Page 84 of Truth or Tequila (Grand Slam 1)

Chapter Thirty-Five

sophie

Maisie forced me to leave my bed this morning to get coffee. I only agreed because I knew Seb wouldn’t be waiting outside my apartment. The team left this morning for their last road trip of the season.

I’m sitting at a table outside while she gets our lattes. The sun feels so good on my face. I’m starting to relax a little bit when I see Joe walking toward my table.

“Shouldn’t you be with the team?” I say, balling up my fists.

“I’m headed that way in about an hour. I had something to do first.”

“He shouldn’t have sent you here.” My voice breaks as I feel the tears start to well up in my eyes again.

“He didn’t send me. He doesn’t know I’m here.” Joe sits down at the chair opposite of me as I stand up. “Sophie, sit your ass down in that chair right now or I will help you. I’m well beyond tired of all of this.”

I sit down slowly as he peers over the top of his sunglasses at me with the look he usually reserves for overly aggressive fans.

“No!” Maisie comes out of the coffee shop, carrying the lattes. She stops inches from Joe. I’m more than a little worried that she’s about to pour coffee on his head. “If you don’t get the hell out of here, we’re leaving.”

Joe looks from her to me. “Sophie, I have information that I think you want—”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Joe.” I cross my arms and scoot my chair back from the table. Maisie’s still standing above him.

“Good, then you can just listen.” He takes off his sunglasses and rubs his eyes. “But I need you alone. She can sit across the patio and watch my every move.”

“No!” Maisie puts my coffee on the table and shoves him on the shoulder. He looks up at her and shakes his head.

“You’re a feisty little thing for your size. Let me know if you ever want a job in security.”

Maisie starts taking the top off her coffee.

“Mae!” I say, jumping in front of her. “Do not throw that coffee on him. Give us five minutes.”

“Five minutes.” She puts her hand in his face. “The clock just started.”

He watches her walk to the other side of the patio before he starts. “He will kill me for telling you this—”

“Then don’t tell me.”

“I thought you weren’t going to talk.”

I roll my eyes and look away from him.

“Seb’s mom spent some time in jail in her early twenties.”

“What?” I say, looking back at him. He’s looking down.

“Yeah, nothing violent or anything. White-collar stuff,” he sighs. “She did some stupid things—insider trading. She broke the law, and spent almost two years in jail.”

I take a deep breath. “I had no idea. Seb never said anything.”

“He didn’t know about it until a few months ago. It’s still new to him.” He starts rubbing his temples. “Liza Murray found out. She wanted to write a story on it. Seb’s been paying her off to keep it quiet.”

“What? That’s blackmail.” My heart’s sinking in my chest. “Oh my God. Why hasn’t he told anyone?”

“He did. He told me. I told Ken. We asked that Liza have her media credential taken away—for obvious reasons. Ken said he’d take care of her. She was banned for about a week. That’s when she threatened to sue the team, then all of a sudden, she’s got her credential back like nothing happened. I think she has something on the Randalls, too.”

“Liza told me Seb slept with her and was paying her off to keep quiet.”

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