Page 53 of High Baller

"No. I swear that it's all bullshit." I lick my lips and rub my forehead as she remains silent. I wish she was here so I could tell her face to face, so that she could see I'm not lying, and she could see I wouldn't do anything to hurt her. "Shorty?"

“I believe you. Trey, can I call you before I fly out in the morning? I have to be up in a few hours.”

“Yeah, speak to you later. Shorty, I promise, it’s a lie.”

“Good night, Trey.”

"Good night, shorty." I end the call and just stand there for a while. That went as well as I thought it would have. I look up as Derek walks into the room. "You think it would be worse, or better if we went out in public?" I ask him. I keep thinking that maybe if everyone knew I had a girlfriend, then they wouldn't print shit like this, but then the other side could be they find out we're apart of most of the month, they would print it a lot more.

"About the same. All the girls want to get a piece of you, and the press are the press. Either way, it's going to happen. I gather Sky didn't take it well?”

"It doesn't help that something was written at the beginning of the week and that I've just woke her up at five in the morning, so I think Sky…" I have no idea what I'm saying. This wasn't a good conversation for us. Until she calls me back, I don't really know what she's thinking.

"Let her have a good rest. Tomorrow, everything will be better," Derek tells me, then he continues about what he found out about the girls. The same shit as always, their name and pictures will be given to the doormen, and we let the other clubs know on the street, as so many big players go to their clubs too, and I don’t want them getting fucked up with all this shit.

***

I rub my eyes when I hear my phone ringing. I check the time and see it’s one in the morning. It's Sky calling. I quickly grab my phone. "Sky, hey."

"I know it's late, but I said I'd call before I got on the plane."

I sit up in bed. “Did you see the pictures?” I’ve been tossing and turning in bed for most of the night, and I’ve only just fallen asleep. I don’t care that I might be too tired for training; talking to Sky makes it worth it.

“I did.”

"Shorty, I swear that they're lying. And I'm not going to say they'll be the last pictures. They won’t stop. Even if we tell the world we're together, there'll still be pictures coming out…” I'm trying to make this better, but I'm making it worse. "Shorty—"

"Trey, if you say nothing happened, then nothing happened. It doesn't mean that it's easy to read this stuff. I mean, it's been two weeks, and twice already I've had to read something." Sky stops talking and I hear Clavin talking to her about boarding the plane.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but—"

"But I knew this was coming, so I can't really complain about it, can I?"

Letting out a breath, I shake my head. “That’s not what I meant, shorty.” This isn’t going to make things better at all.

“Trey, stop worrying. I believe you, I trust you, and I have your back. I'll call you once I land in New York. Trey?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry—it’s all good.”

“Shorty, I won’t hurt you.”

"I know. Chat to you once I get to the hotel. I'm feeling like a nice video chat." Before I can answer her, she ends the call.

I’m so happy that she trusts me enough to know that nothing would happen with anyone else, and tonight, I get to have video sex with her.

Chapter 13

Sky

I press the phone closely against my cheek as I slip into bed. I connect the phone to the charger, and I start to feel the heat from the screen warming my skin.

“I’ve missed you,” I whisper into my phone. Two more weeks until I get to see Trey again. Two weeks and I get to kiss him, touch him…

"I've missed you too, shorty.”

Even though we've been having a lot of phone sex, I can't wait for him to be inside me.