Page 21 of Caught Looking

He sighed again. “No, talking funny is fun. The chatter is not fun. Someone is trying to stage a smear campaign against you two for some reason.”

Oh, I could think of a reason. One very annoying reason. “What kind of smear campaign?”

Wes used air quotes. “‘Anonymous’ sources say Annalise is ‘tired of your philandering ways’ and ‘new details emerge’ about past sex scandals.”

“So nothing new.”

Erik gave me a look. “Not to you. But including her in it is.”

Yeah, I wasn’t a fan of this turn of events.

“Who has an interest in breaking you up?” Erik asked. “Because they don’t usually go for blood until they’ve had at least a couple of weeks of juicy headlines about romance.”

Whether I should or not, I trusted these two with the truth. At least some of it. “Owen Montgomery.”

I got two very surprised faces looking back at me. “But…why?” Wes asked first.

“He and Annalise dated a few years back. Before he got famous.” Why was it that dickheads like Montgomery always caught the breaks? My friend Willa was a better cinematographer and a much better storyteller than Montgomery could dream of being. And while she did all right, it was Montgomery who shot to stardom.

Erik ran a hand down his face. “Shit. I’ve heard he’s an asshole. But why does he care who Annalise dates now?”

I shrugged, trying to feel casual when really I wanted to march to the Tangerines’ practice facility, find Owen Montgomery, and pulverize his face. “Because he’s the kind of asshole who doesn’t share his toys. He’s also the kind of asshole who doesn’t give up his toys even when he’s set them aside. This isn’t the first time he’s reminded Annalise he has more power than she does. But it will be the last.”

Was this the kind of shit she’d been dealing with? Internet rumors and manipulations? This level of bullshit was scary. Thank fuck I was at that party. Thank fuck MacNeil grabbed me that night.

Erik’s jaw ticked. “How can we help?”

“I’m not sure you can. Keep a lookout?”

“Come to us if you need help,” Erik said. “You all hijacked the team plane when I needed to get to Zoe. We protect our own.”

And I wouldn’t have any second thoughts about pulling that favor in if I needed it. “I appreciate it. Now, tell me what I can expect tonight.”

Two hours later it was even worse than they predicted. I had two groups in the outfield heckling me the entire game. They had a sign with a tangerine on it. Luckily a security guard confiscated it early on saying it wasn’t appropriate for broadcast.

Because it fucking wasn’t.

Were they just asshole fans, or were they curated by one Owen Montgomery? Did it fucking matter?

“Hey Butler!” one of them yelled. I ignored him. My focus stayed on the batter. “Butler!” He exaggerated every letter in my name.Crack!The ball launched into the air. My mind did the quick calculations and I launched into a run, tracking the ball the entire way into my glove as I went into a slide to get down at the right angle. I felt Rhett run behind me, backing me up, but I had it. I held the ball in the air just to confirm it to everyone, especially the umps, then got on my feet as the fan finished his rant. “She get on her knees for you?”

I saw red, my fist tightening on the ball. I could hit Wes’s glove from here. That dickhead fan was a hell of a lot closer.

Rhett moved in front of me, grabbing the ball before I could launch it at the asshole’s head. “Don’t give him the satisfaction.” Then he tossed the ball to a different group of fans who’d been nothing but nice to us all night.

As we jogged back to our spots in the outfield Rhett stopped and put a hand on my shoulder. “We’ve got one more inning and then we get away from this shit. Got it?”

The heckling was bad enough that even Rhett was nice to me. “One more inning.”

I showered and changed after the game faster than I ever had before and pulled into the parking lot of Dottie’s Diner in time to see Annalise sink into a bite of pancakes. With her eyes closed I imagined a soft moan escaping her throat as the syrup hit her taste buds.

And now I was jealous of pancakes. “Fucking hell.”

I waved to Dottie before I slid into the booth. Annalise had her hair piled up on her head again and this time she wore a red and black onesie. Her whole face lit up when she saw what I was wearing. “I absolutely love it!”

“Told you I was wearing pajamas to our next dinner.” Especially if it made her smile like that.

“I didn’t realize they made Mantas onesies in that size.”

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