Page 57 of The Strike Zone

“Sco—”

“You heard the lady,” Parker snapped, twisting Mark to face the doors and shoving him forward. “Out.”

“Get your hands off me.”

“Then do as you’re told and get out,” Parker repeated calmly, not in the least bit fazed Mark’s knuckles had turned white from the tension he was holding, and nodded to the security guys rushing over. “Or these two will lift you up and carry you to the gates. I wouldn’t test it either. I’ve seen them take on an entire busload of Jupiter Reeves fans single-handed without breaking a sweat.”

Mark yanked his arm out of Parker’s grip, glancing around with obvious disgust. “Don’t know why I bothered coming to this shit hole. You can repaint all you want, still be the worst club in the league.”

“Dude, seriously, is that all you have to say? You insult like a twelve-year-old. No wonder you couldn’t handle Scout.” Parker laughed. “How you managed to get her in the first place is beyond me.”

Mark stopped struggling and stood there. His eyes narrowed even further on Parker. He either didn’t know or didn’t care that he was standing in front of one of the greatest catchers in the MLB.

No,he knew.

“Get her…what?” He snarled, before his face took on an entirely different expression, wild eyes darting between me and Parker. “Wait…have you got the hots for her? Is that what this is about?”

Parker turned to me and winked; my chest squeezed until I almost couldn’t breathe. Blood whooshed so loudly in my ears that I never caught his reply, or even if he did reply, because Mark decided he’d finally had enough. It was unfortunate, however, that as he stormed through the doors, Ace Watson and Tanner Simpson arrived for the day.

“Whoa, bud, where are you off to in such a hurry?” asked Ace as Mark barged past him.

Tanner’s eyes followed as Mark finally made it outside, the security guards in close pursuit escorting him until he was fully off Lions premises. “Why do I recognize that guy?”

The second he was out of sight I finally managed to pull much-needed air into my lungs. Blood was still pounding through my veins, and it took all my energy to fight the urge to cry, especially when Alice pulled me into a hug.

“Are you okay?”

I eased myself from her grip and took a massive glug of my coffee. I hadn’t had anywhere near enough to cope with this so early in the morning. “What was he doing here?”

She shrugged. “To see you. He’d only been here a couple of minutes before you arrived. Pablo called up, but you weren’t there.”

Another couple of the guys walked in, and I stepped away from the doors, turning my back before anyone could spot me. “This is so embarrassing.”

Alice didn’t get the opportunity to answer because Parker appeared, having stayed by the entrance to watch security escort Mark away.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his head dipping down to my height so all I could see was his bright green eyes and the concern that filled them.

It was making it even harder to hold back my tears, and I gave a loud sniff.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I’m sorry?—”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Parker snapped. “That guy’s a dick.”

“Got that right,” mumbled Alice.

“I wasn’t apologizing for him. I was just…” I stopped talking, I actually didn’t know what I was apologizing for. “God, this is so embarrassing.”

“It’s not,” said Alice.

“It is, and it’s unprofessional. Everyone will know about it,” I wailed. “I’m supposed to be applying for this new job. They’re not going to give it to me when shit like this happens.”

“Sco—”

“No one’s going to find out about this,” interrupted Parker. “I give you my word. Beyond me, you and…” his eyes flicked to Alice, “your friend here. The only ones who saw were Pablo and security. Plus, Ace and Tanner, and they won’t say anything.”

“Pablo is the biggest gossip. This club runs on gossip.”

“I promise he won’t say anything,” Parker insisted, and given the firmness of his tone, I was inclined to agree with him. It didn’t make me feel any better however.

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