Page 3 of Single Glance

After we pulled apart, she moved to my side. Victoria smiled up at Cameron as she nuzzled against him. “Did you help with her suitcases?”

My eyes tracked their closeness, trying not to rush to conclusions. Still, my stomach already swirled into a sour knot, unable to look away, no matter how hard I tried. Maybe she was his sister? A close friend from home? I mentally searched through Victoria’s social media pages, but I hadn’t spent a lot of time on them, knowing they usually only showed what a person wanted to project into the world.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, no longer meeting my eyes. “The elevator line is still ridiculous. I didn’t know she was your roommate.”

I waited for his eyes to meet mine, to relayon some unspoken message that this was a misunderstanding, that I hadn’t read him completely wrong.

Instead, he leaned down and kissed the top of Victoria’s head as she placed her hand on his chest and looked to me. “Hadley, this is Cam, my boyfriend.”

Angry lashes of guilt and disgust flowed through my veins. How had I been so wrong about this guy? Was my internal barometer so off, I couldn’t see through another fuckboy? My hands clenched at my sides, and all I wanted to do was scream at Victoria to get away from him.

Then again—what had Cam really done? He’d helped me out when I needed it, and sure, maybe our conversation had veered into flirtation territory, but he never made a move on me. If anything,Imade a move onhim. That wild anger simmered down to quiet guilt, hating that I’d already messed up with my new roommate.

As Cam turned and finally faced me again, I lowered my head, refusing to meet his eyes. Hot shame colored my cheeks. It brought me right back to seeing Josh cheating on me, giving new life to the words my mother loved to spew at me. Of course, Cam wasn’t interested in me. He was the good kid, probably from a stable home, with a planned out future and the right girl at his side. That moment we shared was all it would ever be—a passing moment, a single glance, nothing more.

When Victoria picked up her laundry basket and headed down the hall with Cam, I made myself a promise. This mistake was a sharp reminder of why I wasn’t cut out for a relationship, at least not right now. I needed to keep my head down and focus on school.

Nothing could get in the way of that.

Especially not my roommate’s boyfriend.

TWO

Present Day

Some memories etch themselves into your brain, the rare moments you instinctively know are life-changing. The ones you’re going to reflect on for the rest of your days. When I’m old and grey, looking back on my life, I already know what’s going to come back to me.

Back in elementary school, when my dad handed me a baseball.

Six years ago, when the doctor placed my daughter, Emilia, in my arms.

The last moments of our college championship, when I stepped up to bat and hit the ball over the fence, earning our team the win and the trophy.

And now, this one.

I stared out over the brand new green field of Erie City stadium. From the box perched behind home plate, you could see almost everything. The place was pristine, which made sense. Construction finished three months ago—a minor miracle, considering the city only gave them two years to turn the old minor league stadium into one fit for a major league team.But somehow, they did it, and all it needed now was fans filling the seats, ready to cheer on their brand new team.

Disbelief filled my veins. After years of waiting, praying for the chance, I got the call to come up to the majors. The season had barely begun, but I’d already resigned myself to another year in the Triple-As. Not that it was a bad gig—at least I was on the Hawks’ farm team. It was more than what most guys got to say. But the dream was always the majors—to feel that rush of playing at the top of the class. So, when my coach sat me down two days ago and told me my card had been pulled, I almost had to pinch myself.

My disbelief amplified when the door opened, and a voice I knew all too well filled the space between us. Grayson Anders smiled as he walked over to me, holding out his hand. “Good to see you again, Cam. Sorry if I kept you waiting.” He motioned to the bar-height table in the center of the room. “Please, have a seat.”

I nodded, still trying to keep my cool. As I settled into the chair, I glanced up, looking at my idol on the other side of the desk. God, I was going to puke. Even though I’d met Grayson Anders a handful of times, during those instances, he was just Gray, working at his family bar—a far cry from the major league world he’d left behind. It was easy to separate the man from the legend, to forget he was one of the best ballplayers of the last decade.

But seeing him here now?

Gray’s dark eyes crinkled as he watched my jaw fall open. “Something to say, Cam?”

“I, uh…” I ran my hand through the back of my dark hair, wondering if I should have cut it. My father was always strict about our attire and how we presented ourselves to society. He’d probably kill me if he saw me showing up here without shaving, or at least trimming, my face. “I’m kind of in shock. Vic didn’t mention you’d be the one greeting me.”

“Called in a favor with Benny so I could be the one to welcome you aboard.” Gray smirked back at me. “As for Tori, I asked her to keep it between us.”

That didn’t surprise me in the least. My ex, Victoria, knew Gray was my hero. When she moved to Gray’s hometown, the woman didn’t even try to warn me; she let me walk into his bar like it was a normal occurrence. She still laughed about how red my face turned when I saw him for the first time.

I probably had the same dumb-founded look on my face now.

Gray leaned back in his chair, his tattoos poking out from his rolled-up sleeves. His dark metal wedding ring grabbed my attention, but he spoke before I could ask about his wife. “I’ve seen your tapes from the minors. You’re fast as hell, kid.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said, clearing my throat.

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