Page 24 of It's Always Us

“Spill it, Mark, before I dump your ass to fend for yourself.”

“I got married last night.” He lets out a string of colorful words, and I try to remain calm.

“That’s great. Congratulations. Don’t you think you could have given me a heads-up or an invitation or taken a second to think this through? When this leaks, and it’s already started, your ass will be grass. Not to mention when your latest spontaneous flare-up comes crashing down in your face with divorce papers and—”

I stop him right there, my easygoing, blissful state quickly morphing into furious defense. “Divorce?” I hold back the laugh that would be smothered in irritated sarcasm. “Yeah, never happening, so you can let that worry go.”

“Mark.” He says my name like a parent trying to hold their tongue to keep from saying what they really want to say. “Everything you’ve worked for is riding on the outcome of this season and your shoulder holding up. We don’t have room for tabloids and major headlines and . . . scandalous outbursts.”

Scandalous outbursts?I want to yell, but I bite my tongue so hard it might bleed. I want to punch something. Maybe myself, square in the face.

Lex asked me straight up last night what happens today, and this . . . this is what happens. I have to jog onto the field in a matter of hours and not cause a media ruckus.

The problem is, I won’t be letting her out of my sight, but I don’t know how to do that and keep my job and prospects running smoothly.

I run a hand through my hair. My fingers grip the long strands tightly, causing pain to spread throughout the top of my scalp. “Let me get through the game today. We win, and this won’t matter. I paid the chapel to ensure it would remain private. They may be spilling tidbits, but there were no pictures. These places rely on keeping things private. They’d be morons to talk.”

“Shit, Sandberg, we deal with the biggest idiots of them all every day.” He’s almost crossed over into yelling, but he pauses, toning it back. “What does your organization think you’ve been doing?”

“I told them I had an emergency.”

“This just keeps getting worse. Did you spend any amount of time thinking any of this through?”

My temper reawakens. Last night was the most important night of my life, and I won’t feel bad about one second of it.

“I didn’t think it through. I don’t know what to do now besides get my ass to the stadium and win this game. Then I’ll figure all this out later.”

“I bet your wife will love to hear that.”

His ridicule is the last thing I need at the moment, but he’s right. I have no idea what to say to the woman lying in bed right now—the one I need to sleep in my bed every night. We’ve been apart for so long, and she’s not been a witness to this side of my life.

“If this makes the rounds and you don’t win the game, I have no idea how to fix this. I hope she’s everything you think she is.”She’s more.I clench my jaw so hard my molars grind. “Keep her on the DL for now. Win this game, and let’s hope this settles quickly, at least to get youthrough the rest of the season. After that and your shoulder surgery, we need teams to still be interested in what you have to offer.”

The blunt reminder of all that’s ahead of me feels like a two-ton weight bar being set on my shoulders, and one of them needs repair.

After this season, I’m a free agent and want out of the city, now more than ever. I need a team and organization that’s willing to take a chance on me post-shoulder repair. Rob’s right. Giving them any additional negative impressions or the idea that I don’t take my status seriously might kill my chances.

“I hear you.”

“Be smart from here on out. Don’t make this worse than it already is, and make sure you win today.”

“Yeah, no pressure, right?”

“Hey, it’s the name of the game. I hope you don’t regret this.”

Suddenly, the entire world rests on my ability to win, keep news of my marriage off screens, and somehow explain all this to Lex.

“I have a lot of regrets, but don’t worry, I’ll do what I have to do.”

I hang up, not caring for any of the thoughts running through my head about what that really means, but I don’t have time to think. I have to talk to Lex and get ready to win a game.

I turn on the shower, letting steam fill the room while I figure out exactly what to say to Lex. All I want is for her to go to the game and then meet me back in New York so we can be together. What I know is she’d hate the city, and her life is back in Ohio.

After showering and drying off, I open the door to find her sitting on the edge of the bed, fully clothed, with her backpack zipped on the floor beside her. When she doesn’t look at me, a cold sweat envelops my still-damp body with the realization of what she might have heard.Shit!

The last thing I want to do is try to make this better and then leave her, but it appears she might beat me to it.

My stomach hits the carpeted floor.

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