Page 82 of Leave It On The Field (Grand Slam 3)
Raine directs my gaze to Evelyn who’s standing about thirty feet from us, talking to a few team employees. Evelyn looks at her phone. Her face melts into confusion. Her head starts turning back and forth as she takes a few steps away from the group.
Who is this?
Millie shows her phone to me when the text comes through. “Do you need more convincing?”
“Kind of.”
Millie types out another text.
It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is that I know you’re miamibballbabe. Very bad tweets, Evelyn. I’m guessing they could get you fired.
Evelyn reads the text, then squeezes her eyes shut as her chest starts heaving. She finally opens her eyes. Her thumbs fly over her phone’s screen.
I don’t know what you’re talking about. Leave me alone. I’m blocking you.
Millie laughs as she shows the screen to Raine.
“Well, we know we’re not dealing with a criminal mastermind,” Raine says, grabbing the phone and typing a reply.
I’m texting you from your own number, dumbass.
Pay attention, Evelyn. Or am I distracting you??
Evelyn reads the text, spins around a few times, and then runs out of the lobby.
Raine laughs. “I love a good virtual takedown. All of the fun without actually having to talk to anyone.”
“How are you inside her phone?” I ask. “I don’t get it.”
“Soph,” Raine says, patting my leg, “I know you have some idea of what I do for a living. Millie does the same thing. Millie cloned Evelyn’s phone at the game tonight. Evelyn’s the user. I haven’t had time to do a deep dive of the phone, but I searched her history with Ricky and—”
“What history with Ricky?” I close my eyes as my brain tries desperately to keep up with the new information. “She barely knows him.”
“She had an affair with him five years ago,” Raine says. “It ended his marriage.”
“What?” My eyes pop open as I move away from her on the couch. “There’s no way.”
“Sophie,” Raine says, grabbing my shoulders, “it’s time for you to move beyond the disbelief stage. Everything I’m telling you is fact. Keep up with me. Evelyn met Ricky when he was visiting Seb. They started talking. Then they started hooking up when Ricky visited Miami. Evelyn wanted more. Ricky said no. She texted Ricky’s wife from an anonymous number. Ricky’s wife left him. I don’t think he has any idea that Evelyn was the one who texted his wife. Their affair ended, but they’ve remained friends. Ricky has given her all kinds of information about you and Seb, but I don’t think he knows she’s the Twitter user.”
“I, uh,” I say, looking at her blankly. “I don’t even know what to say. I mean, how is the affair my fault? I didn’t know any of them—including Seb—when that went down. Why would she be coming after me?”
“Don’t overthink it, Soph,” Millie says. “She just wants to be with Seb. Jealousy is always the most powerful motive.”
“Wait,” I say, looking back at Raine. “Did she have something with Seb at some point? Did they hook up?”
“I don’t think so. She doesn’t even have Seb’s number in her phone. I need to dig a little deeper, but I really don’t think they ever had anything.”
“This is crazy,” I say. “It can’t be just jealousy. How does she think something’s going to happen between them now if it hasn’t already?”
“Didn’t you tell me Seb hasn’t had a serious relationship since high school?” Raine asks. “Maybe Evelyn was playing the long game, and then you appeared out of nowhere and swept him up in a few months.”
Maisie finally stirs from next to me. She’s been sitting there with her mouth open for a strong minute. “The long game? Holy shit. That’s taking unrequited love to a whole new level.”
Millie shrugs. “It happens all the time. People don’t want to make a move because down deep they know they’ll be rejected, and then the fantasy will come crashing to a halt.”
“Un-fucking-believable. Even the people we trust want us to be miserable.” I look up at the ceiling for a second, and then back at Millie. “If you have control of her phone, can you delete the Twitter account?”
“Yep,” she says, showing me the screen. “Watch me do it. We’re on her account. I’m changing the password so she can’t get back in. Hold on. Okay, done. Now I’m deleting the account. There it goes. It’s gone. Try to find the account on your phone.”
