Rookie Mistake: A Sports Romance Novel (The Beasts of Baseball Book 1) (17 page)

“You want to get out of here?” Todd asked me, leaning close to my ear, his breath warm against my skin. “It’s pretty crazy.”

I laughed and looked up into those mesmerizing eyes. It
was
crazy here, and I did want to leave.
Where the hell was Calvin?

The women in the pool were already undressing, some just their tops, others their bottoms too. As a woman, I was embarrassed by my own gender as I witnessed such a display of vulgarity. Holly was drunk. Well, at least pretty damn buzzed when she weaved over to us.

“Have you seen Ace?” she asked, and I shook my head.

Wherever Ace was, that’s where we would find Calvin. “When you find him, tell Calvin I’m ready to go,” I said through gritted teeth, feeling like a bitch.

“You just need another drink,” she argued. Before I could stop her or even attempt to argue, she had already made her way to the bar where she had another drink made for me. The first one was still on the table next to me, I had no use for another one. “Thanks,” I said with false graciousness. “Can you please find Calvin?”

Wet, naked women were now making their way into the house. They squealed and giggled as they all ran up the long spiral staircase. “This is just not my scene,” I told the men on either side of me.

“Mine either,” Rhett said, but I wasn’t certain that was true. I must admit he was a gentleman, never letting his eye wander to the endless amounts of young flesh that surrounded us. He kept his eyes on me while we spoke, and of course, his hand on my knee.

Another set of girls ran past us, and since the first group left the floor wet, they slipped and fell right at our feet. Todd’s arm slipped around my shoulders while the other stretched out in front of me, protecting me from their flailing limbs.

I wasn’t a prude, but when I was having a conversation at a party, the last thing I expected or wanted was to look down at three vaginas all spread out beneath my feet.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Rhett was staring, but who could have blamed him. The girls slid around on the floor, struggling to get to their feet. At one point, a vagina and asshole were right in my face as a girl bent over to help her friend up from the floor.

Seriously, where the hell was Calvin!

“I think from here the party will only get worse,” Todd noted, squeezing me tighter. I agreed. I was ready to go. “Seriously, I’ll take you home or wherever you want to go.” He seemed so caring and so concerned by my discomfort, I smiled up into his face again.

It was so tempting.

I jumped when one of the girls screamed when she slipped again, and I turned to watch them run up the stairs. My eyes followed them as I wondered if Calvin could possibly be up there.

No, surely not.

Holly made her way back to me, a little drunker than before. “I can’t find Ace,” she said. She slumped into the chair across from me. I knew I needed to help her if I was going to help myself. Find Ace, find Calvin, in that order.

Rhett was still working his hand up my leg, and as I turned to talk to Holly, he took advantage and slid it higher than I felt comfortable. I smiled graciously, and told him I would be in touch with him about the design job. I turned to Todd, who was leaning down to tell me something. We bumped noses, which for some reason, was hilarious. We both started laughing like fools. It felt so good to laugh.

“I really need to go,” I told him. And I really did. I needed to find Calvin and get away from here. Away from this temptation.

I looked up and froze.

There was Calvin.

On the balcony.

A blonde on her knees in front of him.

He was staring down at her, a pained look on his face.

Then he turned, zipping his jeans, and his eyes locked onto mine.

We both froze and time slowed. The only sound I heard was the rush of blood through my ears. Then a warm hand closed over mine. Todd’s hand. He cursed beside me. He’d seen it too.

The moment was broken when Ace turned and ran out of my view. The blonde stood and looked down at me, one side of her mouth curving into a grin. As if in slow motion, she licked her lips.

That bitch!

I recognized her then. She was the hideous woman from the celebration ball, the one who treated me so rudely, and Calvin berated me for defending myself. It was her!

Holly wasn’t paying attention to what I’d just witnessed, but Rhett had clearly taken notice, as did Todd. They both gripped an arm as I stood from the couch.

“I’ll escort you home,” Rhett said.

“Or I can,” Todd added.

The daze I’d been in snapped, and I pulled at Holly’s arm, yelling at her to get the fuck up. My anger seemed to snap her out of the buzz she was in, bringing her to her feet.

Calvin was already down the stairs as Rhett held the front door open for Holly and me. I looked back at Todd, who lifted a hand, a sad smile on his face. I continued to walk out even though I heard Calvin’s calls and pleas for me to stop. He had embarrassed me enough. I was done with his games, done with his rejection. I was just done!

“Please, Whitney, it isn’t what it looked like,” Calvin yelled as he made his way outside.

Rhett was calling his driver as Calvin ran down the long drive to reach us. His hand gripped my arm, spun me around. His eyes looked as though they were filled with pain, but a part of me no longer cared. I was hurting too, and he was the one who hurt me.

“She bombarded me. I was trying to get away from her, I swear,” Calvin pleaded. “I would never do that to you, Whitney.”

I yanked my arm away. “Never?” I hissed. “This isn’t the first time I’ve caught you with a blonde slut. Remember?”

Holly gripped my arm and pulled me close to her side. I knew she hadn’t witnessed what actually happened, but she’d heard enough to figure out that Calvin was a piece of shit.

“I think it’s best that you calm down, Calvin,” Rhett interjected, stepping between us. “I’ll see to it that the girls make it home safely.”

“I bet you will,” he snapped at Rhett. “I saw you making your move.”

I was mortified. “Oh, so now you have the balls to pretend to be jealous?” I yelled.

A long black Lincoln pulled up to the front of the drive, and the valet opened the back door. Rhett placed his hand on the small of my back and escorted me into the car and away from Calvin. Holly slipped in next to me and then Rhett.

“Watch yourself, Calvin, you’re playing with the big boys now,” Rhett warned and then shut the door.

My heart ached as we pulled away from him. I didn’t want to leave; I didn’t want any of this. Why couldn’t we just be
us
again? Holly pulled me close to her and stroked my hair while I sobbed. Rhett gave the driver instructions to Calvin’s apartment. Not mine, Calvin’s.
I was leaving.

Rhett slid out of the car and let Holly and then myself out of the backseat. He reached for me, wrapping his arms around me, pulling me in close. That cologne still smelled so amazing that even during my most stressful time, it made my thoughts drift to sex.

“Thank you,” I said politely and worked my way out of his arms.

He pushed my hair back from my face. “If there’s anything you need, anything at all, just call me,” he said and handed me a card.

Holly was beside herself, trying to sort out everything that had just happened after Rhett pulled away. I gave her the play by play as I pulled my suitcase from the closet and started packing.

“All my stuff is at Ace’s,” she said. I didn’t have time to stress about her stuff. She knew Ace was a piece of shit womanizer. She came here knowing that.

“I just want to go home, Holly,” I said, barely able to get the words out. I jerked my clothes from the hangers and stuffed them into the large suitcase while Holly cleared out the drawers.

“What’s this?” she asked.

I turned to look at what she held. It was a small black box, velvet with gold writing. She opened it as I moved towards her, almost afraid of what was inside. Tears flooded my face and sobs belted from my throat as I stared at a beautiful diamond ring. I grabbed it from her and stared at it as I sat on the edge of the bed.

If he truly loved me enough to marry me, then why would he put me through all this?

“It doesn’t matter now,” I said, handing the ring back to Holly. “Put it back where you found it.”

I wiped my tears and zipped up the suitcase while Holly finished stuffing my things into the duffel. The front door sounded, and then Calvin was calling my name.

Holly took charge, pushing past Calvin to give me room to exit the bedroom and head toward the door. “She doesn’t want to talk to you, you lying cheating shit,” she hissed.

Calvin’s eyes were wild, and his hair was standing up in places as if he’d been pulling it out by the roots. “Whitney, please, I swear on my dad’s grave that nothing happened. She tried, but I stopped her.”

“Because you saw me,” I blurted out.

“No, I saw you before that. I was watching Rhett’s hand on your thigh and Morris hanging all over you, then she started attacking me,” he explained.

I laughed, a bark of sound that echoed through the room. “Yeah, do I look like a dumbass?”

Holly opened the front door and took my suitcase, handing me the smaller bag. She stood at the door while I took one last look at Calvin, then shut the door as I rushed out of the apartment and ran down the steps.

Where the fuck are all the cabs?

Calvin continued to plead his case while Holly called for a taxi. There were always cabs out here. Always! Why not now? I felt panic set in as I started to fall victim to his excuses.

What if I was wrong? What if what he told me was the truth?

Finally, a taxi pulled up to the curb after Holly waved like a lunatic to get his attention. He popped the trunk, and Holly tossed my suitcase inside and then my duffle. Calvin was crying, his voice hoarse from begging and pleading his case. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe I was making a mistake as I slid into the back seat. Holly pushed in beside me and slammed the door.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I watched Calvin fall to his knees on the sidewalk. My heart was broken.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

e

Calvin

T
he night she left, I held the engagement ring in my hands, twirling it around on my pinky finger as I kicked myself in the ass for not giving it to her.

Why did I wait?

For the past month, I’d been asking myself that same question as I stared at the ceiling at night and did my best to focus on baseball during the day.

In the beginning, I hadn’t been successful.

My first time on the mound after Whitney walked out of my life, Coach pulled me after one inning, then had screamed at me until his face turned blood red and I thought the vein on his forehead would pop. I’d sucked and knew I needed to pull my shit together. After that day, my game was steady on the field.

My life, on the other hand, was total shit.

I’d given up calling her. She never would answer, and she quit checking her voicemails after I left so many, so it was always full. I had said everything I could think of to say, done everything I could think of to do. That was it, she was gone forever.

“You need to cheer up, kid.” Ace slapped me on the back as I stared at my phone, a picture of Whitney going on a date with some dude plastered on some tabloid blog. She looked beautiful, smiling up at the guy, her fingers linked in his.

Ace snatched my phone from my hand, powering it off. He then picked up the little velvet box from the table next to my favorite chair. I grabbed it from him and took the ring out, looking at it again.

He snarled. “Get rid of that ring, toss it in the lake, and get a new place. This one is a dump.” He walked around my room, looked out the window to the street below and shook his head. “I can’t believe you haven’t bought a place yet.” He sighed and then gripped the back of my neck and squeezed.

“Let’s go have a drink.” That was always his answer for everything.

I needed to get out of that apartment, so he was right about that. Whitney was everywhere I looked. If she was gone for good, then I needed a fresh start, a place of my own. Nothing fancy, nothing wild, just a comfortable place that wouldn’t remind me of Whitney everywhere I turned.

“Yeah, yeah.” I got up and placed the ring back into its velvet box before pushing it to the back of the drawer. “Let’s go get into some trouble,” I said, trying my best to sound excited.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Ace cheered and slapped me on the back.

He wanted to drive, which was fine with me. That just made it easier for me to drink more, knowing I had to call a cab to get home.

Our usual table, the usual club and all the same people. “We really need to find a new place to drink.” I laughed as we made ourselves comfortable in our booth.

“No way, this place is the shit,” Ace argued.

I knew his reason was simple; they let him do whatever the fuck he wanted in there. Other places would have tossed him out on his ear long ago, and in fact, maybe they had. It was possible that this was the last place he could go. That thought made me chuckle. Big man Ace being banned from an establishment, especially a bar, it was just funny.

I wasn’t really in the mood to get drunk, but I knew after the first shot that would change. Ace ordered the usual, two beers and four shots of Patrón, two each. “Get the party started,” he toasted with the first one and “never let it end” with the second.

“I think I’ll get a new place,” I announced.

Ace lit up, his eyes wild and full of fire. “Good, start living like the rock star you are, my man.” He grabbed a tall brunette as she walked by, a new waitress. “Another round,” he said and then took a long look at her as if he planned to order her from the menu.

She seemed unimpressed by his advances, which made her that much more appealing to me. “I’ll break her down,” Ace insisted when she walked way.

Marty and Frank showed up later and joined us as we ordered more shots. It seemed to be becoming a ritual — Ace and I go out early, get smashed, and then the others arrive and try like hell to catch up.
They never could.