Page 85 of Truth or Tequila (Grand Slam 1)

He shakes his head. “Sophie, Seb did not sleep with her. Not his type at all. I’ve been around him for years. He’s only dated a few women in that time, and he was insanely private about those relationships. He would never date someone he works with because it would be too public.”

He holds up his hand to stop my protest.

“Except you, but that’s only because he’s crazy about you. I mean, absolutely insane. I’ve never seen him lose it over someone like this.”

I take a long drink of my latte as I try to piece it all together. “Why do you think Liza told me all that? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Yeah, it does, and that’s part two of our conversation.” He slides the folder that he’s been holding across the table.

I don’t touch it. “What is it?”

“Harassment complaints about Gentry including one from Liza.”

He sees my confused face.

“Yeah,” he says, looking down. “Gentry harassed her, too.”

“What? They’re so close. Why does she hang out with him if he did that?”

“She’s getting money from Gary, too, to keep quiet about Gentry.” He looks up at me again. “She lets Gentry think that she’s cool with him, so she can pump him for information about the team. Bottom line, I think she’s going to write about all of this at some point.”

“How did she find out about Seb’s mom?”

“Seb’s uncle sold the information to Liza. Crazy, right? Everybody tries to cash in on fame. Seb didn’t even know about it until Liza approached him. His little sister still doesn’t know about it.”

I take a deep breath. “That’s why he doesn’t want to talk about it? Because of his sister?”

“Yeah, his mom doesn’t want her to know. She didn’t want Seb to know either. It crushed her when he found out. Frankly, I think she should tell the sister. It’s probably going to come out at some point. It seems like it would be better if she heard it from her mom, but that’s not my business.”

I open the file and start leafing through it. “It looks like all the complaints are about something Gentry has said—verbal harassment. Has it gone beyond that?”

“You tell me. Did it go beyond that last night?”

“He put his hand on my butt, but I took care of him.”

“That’s what I understand. Gentry was on the floor when we came in. Did you do that?”

I nod my head.

“I might have a job for you on my security team, too.” He smiles. “I have to go or I’m going to be late for my flight. I wanted you to know this before I left. Seb’s a good guy and he’s crazy about you. He’s just trying to protect his mom.”

He starts to walk away, leaving the folder on the table.

“You forgot something,” I say, holding it up.

“No, I didn’t. That’s yours now.” He turns back to me. “I know I should have come forward with all this a long time ago, but I don’t have the balls. I need my job. I hope you have more courage than I do.”

“Joe, if I do something with this, they’re going to know I got it from you. Who else would have access to it?”

He shrugs. “Yeah, probably. I’m not sure what to do anymore. Maybe it would be better if I got fired. I don’t know. The folder’s yours. Do what you want with it.”

* * *

Ray’s editor told me that I’d find him across the street from the newspaper’s offices, sitting on a park bench. That’s where he eats his lunch. It’s been three days since Joe gave me the information. It’s taken me that long to decide what to do with it.

“Well, Sophia Banks,” Ray says as I slide onto the park bench beside him, “I thought I might see you again. You didn’t make it on the last road trip. Rumor is that you were canned.”

“Yeah, I quit or I was fired. I’m not sure, but I don’t work with the team anymore.”

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