Page 33 of Grand Slam

“I’m good, are you good?” She moves around the kitchen, pent up and ready to explode.

“I’m okay, but maybe you should breathe,” I tell her, taking another sip of my coffee.

I watch as Liz angrily wipes the countertops, then rinses the sink. She even dumps her coffee, washes out her cup and then pours herself another cup. She doesn’t even take a drink, only sets it down on the counter and then turns around.

“I need a shower.” Before I can say anything in return she tosses the dishtowel to the counter and walks off with a stomp. I blink a few times, trying to clear the haze she has left me in.

When I hear the shower turn on, I walk to the end of the counter and open her laptop. Typing in her password, it wakens and there on the screen is something I could have gone without seeing.

Kelton, a big smile on his face, with a blonde on his arm. A blonde may I add who has a barely there shirt leaving her cleavage up front and center, practically spilling out of the stretchy material. She is close, too close, her tits resting against his side as she leans in. Her head is laying on his shoulder, her hand on his right pec and my stomach is coiled in knots.

Headline reads…

“Tennessee Terrors, Kelton James, cozied up for a night out in Nashville with an unknown lady friend. Could this be the girl he’s been hiding?”

He never called me back last night. He also never texted.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Kelton

“Why didyou let me drink so much?” Since the girls left I’ve been spending a strange amount of time with Jerry. Much more than I ever did before, but he’s also been chatting it up with my sister nightly.

At first I was a little weirded out by that, but he confessed they’d been dancing around the idea of something. He also ensured me nothing more than a few kisses happened while she was here so I’ve got to respect the fact that he respected her.

And if this little connection they share helps me get Emerson and her here, well that is a bonus.

“You were the one insistent on out drinking me,” he grumbles.

We are both crashed in my living room, him on the couch, me on the oversized fucking sleep chair my sister insisted I needed when she was here last week. I’m thankful now, because the thing is more comfortable than the floor. We both stumbled in, and I’m surprised we made it upstairs.

“I don’t even remember how we got home.”

“My assistant,” he groans. “Don’t you remember her fighting off that clingy blonde because she thought she was coming with us.”

“That clingy blonde just got me my ass reamed by my sister.”

“That woman is a fiesty one.” The way he says it, I can sense his smile. “She gets so fired up, so fast.”

“She tore into me about the blonde.” He chuckles. “Wait.” I sit up, the room still spinning as I try to clear my thoughts. “How does she know about the blonde?”

I watch as Jerry slowly sits up and looks over at me, then as if it hits us both at the exact same time we grab our phones. Both of us are lost in silence until I find what she was referring to. When I hear Jerry grumble I know he’s found it too.

“She leaked the photos and shared some fake ass story.” I start reading the article. “Secretly seeing each other between games and practices. Traveled with me to a few out of town games.” I laugh. “People have to know this is bullshit, right?”

“I wouldn’t be so much worried about what people think.” He quotes around the word people. “I’d be more worried about one person and her thoughts.”

“Fuck.” I cover my face with my hand and growl out with frustration. “This is going to look even worse considering I told her I’d call or text last night.”

“Did you?”

I only shake my head as I look for her contact and hit send. It rings once, twice, then my call is sent to voicemail. I listen to the sound of her voice, then Liz jumping into the background,followed by their laughter and then a beep. “Em, call me, it’s not what you think. Jerry and I went out for a few drinks, his assistant picked us up and brought us both back to my place.”

“He’s not lying,” Jerry adds and I shake my head at him. The still drunk bastard isn’t helping.

“I’m sorry I didn’t text or call, but going to the barbecue with everyone made me realize how bad I want you here. I don’t know how to do this, the distance thing, it sucks.” I grab hold of the hair at the back of my neck and tug. “Please,” I sigh, “call me.”

“I need this situation cleared up.”

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