Page 105 of Second Down Fake

“Why don’t you come grab a drink with me? I’m downtown. Didn’t you just get out of practice? Meet me at the Sky Top bar on Seventh.”

I swore under my breath as he hung up, apologizing to the florist as I paid for the flowers. The shop was only two blocks from Sky Top and with parking spaces in downtown rapidly filling as dinner drew closer, I left the car and raced to the bar. By the time I got to the rooftop, I was in full panic mode.

James sat at a picturesque table overlooking downtown. A martini sat in front of him and a vodka with lime for me. I reached for the water first before sitting down.

“Where’s Cassandra?”

He studied me for a moment with a curious look. “I stopped by so she could sign the contract, like you instructed, and as an additional bonus, I bought her a first-class ticket back home. They were sold out tomorrow, but I got one for this afternoon.”

I heaved a relieved sigh. “Okay.”

Not a big deal. She left a day early. Kendall was clearly wrong and if I’d just gone home first, I would have found a note. A hastily scribbled temporary goodbye on a box of leftovers or stuffed in a video game controller.

“And I arranged to have her car and belongings shipped to New Hampshire.”

I choked on a mouthful of vodka. “Wait, what?”

James shifted uncomfortably, taking a sip of his martini before answering. “She did a lot for us this season. Obviously, the money is nice, but I wanted to make the transition back to her normal life as simple as possible. Seemed like the least I could do.”

“Tell me you bought her a return ticket.”

His eyebrow raised. “No. Why would I? Did I miss something? Did you want to draw up another contract for the post-season? I’m really not sure that’s a good idea unless we can convincingly…”

James blathered on as my vision narrowed. She thought I sent her away. That I ended the contract and wanted her gone. What other conclusion could she come to? I’d told her James was stopping by and that I wanted the contract signed.

“Because I’m in love with her,” I blurted out, drawing James’ soliloquy to an abrupt stop. “She turned me down when I asked earlier in the season because…I don’t know, she thought the contract clouded my judgment. But I wanted it signed so I could ask her to date me. For real.”

James’ lips twitched, briefly dipping down. “Oh.”

“Fuck, man.” I raked a hand through my hair, my mind struggling to figure out what to do next.

“Okay,” James straightened, fingers tapping the edge of his glass. “Okay. Not a problem. I can fix this.”

He grabbed his phone off the table. “Do you have a car, or do I need to drive you?”

“Drive me where?”

“The airport. Sounds like you need to go to New Hampshire.”

THIRTY-SIX

CASSANDRA

I climbed into the back seat of Becca’s SUV with a faint smile. “Hey, sister.”

“Hey yourself.” Becca frowned. “Give us some notice next time. You’re lucky we got stuck in gridlock outside of Boston. Otherwise, you would have bankrupted yourself on renting a car.”

My fingers brushed my pants pocket with the five-figure check.

“Sorry. Last-minute change of plans. I got scared it’d snow tomorrow and didn’t want to risk driving in the snow,” I lied.

“Been in the south too long?” Cal joked from the driver’s seat.

“Something like that.” I opened my phone. Two missed calls from Diego, no messages, no texts. I took a deep breath and forced my shoulders away from my ears.

Even in the relative luxury of a first-class seat direct from Norwalk to Manchester, the uncertainty of what exactly had happened between this morning when I woke up in Diego’s arms to the flight home had me wired. I’d downed two in-flight drinks, hoping some alcohol would ease the stress. Instead, it’d only made me sad, almost weepy. And that, along with telling my sister the real reason I’d come home early, was the last thing I needed.

“So, all done playing Diego’s girlfriend for the season?” Cal asked, eyes catching mine in the rearview.

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