I couldn’t stand her calling me Kat. Hearing the pet name my father gave me, the one Todd used to seduce me come from her lips drenched me in anger.
“I told you I’d handle it,” I snapped, ushering her to the front door.
I was furious. My body was shaking as she finally left me to deal with Todd. I walked into my room, looked around to try and see where he’d hid. He was good. I didn’t see any trace of him anywhere.
“She’s gone,” I said calmly and sat on the edge of my bed.
Todd emerged from the closet, fully dressed, and sat down beside me. He wrapped his arm around me, pulled me close, and assured me it would all be okay. “I’m sorry if I distracted you from work,” he said.
He had distracted me, but it wasn’t his fault. I wanted it. I needed it. But I still felt like a fool.
“Did you know Whitney was here?” I asked, trying to make my voice strong with no accusation.
He nodded.
“Is that why you were so upset and didn’t want to be alone?”
He blew out a long breath. “It may have shaken me up for a moment. But no… that’s not why I came here.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him. I wanted to.
“The fight between you and Calvin, did that have anything to do with Whitney?” I asked.
“Not on my end. Maybe that’s why he was on edge so badly though. He knew she was coming. I didn’t.”
“Ugh, Lana makes me crazy!” My fist slammed down onto the mattress.
“Don’t let her get to you,” he consoled me, threading his fingers through mine.
“She actually insinuated that I don’t belong here. That I only got this job because of my dad, or that I was screwing Rhett? Who does she think she is?”
Todd laughed, squeezed me gently, then kissed me on the cheek. “She’s your boss.”
“Rhett’s my boss,” I snapped, feeling petulant.
“Well, maybe you just answered your own question.”
What did he mean by that?
“Just prove to her you that belong here,” he said.
“How?”
“Well, start with doing what she asked and doing it well. You got my word that I’ll be on my best behavior around Calvin. The problem we have is him with me, not me with him. Anything you decide, charity event, or whatever, I’m there. All smiles for the cameras,” he promised.
“Thank you.” I leaned my head on his strong shoulder, finally feeling a little calmer after my abrasive morning meeting with my boss. He even waited for as long as he could before leaving my room, just in case Lana was peering around some corner.
As my cab stopped at a red light, a yellow bus pulled up beside us. The side read M.R.D.D. Daytona Beach School for Children. Kids inside the bus had beach balls they were passing back and forth, large umbrellas stacked against the windows, and some wore thick white stripes of sunblock on their noses. I smiled at one boy who waved at me through the window. That’s it!
I knew what I would do for the charity event, not just for Calvin and Todd, but for the entire team.
The guys were already practicing out on the field when I arrived at the stadium. Two women stood at the fence behind home plate, one carrying a baby on her hip. When they turned around as I squeezed in behind them to get to my seat, I recognized them as Holly and Whitney. The baby was smiling, reaching for me as I passed. He was cute, and his flirty behavior certainly reflected what I knew about his daddy.
“You must be Holly.” I extended my hand and introduced myself. “And you must be Whitney.” I extended my hand to her in the same fashion.
I couldn’t help but feel a little envious of how beautiful Whitney looked. Her long hair, her bright eyes, and a smile women would kill for and men would die for. The thought of her with Todd made my stomach churn, but her warmth quickly made that fade.
I liked them, both of them. I hated they’d been pulled into the media because of their men. But as Lana said, there is no privacy once you sign on, and they’d both signed on for the long haul.
“I have an interview with Calvin today,” I told Whitney, explaining quickly what Rhett had asked for.
“That’s a great idea. But I don’t see many of the guys opening up much,” she warned.
“Well, the media is eating them alive. We need to do something. The Calvin and Todd squabble has gone viral,” I slipped in carefully just to see if she would react.
React she did, blushing immediately. “It’s so embarrassing. I mean, why would Calvin have an issue with Todd? That was ages ago. A fling.”
Relief instantly fell over me to hear her refer to her time with Todd as nothing serious. “Well, they have me setting up a charity event to pull them together.”
“Calvin is a very charitable man. I’d love for the fans to get a chance to see that side,” Whitney said with a smile.
Calvin and Todd weren’t paired up during practice. Instead, Todd was with Blake Osborne, my dad’s old teammate. I knew I’d have to work with the coach to get them back together. It wouldn’t be easy.
Calvin walked over to my seat after practice, sitting down beside me and swigging from his water bottle like he was dying of thirst. “Gettin’ hot out there?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. Feels great,” he said, smiling and taking another long drink.
I started out the interview talking about his offseason, what he did, where he and Whitney vacationed, then worked my way into the deeper issues at hand. “Do you really despise Todd being on your team?”
He looked surprised that I'd asked him that question, or maybe that I’d worded it so bluntly.
“I don’t despise him being on my team. I’d just prefer he was on someone else’s team,” he replied with a smirk.
“Because of his past with Whitney?”
“Partly,” he said and turned up the water bottle again.
“What else is there?” I asked carefully.
He scratched his head as if he was trying to come up with another answer. His eyes stared into mine, his lips curving into a smile. “Okay, you got me. That’s the only reason. He’s actually an amazing catcher. I’ve already learned quite a bit from him. You tell him that, and I’ll deny it.”
“Would you be up to working with him again?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ve actually hated it out on the mound without him. His eyes are amazing, and his reflexes off the charts. He really does know how to read a batter. That’s gold when you’re out there alone on the mound.”
Wow, so Calvin respects Todd.
My confidence grew quickly as the coach agreed to pair the two hotheads back up together for the next game. This was feeling like it would be much easier than I originally thought. Todd had promised to be on his best behavior, and after talking to Calvin, I had no worries that he’d only bring his best to the field, and away from it.