Page 9 of A Whole New Game

She continues, “But do me a favor and treat me like you would any other team employee. Things don’t have to be weird between us.”

I would never call what’s between weird, but I understand what she’s saying. I don’t like it, but I understand.

And after what I’ve put this woman through—how I behaved after she admitted how she felt about me in the middle of a slow dance at senior prom when I stole her away from Augie—the least I can do is respect her wishes.

“You got it, Carlee. Whatever you want, I’ll do.”

She dips her head in relief. “Good.”

“I’ll just go back up to my apartment.” I tuck my hands in my pockets, resisting the urge to do something stupid like try to hug her goodbye. “Tell the guys I had a call from my agent or something.”

“Wait.” Her eyes widen. “Do you live inthisbuilding?”

“Just moved in a few hours ago,” I answer, unsure why she looks so alarmed.

“Great.” She mutters. “Just… great.”

I frown. “What’s wrong?”

Carlee crosses her arms and looks at the ground, reminding me of the time when she was ten and Carter and I made her mad for not letting her play basketball with us. She mumbles something I can’t hear over the music.

“What?”

She releases a heavy sigh, then drags her eyes back to mine. “I said, I live here, too.”

“Oh...” I hold back my answering smile. While the news is happy to me, Carlee doesn’t feel the same.

“Yeah… ” Her nostrils flare. “Oh.”

I make a mental note to thank whichever assistant Gary instructed to pick out my apartment for me. He or she deserves a raise. “I guess I’ll see you around the building as well as at work.” A smirk tugs on my mouth despite my best effort.

Her eyes drop to my lips. Her pulse flickers in her throat. “I guess so,” she clips.

Not wanting to push my luck, I decide to bow out of this situation while I’m ahead.

With a quiet goodbye, I turn on my heel and make my way to the exit, grinning like a damned fool the moment I know I’m out of Carlee’s sight.

Even though she and I aren’t as close as we once were… even though I fucked up our relationship… Carlee Jones is still attracted to me. And she still cares about me, even if she doesn’t want to.

At that moment, I make a decision.

Carlee and I were once best friends with the potential to be so much more. I might not want to live in Texas, but I’m here.I’m going to use this opportunity to do everything in my power to mend the broken bridge between us.

No matter what it takes.

5

CARLEE

I takea deep breath to try and center myself. It hasn’t even been forty-eight hours since running into Corey and making my vow to stay as far away from him as I can, and I’m already seated across from him in a conference room that feels too small despite the glass wall that spans the length of the space.

We’re in the Lonestars headquarters, located in downtown Dallas overlooking Fair Park. Only three feet of wood separates me from Corey. He sits next to his agent, Gary Ramirez. His PR agent is on speakerphone. The rest of the twelve-person table is filled with other members of the Lonestars organization; including my boss who is the head of marketing, the team’s head coach, the pitching coach, and other higher-ups I only know by name. One seat remains open at the end of the table. Given the fact no one is speaking, I assume we’re waiting for someone else to join us.

According to the email sent by my boss yesterday morning, we’re here to discuss how to handle Corey’s trade to the Lonestars. With the negative press surrounding the trade, management wants us to work with Corey’s team to revamp his image so his presence here is viewed favorably by our fanbase and others in the league.

I don’t know what to make of the request. Usually, a player’s personal PR team is responsible for maintaining a positive image. The fact the Lonestars organization is involved is unusual.

The glass door swings open.

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