Page 11 of The Strike Zone

A deep frown crossed my face, because first off, that made no sense and…nope, just the no sense thing.

“Eh, Coach? What form?”

His eyes flicked to Scout and back to me, along with a sly grin. A grin I didn’t like the look of. Not one bit.

“The dating form.” His finger pointed between Scout and me. “You two will need to sign it. If that’s what’s going on here.”

The air caught in my lungs so quickly that no amount of cool I might have had saved me from choking on it. There was no rescue. Just straight, red-faced choking.

Scout’s eyes were widening to the point they were in danger of falling out, and her cheeks weren’t just pink, they were bright red.

“Damn, Coach. What?” I managed to splutter.

“Don’t you read your emails?”

Not if I could help it. “Um, yeah. ’Course I do.”

“Well then, you should know what I’m talking about.”

I forced myself to look at Scout, in casesheknew what he was talking about, except she was now looking anywhere else but me. The signs by the elevators were notthatinteresting.

Once again, I asked myself how was I this major league ball player with money, above average looks (according to several sexiest men polls), and an ass to die for, yet I couldn’t ask out the one girl I’d been crushing on for over a year?

I waited for Coach to leave and continue his journey, perhaps to terrorize a few of the rookies or go and ruin someone else’s life, though no evidence pointed to that happening. I stayed silent. In the end, Scout jerked her head behind her to the stairs, clearly providing a quicker escape option than the elevators, which had never been called.

“I need to…um…running late. See you around.”

She took off before I could say another word.

I was yet to blink, even when I turned to Coach, who wasstillthere looking like he hadn’t just stirred a big pile of shit in my life. Come to think of it, I wasn’t even entirely sure what he had done, but I knew I wasn’t going to like it.

“Coach?”

“Check your emails, King. Then get your ass in the auditorium for a debrief,” he replied, walking off before I could stop him.

I pulled my phone out and opened my inbox. Nothing was there that I could tell. Even among the fifty-one thousand unread ones.

Scroll.

Spam.

Scroll.

Casa Grayskull admin.

Scroll. Scroll.

Nothing except sports news. An email from my stylist for game day fits—save that baby for later. Scrolling. Scrolling. Scrolling.

Then I spotted it. Yesterday.

FROM: NEW YORK LIONS HR

SUBJECT: INTERCOMPANY RELATIONSHIP DISCLOSURES

To all players,

Following recent behaviors, the New York Lions senior management has decided that, with immediate effect, any player wishing to enter into a personal relationship of a sexual nature with another New York Lions employee is required to sign a confidential relationship disclosure.

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