek. Being around you will put me in danger.”

“No men following you home?”

She shook her head.

“No threats from fans?”

She shook her head again.

“Look, Fin, just leave me alone until this dies down. Maybe be seen around another woman so they realize I am, in fact, not the one,” she said through gritted teeth before tossing her thick brown hair over her shoulder and walking out of the building.

I didn’t want to be around or be seen with another woman.

She was the one. She was the only one for me.

The articles weren’t just gossip for once.

“Sure,” I lied.