Page 71 of Leave It On The Field (Grand Slam 3)
ChapterTwenty-Two
SEB
November 3, 2022
After the game last night, Sophie spent the night in my room. Our L.A. hotel is huge. There’s no way Drew and his staff can monitor all of our rooms. And I’m not sure he’s even trying anymore. He’s pretty much steered clear of me since I accused him of feeding information to Ricky.
This morning, Sophie and the California crew headed up to Blitzen Bay for lunch. It’s about an hour outside of L.A. She just texted me a picture of them having drinks on Nash’s back deck that overlooks the lake and mountains. I want to be with them so badly that I almost can’t look at the picture.
I’m in my hotel room, stretched out on the couch in my underwear, watching Aladdin. We leave for the stadium in a couple hours. Hopefully, we’ll get a better outcome than we had last night. At least we won’t have to face that same pitcher again.
I hear my door beep as someone swipes a room key.
“We don’t have to leave for two more hours, Joe,” I say without looking over there.
“Two hours is plenty of time, but please don’t call me Joe again if you want me to enjoy myself.”
I leap up from the couch when I hear a woman’s voice. Kaitlyn Barr is standing in my room.
“What the hell?” I look around quickly for my pants. “How did you get in here?”
She winks as she walks over to me. “I have my ways, but you already know that. You remember how I could talk anyone into anything. I haven’t lost that skill.”
“What are you doing here, Katie?” I point at the door. “You need to leave.”
“Don’t worry,” she says as she puts her hands on my bare chest. “No one saw me come in here, and no one will see me leave. Your reputation is safe.”
I take a step away from her. “You need to go. Now.”
She walks to the other side of the suite toward the bedroom. She stops and leans against the door. “Ricky said you had massive trust issues now. I get it, but you know you can trust me. I won’t tell anyone.”
She smiles, spins around, and disappears into the bedroom. I text Joe.
911. Unwelcome in my room.
I think about staying in the living room until Joe gets here, but I really want to put on pants, and unfortunately, all of my clothes are in the bedroom. I peek around the corner. Katie’s lying on my bed. Her shoes are off, but thankfully, everything else is still on.
“I was going to wait until tonight to sneak in here,” she says, patting the bed, “but after last night’s loss, I thought you could use a little stress release before the game.”
“Get off my bed,” I say, pulling her up as I grab my jeans off the chair. “And get out of my room.”
“Ow!” She pulls her arm away. “Seb, stop. You’re hurting me.”
I release her and point toward the door again. “Leave.”
Her forehead wrinkles up. “I don’t understand. Ricky said you were expecting me.”
“He said what?” I ask, zipping up my jeans.
“Why are you putting your pants back on? Are you going to make me work for it?” She tries to cup my crotch with her hand. I jerk back away from her.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” I snarl. “And tell me everything Ricky told you right now.”
Her face melts into confusion. “He said your marriage was on the rocks, and that you were reminiscing with him about how great our relationship used to be. That’s why he brought me to the games. He knew I was getting a divorce, so he thought it might be good timing for us to rekindle. I mean if you need a little more time, I get it. I can wait.”
“Katie.” I collapse into a chair. “I’m sorry you got pulled into the middle of whatever this is, but Ricky’s wrong. My marriage is perfect. Sophie’s perfect. I don’t even think about other women.”
“He said you would say that,” she says, smiling as she walks over to me. “I know you hate the media talking about you, and the divorce will be a lot, but this doesn’t have to hit the media. It’s just between us. You know you can trust me.”
