Page 53 of Wild Card

Elias began laughing, righting himself, until his fingers were wrapped through the metal links in front of me.

“Back off, Duggar. She’s here because I asked her to be.”

Decker’s gaze left Elias, landing on me. A shudder overtook him as he adjusted his footing in the dirt, his scarred hand stretching at his side.

“That true?” He tipped his chin toward me.

It was such a simple question, but it burned me like a brand. He was asking if I had shown up for Elias, but I knew my answer would hurt him. Regardless of what Decker had done, I didn’t want to hurt him. Still, I wasn’t a liar either.

“Yeah, he invited me to come and watch.” I could have explained about the story, probably should have…but Decker had ghosted me, so who was to say he’d even care?

Decker’s body went rigid, his chest heaving up and down in angry gasps like he couldn’t get enough air. Rage radiated from him, and I knew as his fists clenched that some of those rumors about him might be true.

I watched, holding my breath as I waited for him to decide how he’d handle this information. I assumed he would throw a punch at Elias or drag him into the dirt, something violent, but a second later he let out a little scoff and began shaking his head.

Those eyes darted to me one last time before he spun on his heel and walked away.

Heat overwhelmed my face as I watched his retreating form. There was a name stitched into the back with red lettering—‘Duggar’—with the number four below it. I’d never seen him in his gear before. He was handsome with the way it fit his chest snugly and the pants wrapped around his strong thighs. It was all in a package, covering the man who’d held me in his childhood bed just days earlier while facing down some of the scariest demons in his life.

The coach yelled something from his spot near the catcher, which made Elias turn before returning to face me again. His pinched features indicated he needed to get back.

“Come out with me tomorrow.”

I didn’t want to. My eyes sought Decker on instinct, but I had to stop pining over someone who didn’t want me.

I nodded, unable to voice what felt like betrayal on my tongue. He smiled before dipping his head and running back to the middle of the diamond.

Hillary waited until he was gone before crossing her arms and turning on me.

“So, you’re going after Elias now?”

I shrugged. “Why not? Maybe he’ll give up some juicy bit about the game or—even better—about what happened between him and Decker. There’s a lot of water under that bridge, and I’m just building myself a little paddle boat, Hil.” I continued to watch the players move, my eyes betraying me by wandering over to the dugout and the guy inside bent over the clipboard. What did he do for the team? Did he still play at all? What had really happened?

Hillary seemed to think it over for a second, her brown eyes scanning the ground as though the answers were scattered there. Finally, she looked up and said, “Then we have some work to do.”

I waited while she spun on her heel once more, heading toward the car. She knew I’d follow because I was curious as hell about what kind of work she had in mind, and my lime-flavored chips were in her bag.

* * *

I facedthe mirror in my bathroom, pressing in closer and closer until the reflection looked familiar. My hair was shorter, but somehow with the layers, it seemed longer. The sleek strands framed my face, adding dimension to my jawline. The makeup she’d had me buy had all been meticulously selected by her older sister, who was an influencer with millions of followers on some social media platform that was trending like wildfire. She knew, because of Hillary’s big fat mouth, that I had access to credit cards, black cards with no limits. I had never once touched them for a single thing in my college career, but I was certain Kendra and Hillary had put a hefty dent in them today.

I couldn’t find it in my heart to care. Taylor had even applauded me for finally using it for something good. I withheld an eye roll because makeup and makeovers didn’t sit on the list of something good in my book, but she had a point—my father obviously wanted something from both of us if his cryptic text reminders about his event were any indication. Why not use the cards every now and again?

I heard the knock on the front door and exited the bathroom, shutting off the light as I treaded toward the foyer. I took in a quiet breath to calm my nerves, shoving down the urge to smile or even preen knowing who might be on the other side.

I knew who would be standing there. I’d texted him, telling him tonight would be a good chance to spend time with Taylor. It felt awkward after our encounter on the field, but even if he didn’t want to hold up his end of our bargain, I still would. For the first time in a week, he had finally responded to my text, telling me he’d be here by six.

Go figure.

Of course, it splintered my heart like a piece of brittle wood…but this had been the deal from the very beginning, and I couldn’t be angry at him for it.

I swung the door wide, letting him in. My eyes stayed on the floor because I didn’t want to see his lack of reaction to my makeover changes, or worse, the obvious surprise that I’d fixed my moppy head of curls and finally applied more than just mascara to my eyes. He was here for Taylor, and that was all there was to our relationship. He’d more than made that clear.

“Come on in. Taylor will be out in just a second.”

I moved so he could come in, my eyes trailing over his brown boots, untied and gaping open around the dark denim. It was sexy, and I had to force my eyes shut so I wouldn’t notice.

“Mallory.” My name on his lips, spoken in that timbre…it conveyed a different story than the one he was telling, a story of a different deal he wanted to broker than the one he’d fixed. We were two sides of the same coin, playing a game neither of us would win.

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