Page 8 of The Brickwall and the Bombshell

I’m the one thing in their lives that can’t be bought or controlled.

Ever since I graduated from high school, I’ve made it on my own. I worked my ass off and got a scholarship to Tulane. I spent my summers working and saving money, much to my mother’s dismay. And when I was in college, I got an internship with the television station I work at now.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

My family owns Hawthorne Communications, the largest communications company in Louisiana. They have two television stations, a newspaper, and several other media-based companies under the HC umbrella.

Me taking a job for the competition was like drawing a line in the sand with blood.

When you come from a well-known family like mine, certain things are expected of you, but all those things come with a price I’ve never been willing to pay. I don’t want my parents telling me who I’ll marry and where I’ll live. I refuse to let them dictate my life, which is exactly what would have happened if I had accepted the position my father offered me at Hawthorne Communications.

When I took the job and they cut me off, I accepted my losses and moved on with my life.

Call me crazy, but I’d rather be struggling to make ends meet than be under their thumb.

Sophie’s the only person who really understands me. She gets it. Coming from a wealthy, overbearing family herself, she’s seen the ugly side of money. We’d both decided at a young age that we didn’t want to grow up to be carbon copies of our parents.

To some, we might sound ungrateful, but it’s not that at all.

I just want to know that everything I have in life is truly mine. And at the end of it all, I want to leave my own legacy, not one that was bought or decided for me.

CHAPTER FOUR

MACK

“Aiden.”I answer the call from my agent through my earbuds as I do a few reps on the leg press. “What’s up?”

“Mack,” he says, sounding a little annoyed.

Our last few conversations have started this way, but I feel like I’ve been minding my P’s and Q’s and staying out of the spotlight, so I’m not sure what this call is about.

“I haven’t banged anyone’s fiancée recently, if that’s what you’re calling about.”

He huffs out a laugh. “That’s good to hear. Unfortunately, the gossip hounds are still on your trail. They’ve pulled up some old photos of you coming out of a hotel room and they’re recycling them like old trash.”

Fuck.

It’s not that I care what people think about me. I don’t. I’ve always lived my life under the belief that we’ve only got one to live and I’m going to fucking live mine to the fullest.

Unlike so many of the guys I play with, guys who are more family-oriented and settled down, I’m a free spirit. According to the gossip columns and tabloids, I’mBig League’s Biggest Playboy.

My life isn’t quite as salacious as they make it sound, but I do like to have sex and I don’t usually have repeats. If that makes me a playboy, so be it.

However, that way of life has started coming with a price, one that I can’t afford to pay any longer. My philandering ways, although fun in the moment, have cost me a few lucrative endorsements. A few years ago, I didn’t really care much about that. But the older I get, the more I realize I won’t be able to play this game forever.

The oldest players in the league are barely forty these days. If all my parts were in top condition, I might get another five years, but thanks to a knee injury a few years ago, I’m already pushing it at thirty-three. After every game, I meet up with a trainer who treats my knee—massages it, ices it, and wraps it.

I’m playing the best season I’ve had in years, and I’d like to think I’m hitting a new stride, but nothing is guaranteed.

Last season, another top catcher in the league had a career ending injury just from catching a wild pitch. That shit can happen in the blink of an eye.

Even though I’ve done well for myself, early on I wasn’t as wise with my money. Coming from nothing, I went a little wild in the beginning and lost some money on failed investments. I’ve also donated a lot of money to charities back home, funding new buildings and providing resources for kids growing up like I did. Those endeavors mean a lot to me and I want to be able to continue to support them, even after I retire.

Over the last few years, I’ve buckled down and done what I need to for my future—diversified my portfolio and relied on people like Aiden to direct me in my decision making.

“Tell me what to do,” I tell Aiden, hating that I have to bend to anyone’s approval, but also knowing I have no other choice.

He heaves out a heavy sigh that I feel all the way from California.

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