“He’s doing okay. You know Bobby, he’s too proud to admit he’s hurting.”
“They missed one finger he said, the middle one,” she laughed. I laughed too. It felt good, even though I knew it’d probably be the last time I did for a while.
A text appeared on my phone from Lana, telling me a car would be ready in an hour. Fuck, she didn’t waste any time. Why did she hate me so bad anyway? It didn’t matter. Besides, without Todd in my life, there was nothing here for me now.
“I’ll be back in New York in a few hours,” I told my mother, and then gave her the information that was sent to my phone. “I’ll call you and let you know when I confirm the flight home. I have a few personal items to pack at the condo.”
“I’ll be there to pick you up,” she promised and hung up the phone.
That scared little girl inside of me was grateful to be sent home to Mommy and Daddy. But the woman in me, the one who loved this job, the one Todd had awoken, hated that I was crawling back to my parents.
I packed my suitcase and gave one last look around the condo I’d called home for the last several weeks. The large bed in the center of the room was my focal point, remembering Todd’s body tangled around mine. I hated that the last memory in that bed was his eyes filled with such hurt it made my heart break.
My thumb slid across my phone, gliding effortlessly to Todd’s number. Should I call him? Would he want to know what happened? That I’d gotten fired?
I shuddered at the thought of Lana telling them why I left. What would she tell them? Would she out Todd? Throw Rhett under the bus and accuse us of fucking? She was vengeful, filled with hate and jealousy. Anything was possible with that crazy bitch. She’d been out to get me since day one, so let her say whatever she wanted. None of it mattered anyway. Did it?
I settled my thumb across Todd’s number as tears filled my eyes. No. I needed to let him go.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Todd
“Where’d you take off to last night so quick?” Kane asked during practice.
I didn’t want to share Katrina’s personal business with him, or anyone for that matter. My anger toward him had faded, though, knowing she'd called me and not him. “I was worn out,” I lied.
“Darla was pissed,” he laughed, slapping me on the back.
“Darla?” I asked.
“The bartender. She said you ditched her.”
I hadn’t even bothered to learn her name. One-night stands were never my style. She was a crutch for my heart. When Kat called, she just wasn’t necessary anymore. “I left her a nice tip.”
“I thought maybe you snuck off to see Kat.” His smile was genuine.
“Nah,” I lied again.
Lana took a seat in the stands next to Rhett, but there was no sign of Katrina. I was distracted, letting balls slide past me, missing my opportunity to crush a third base steal, and even called several bad pitches. “What the fuck?” Calvin yelled from the mound.
“Sorry, man,” I shrugged.
I was glad it was over. The day wasn’t getting any better, and with every passing moment that Kat didn’t show up, my mind raced with reasons why. Had those guys come back? Found her in the condo alone and taken her off somewhere?
The autograph signing after practice was Katrina’s event, one she’d set up for every practice. She never missed an opportunity to snap shots of the players, go live on Facebook or send out Tweets about the interaction between us and the fans. But she wasn’t there.
Lana took her place, smiling, and greeting fans. “Where’s Katrina?” I asked Lana as she snapped a shot of Ace and Kane with a young boy wearing a Beasts shirt.
“I’m not her babysitter,” she said with a bitchy smile.
I reached into my pocket, dialed her number. It went straight to a recording that told me her voicemail was not set up. What the fuck? It was set up, I’d left her messages plenty of times.
My thumb rolled over to Facebook, figuring she may have left some sign of her whereabouts if she left willingly. Her account was gone. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, even Pinterest, all gone. It was like she never existed.
I searched Google for her name, nothing for her came up, but an article on Bobby did. Headlines spilled the beans about his gambling addiction, how he'd lost everything and was living in a small condo after his possessions were either sold or repossessed. How did these details hit the press this way? Katrina must be devastated.
“I’ve gotta go,” I told Kane, telling him to cover for me if Rhett came back.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll call you if not,” I promised, and then rushed toward the parking lot to catch the next shuttle.
My heart raced as I ran into the condo building, catching the elevator before it closed. Katrina’s door was locked, and no matter how loud I beat, she didn’t answer.
Back downstairs at the front desk, I pleaded with the round man with white hair to open her door. “It’s an emergency. I need to know she’s okay,” I told him.
“I’m sorry, sir. There’s nothing I can do. You can call 911 if it’s an emergency, and the cops can order me to open it,” he said coolly.
“Is there a problem?” a woman wearing a manager tag asked.
“Yes, I need in Katrina Delaney’s room,” I told her.
She punched a few keys on her computer and looked up at me with a strange smile. “I’m sorry, sir. She checked out this morning.”
“Checked out? Where did she go?”
“I’m afraid I have no idea.”
I walked out the front doors and slid down to the curb with my head in my hands. “You alright, man?” I looked up to see Kane standing over me.
“She’s gone,” I sighed.
“Who? Katrina?” he asked curiously.
“Yeah. She checked out this morning they said.”
The shuttle pulled up, and the guys all started piling out. Calvin, Ace, Luke, and Blake all walked over, each asking what was going on. When I explained the situation, that Katrina was gone, none of them seemed too concerned. I still couldn’t tell them why I was worried so badly, not without betraying her trust. They already knew about Bobby, but not her run in with his loan sharks.
“There’s Lana, let’s ask her,” Calvin said, moving toward the black car that held the bitch.
I got up and walked over as she was getting out of the car. Calvin cornered her, asking about Katrina. “If you must know, she was fired,” Lana snapped.
“Fired? For what?” Kane asked.
“Fraternizing with a player for starters,” she said, her eyes glaring in my direction.
This wasn’t news to any of the guys, not after her confession in the bar. “That’s bullshit, and you know it,” Ace scoffed.
“Oh, it’s not bullshit. I can assure you of that, can’t I Todd?” She smirked in my direction.
“Where did she go?” I demanded.
She let out a long sigh. “I have no idea where she went, or what her plans were. I suppose she was off to find another playmate, one with money, I’m sure.”