Page 30 of Reckless Kiss
Chapter 10
How does one ignore the fact that in continuing to have the best sex of his life he is also stabbing his best friend in the back?
By ignoring it, obviously. While I relived what I’d done with Esme in the alcove somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred times a day, I never let my mind focus on the fact that Esme and Jeffry were dating. Instead, I worked. Worked like a madman. Every athlete on my roster deserved a personal visit and extra attention. So for the last three weeks that was all I’d done.
Jeffry called for more advice and I gave it. They had another dinner date and a lunch date. Nothing spectacular. No sex.
For some reason that relieved me and I honestly couldn’t tell if it was because it somehow absolved me of something or if it was because she was still mine a little longer.
The guilt gnawed at me regardless. Jeffry was my best friend and I’d slept with the woman he was interested in not once, but twice. From that perspective I was a very bad friend and I’d betrayed the unspoken rules of brotherhood.
But on the other hand I had my own code. An obligation to my lovers. I was there for them no matter what. We shared a trust that only existed because of the understanding that they were safe with me and that our time together was guilt-free. That they could always come to me and I’d be there for them.
Esme had come to me. How could I have denied her?
If I had it to do over a hundred more times, I’d make the same choice. So it was what it was and my only comfort was in that Jeffry and Esme hadnottaken their relationship to a level that required exclusivity or commitment. They were casually dating.
“Mr. Hancock?”
I shook my head to clear it and focused on the man standing in front of me. Charley Culpepper. My newest baseball player. The reason I was visiting the Manta’s farm team in Ft. Myers.
“How you doing, Charley?” I clapped the kid on the back.
He was so young. Barely nineteen, with that youthful innocence to his face still, dark hair that curled around his hat, and bright eyes I’d be able to turn into endorsements in a couple of years.
He shrugged. “Fine I guess. Season is going well. Coach seems happy with me.”
Not exactly the glowing answer I was expecting considering he was having a phenomenal season after having deciding to forego college in order to go pro.
“Is everything okay?”
He shrugged again. “It’s just different is all.”
“Well yeah. You’re not in high school anymore. There’s no hand holding.”
“No kidding,” he grumbled. “It’s a lot more ruthless than I expected.”
Something about his tone...it had a desperate edge to it. And that word choice. It didn’t sit well with me. “What’s going on Charley?”
He hesitated, then shook his head. “Nothing. I’ve just got to grow up.”
“You can talk to me, you know. I’m your agent and it’s my job, but we’re friends.”
It was an important part of the business for me. Some agents preferred to keep a solid professional line between them and their clients so there was no emotional attachment, but for me, I needed that attachment to be able to properly advocate for them. I wanted to root for them, to understand them. I needed them to feel like I cared about them even when they drove me crazy.
His eyes pinched at the corners. Whatever was bothering my ballplayer, he was keeping it to himself. For now.
“I appreciate everything you do for me, Mr. Hancock, really I do.”
“You can stop calling me Mr. Hancock.”
He smiled a little. “I should get back to it, Leo. Thanks for checking in with me.”
“I mean it, Charley. You can always talk to me.” As he walked away I had a gut reaction, an instinct, that something was very wrong.
* * *
“So where do we stand?”I nudged Jeffry with my toe. He was facedown on my couch, arms listless at his sides, as he recounted his dinner date with Esme.
