Page 165 of Stolen Bases

She crosses her arms and cocks her hip. “I will now be in charge of all your social media platforms, or I am going to tell my father you hit your teammate again. I don’t think you need another fine. Do you?”

Oh, fuck.

Gwendolyn Montgomery has the biggest set of balls on her. She just made Nico her bitch.

Romero’s eyes widen in shock. “Yes, ma’am. Anything you say.”

“Good. I will get your contact information from Sylvie upstairs and will reach out with a time to meet this week. Do not miss it.” Gwen turns to me and wink. “Thanks, Cam. I will email you later, and we can hit the ground running next week.”

“Anything you say, boss lady.” I give her a salute and watch as she spins on her heel with a grin and strides out of the locker room like she owns it.

“Is it just me, or is she kind of scary?” Nico scratches his head.

“Nah, she’s a sweet kid. I’ve known her since she was a teenager. She’s got something to prove, so she’s not going to take anyone’s shit.” At least, that’s the sense I get from her. I turn back to Romero. “So?”

He grunts.

“This is awkward.” I shove my hands in my pocket.

“Again, sorry.”

“It’s all good. And just so you know, I didn’t break up with Talia. I’m giving her space. When she’s ready, she knows where to find me.”

“You’re even dumber than I am. Go talk to her. She thinks you’re going to break up with her.”

“Why the fuck would I do that? I love her.”

He holds up his hands. “Don’t punch the messenger. I’m just telling you what she told me at dinner when we talked.”

“Funny. Is everything okay between you two?” I ask.

This is the longest me and Talia have gone without speaking. A few texts here and there don’t count.

“Yeah. We talked. Listen, I didn’t want to say anything personal in front of Anson, but I wanted to say sorry. What happened before is on me. I was holding onto a grudge that has more to do with me and some personal shit than it does you. I just took it out on you because you were an easy target.” Nico adjusts his chain. That must have been excruciating for him to admit.

“All’s forgiven. As long as you forgive me too. I don’t like knowing I hurt you. I’ve been trying to figure out who I was with for weeks. It’s kind of driving me crazy, actually. Anyway, I’m sorry, Nico. If I had known who she was, I never would have laid a hand on her.”

Romero clears his throat and tugs at his shirt collar. “Thanks, man. I appreciate you saying that. She was the one who got away back in college. Saw you with her the night we were celebrating our championship. We had that big beach party blowout at the baseball house.”

I think back to our college days and the hundreds of parties we threw. I remember that one. There was this girl crying in the kitchen when I walked in to grab a case of beer.

Everything comes back to me in a snap.

“I didn’t sleep with her.” I blurt out.

Nico narrows his eyes at me.

“I swear. It just clicked. I know who you’re talking about. She had red streaks in her hair, right?”

He nods.

“She was crying in the kitchen. Said the guy she was seeing had another girl in his lap and was making out with her. Her makeup was all smeared. I felt bad for her, so I let her use my bathroom. We ended up talking for a while. Then I walked her to her car.”

“But she said…” A whole slew of emotions cross his face. He closes his eyes as if in pain and mumbles under his breath as understanding dawns on him. “Fuck. She said it to hurt me, and I deserved it.”

“Are you okay?” I ask.

His eyes snap open, and he shakes his head. “No. But that’s on me.” He pauses, taking a deep breath. “I don’t want to get between you and Talia. I know you make her happy, so just… Don’t give up on her, all right?”

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