Trent (Season Two: The Ninth Inning #4) (22 page)

The knock on the door makes
me leap from the couch and run to it. I take a quick breath before
opening the door. Trent looks relaxed in his jeans and t-shirt.

“Thanks for coming. You can
come in.” I step back and let him in. “We need to talk. I thought
it would be better here. Do you want something to drink or
anything?”

“No, I’m fine. Is everything
okay?” He seems anxious.

“Nope.” I grab my laptop from
the coffee table. “This came out this morning. I found out last
night, but you were playing.” I show him the blog post.

Trent’s whole body deflates,
and I’m hoping he doesn’t fall to his knees. “Damn it. I guess I do
need to make a call to my lawyer then. Any idea if anyone has paid
attention to it?”

“Macy said there is a buzz
about it. She told me we should sue. I don’t know a lawyer though,
and I haven’t seen it anywhere else, as of yet.”

“I think we should too. Get
it over with and hopefully shut him up once and for all. Don’t
worry about finding someone. We’ll just use mine.”

“I can pay. You let me know
how much it’ll cost.” I don’t want him to think I need a
handout.

“Don’t worry about it.” He
waves me off.

“I do worry about it. I
couldn’t sleep last night, and I hated waiting so late to text you,
but I’m a wreck. I keep ruining your life.”

“
You
aren’t the one
who’s making this happen, Scarlett. Will you stop feeling so bad
about it? Either you laugh, cry, or throw a tantrum, but in the
end, you still have to move forward.”

“How can I
not
feel
bad? I care about you, Trent. Since the moment I intentionally ran
into you at the gym, I’ve cared. You and I are connected in more
ways than I thought. I don’t know how exactly, but I will not allow
any more hurt to come to you or your daughter. No matter what I
have to do to make that happen.” I’m serious and deadly honest with
him.

“I don’t want any more hurt
to come to you either.” His tone is low.

“I’m used to it, Trent. It’s
probably the one thing in my life I
know
how to handle. Even
though there are times I don’t handle it well, I understand
it.”

“We'll figure it out,
okay?”

“Okay. Macy said we should
sue for libel. Um...and something to make them take the article
down, but I forgot that word. I’m sure your attorney knows.” My
face is aflame because all I can think about is his daughter seeing
this someday.

“Yeah, I’ll get him on it. I
pay him enough, it’ll be like we’re his only clients.”

“Trent, I can help with fees.
I know it’ll be a lot.”

He shakes his head. “Do you
honestly think he would even care to write an article like this if
it weren’t because of me and my name? That’s the only reason an
article like this would get the attention he’s hoping for. You’re
not paying for anything.”

“How about I pay for our next
ice cream trip?” I shouldn’t bring up a date-like concept right
now, but it helps break the ice a bit.

“That I can let you do.”
There’s a faint smile on his face.

“Is Kaelyn with her nanny?” I
didn’t know if he had to leave right away or not.

“Yes, I didn’t know how long
I would be, so I made sure she could take care of her.”

“Would you like a drink now
or we can order some takeout? I haven’t been to the store in
forever, so I don’t have any food in the house to offer you.” The
bubbling giggle comes out quickly.

“What are you thinking for
takeout?”

“You pick, I buy,” I say and
try to remain calm that he’s staying.

“Chinese?”

“Perfect. I know a great
place.”

I rush over to the phone and
dial the place from memory. I practically have it on speed dial.
Once I finish, we sit on the couch and talk about simple things:
the weather, my house, and my job. Thankfully, it doesn’t take long
for the food to arrive, and soon, we are sitting around my small
kitchen table.

“You appear to be having a
great season. The fans seem to love you.”

“Yeah, they do. I guess all
the extra training is paying off.”

I gaze up and down his body
and feel the heat rise to my cheeks. “It seems to be.” A momentary
lapse allows the words to leave my mouth before I think about
it.

“Are you saying I have a hot
body?”

I clear my throat and sit up
straighter. “Um...I think you know you’re good looking, right?”

“I guess I’m average.”

“Average?” I laugh as I
gather my empty plate and take it to the trash. “I’m average.
You’re well above that point.” I try to stop myself from blushing,
but there’s no stopping it.

“You think I’m hot?” Trent is
close to me as I wipe off my hands.

“I think you’re very nice
looking.”

“Nice?”

“I said
very
.”

He and I are even closer than
before. I can feel the tension around us. Trent looks me up and
down, and my heart races. He’s gaze is different. It’s not a
friendly glance at my outfit. This is how a guy stares at a girl
before…

“Trent,” I breathe his name.
“This can’t happen.”

“It could.”

“Our pasts will haunt us. We
can’t have a balanced relationship.” Tears fill my eyes, because I
think we could if Dominic wasn’t the reason we were connected.

He closes the distance
between us. He bends down and captures my lips with his. He grips
my hips and pulls me flush against him. I moan and hug his neck. He
sweeps his tongue into my mouth, and my knees buckle. I’m kissing
Trent. Trent is kissing me. This is really happening.

And too soon, he is pulling
back.

We both stare into each
other’s eyes. He seems to be as shocked as I am.

“We can’t let this happen.” I
finally speak.

“Answer me this question: do
you want this?”

I don’t waste a second.
“Yes.”

“Then this can happen. Go on
a date with me. A real date.”

“Okay.” My body tingles as he
kisses me again, but I’m still unsure if this is a good idea.

***

I STILL CAN’T believe I
kissed Scarlett. I wanted to kiss her so badly; I couldn’t help it.
And God, what a kiss it was. I haven’t had a kiss like that in,
well, a long time. I wanted to kiss her longer, but it was too
intense, and I knew Scarlett was unsure about the idea of a
possible us. When I left shortly after, I could still see the
uncertainty in her eyes. Mine was pretty well masked, I think.
Scarlett has been like a steady rock for me. On top of that, she’s
this person with an unbelievably huge heart. That’s what I’m
focusing on.

My shoulders are tense as I
shift my weight, waiting for the ball to be pitched to the batter.
Kaelyn’s here today with Angie and while Kaelyn probably won’t pay
much attention to the score, I want to play well since she’s here.
Hell, she is probably more concerned with the food than the
game.

The ball soars toward
Spencer. It bounces twice before he grabs it and throws it to me. I
can hear the running footsteps of the batter coming my way. Lifting
my arm, I easily catch the ball, close my glove, and turn just in
time to tag the guy before he touches second base. It’s our first
out of the inning, and I mentally pat myself on the back and thank
Spencer for a nice throw.

Between the kiss and
contacting my lawyer over the potential lawsuit against Junior
Mints and the blog, I’ve been distracted lately. For the most part,
my head stays clear during the game. Everyone seems to be on top of
it today. The throws are clean, the batting is good, and the
pitches are pretty.

The heat is stifling though.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so hot or sweated so much. It makes me
wonder how Kaelyn’s doing because she didn’t get her A/C seats this
time. Angie has never been to a pro game, so I got them better
seats.

While our play is on target,
the other team is doing as well as we are. The game ends with just
a run difference, in our favor thankfully. I’m so ready for a
shower, I nearly forget about the media. My heart practically
bursts when I see twice as many reporters as normal waiting for us.
Most of them call out my name. Shit.

“Is it true you were having
an affair with Dominic Davis’s sister while your wife was still
alive?” one questions.

A burst of questions about
possibly having her killed, the alleged affair, and some about
Kaelyn are thrown out. I’m frozen like a damn deer in the
headlights. How could anyone think I would want my wife killed?
That I would take her away from my daughter?

A hand landing on my shoulder
snaps me out of it, and I see Colby standing next to me. He begins
to lead me away from them and I hear personnel ushering the
reporters out of the room, repeatedly saying, and “No comment.”

“Thanks,” I mumble once we’re
away from everyone and are in the room where we usually meet with
our families.

“No problem.”

Before I can say more, Kaelyn
shouts my name and is running toward me. I catch her in my arms,
noticing her frown.

“You’re sweaty.”

I laugh. “You didn’t give me
time to shower. Did you have fun? Were you good for Angie?”

“Happy! Hector! Jordan! Put
me down, Daddy! I need to say hey,” she demands once she sees
everyone else.

“You don’t need to say hey to
me?” Colby asks, making a show of frowning as I set her down.

“Hey, Colby!” she says. “Good
game!”

He laughs. “Thanks.” He holds
his hand up and she jumps to high-five him before running toward
her favorite guys, who have joined us in the room instead of the
locker room now that Kaelyn is here.

I watch my daughter around
all of these guys. Days like today make me feel like I’m the
youngest or something and they’ve taken us under their wings. Colby
leaves to join the crowd. Angie comes to stand next to me.

“Did she behave?” I ask.

“Of course. I’ve never been
to a game before; I really enjoyed it.”

“Glad to hear it. Go ahead
and take her home. I have something I need to do when I leave
here.” Angie nods. “Kaelyn, say goodbye to the guys.”

She opens her mouth to
object, but Blake says something and she keeps her objection to
herself. Kaelyn eventually returns to her nanny, after she hugs and
says goodbye to each person. When we return to locker room, before
my shower, I grab my phone and text Scarlett.

Me: Story made headlines,
was practically ambushed by reporters today...just wanted to give
you a heads up. Meeting with lawyer for an update in an hour.

He’s not expecting me, but
he’ll make time. We’re going to have to release a statement; god, I
don’t want to deal with this shit. Who knew a guy named Junior
Mints would present such a problem and headache for us?

Scarlett: Can I go with
you?

Me: Sure. Want me to pick
you up or do you want to meet me there?

Scarlett: I’ll meet you.

So, I send her the address.
After my shower, which gives me too much time to think and plenty
of time to get irritated all over again, I briefly meet with a PR
person to explain the latest. They’ve been doing damage control the
best they can.

On my way to the lawyer’s
office, my phone rings. It’s Granny.

“Hey,” I answer.

“Trent, have you seen the
news?” I hate the worry in her voice.

“No, but I’ve seen the
reporters. There’s nothing to worry about Granny. It’s just some
asshole trying to make a name for himself.”

“Are you sure?” she says
before I can continue.

“Yeah. It’s going to be a
pain to deal with, but that’s all. We’re suing for libel and my
lawyer is supposed to be working on getting the article taken down.
I’m actually on my way to meet with him now.”

“Your name is already
tarnished, Trent. And what do you mean
we
?”

I hesitate, wondering what
her reaction will be. “Scarlett and me.”

She sighs. “That’s not going
to make you look any better, or make the story less
believable.”

“I don’t care what people
believe. I just want the shit to go away.”

“You still have an image to
uphold. You’re an athlete and role model. Having ‘possibly had his
wife killed’ tagged onto that won’t do you any good.”

I clench my jaw. “Which is
why I’m meeting with my lawyer again. Look, I’m here and I need to
go.”

“Okay. Keep me updated. I
love you.”

“I love you too, Granny.”

We hang up as I park my car.
Scarlett is standing outside of the building, looking stressed. I
get out and start walking toward her. She frowns when she sees
me.

“Are you okay?” she asks with
concern.

“Annoyed and pissed, but
yeah, I’m okay. You?”

“The same.”

I give her half a smile.
“Come on. Let’s make sure he’s handling this as if he’s got a fire
lit under his ass.” Scarlett laughs, causing me to give her a real
smile, and I place a hand on her lower back to usher her inside. We
walk straight to the elevator, stepping inside. I press the button
for the fifth floor. The elevator hums and slightly jolts as it
lifts. She seems nervous.