“For real?” Del’s eyes bulge. “Why?”
“No idea.”
“You still hung up on her?” he asks after a beat.
“No. I—“ I stop mid-sentence. I what? Am I going to lie to myself and to Del and say that I don’t still harbor feelings for Rose? No. But I’m also not going to dredge up the hurt and betrayal I associate with her. “I don’t know,” I admit. “Seeing her was…unexpected.”
Del has a contemplative expression on his bearded face. “You two were great together once upon a time. Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”
Two thoughts hit me in tandem in response to Del’s statement:I wishandAbsolutely not. Call it self-preservation, but I’m leaning toward the latter. Shame on her if she fooled me once. But shame on me if she fools me twice, right?
The elevator dings, and the doors slide open, saving me from having to respond.
“This is me.” Del steps off and heads toward the locker room. “Don’t have too much fun in Cali without me.”
“You know I won’t. See you next week, man.”
He waves over his shoulder, and the elevator doors close. I ride up to the level of the executive suites. I walk into Scott’s office on autopilot. My head is spinning with thoughts of Rose—Sammy Rose, as I used to call her. Knowing she’s orbiting in the same space makes me sweat.
“Good, Bates. You made it.”
I blink and focus on Scott’s face. I nod at him before my gaze pings to Roger, the team’s VP of communications, who’s seated to Scott’s left.
Ned shuffles in the door behind me. “Sorry I’m late. Got caught up with the bikes and a fan who’s a taxidermist and wanted to show me some samples of her work. Said she could do up some legit river foxes for us to decorate the halls with.”
Ned catches sight of my horrified expression.
“Don’t worry,” he says. “I let her down easy.”
“That’s why we hired you, Ned,” Scott chuckles and waves us forward. “Gentlemen, take a seat.”
I step farther into the office, and Ned follows.
“Dude, you okay? You really ate it out there.” He looks me up and down as if assessing for injuries.
I hold my arms out wide. “Not even a scratch. You want me to get the door?” I ask Scott.
He shakes his head. “We’re waiting on one more, but we can get started.”
I settle into my seat and prepare to get my marching orders. It’s as I expected. Scott and Roger outline the plan for me to be the subject of an in-depth personal-interest piece forSports Magazine.
“It’s been approved by your people,” Scott says.
I hold back my frown. He always says ‘your people’ in reference to my mother and the palace in Penwick. I don’t have anything against my mom and her royal team, but I also don’t really consider them my people. I’ve always had to act a certain way and put on a certain front where they’re concerned. My real people are my teammates and the friends I’ve made here in the United States. With them, I can be myself.
Rose’s smiling face pops back into my head. That’s annoying, but I guess it makes sense. There was a time when I would have considered her my person. My top person. She knew me better than anyone. We had the best kind of partnership, built on laughter and trust and loyalty and kindness…until it all went up in smoke.
There’s a brisk knock on the door jam.
“Good. You’re here. Come on in.” Scott waves the late arrival forward. “Babs has been getting the journalist that’s been selected for this assignment the proper badges for stadium access and security clearance,” Scott explains.
I turn to see Babette, the head of the team’s HR department. Trailing her is Rose Kasper.
All the oxygen is sucked out of the room. I swear it is. Because I can’t get a full breath in to save my life right now.
Rose’s gaze sweeps around, and her blue eyes settle on me.
I can’t look away.
