Page 66 of Raine Out (Grand Slam 2)

Alex

When we get to the valet stand, one of the porters sees Raine and spins around so quickly that he crashes into a bench and almost falls over the top of it.

“You okay, man?” I say as I reach out to steady him.

“Yeah,” he says, not taking his eyes off Raine. “Do you need your car?

I look back and forth between them. Raine’s trying to act normal, but her eyes aren’t blinking as she looks at him.

“That’s my Jeep right there.” I motion over to the parking area. “Alex Molina. Just give me the keys. We can walk over there.”

He starts fumbling through the keys and finally grabs mine. He hands them to me without looking up.

“Thank you,” I say, putting my arm around Raine’s shoulders as I guide her to the parking lot. “What was that about?”

She looks up at me—trying to keep her face neutral. “What was what about?”

“You’re not a good liar. Why’s the valet scared of you? Did you get into a fight with him, too?”

She nods over to Savannah who’s staring at us as she walks toward the lobby with her husband. “Can we go?”

After I drive out of the resort, I pull over under a clump of palm trees. “What’s going on this morning? We’re not leaving here until you tell me.”

“Alex, I’m hungry—”

“Eat the banana. I’m not driving any further until you start talking.”

She sighs, but takes a big bite of the banana and then hands me a piece of paper out of her bag. “The porter was trying to deliver this note to Sophie this morning. Butch and I intercepted it.”

I read it and look up at her. “That shit’s not happening. Seb isn’t cheating on her. No way.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so either.”

“Who gave this note to him?”

“We’re still working on that,” she says, finishing her banana, “but I don’t think we’re dealing with a master criminal. Probably just some petty wedding guest.”

“That’s crazy petty,” I say, whistling. “I mean you would have to be almost evil to do something like this a day before their wedding.”

“Maybe not evil, but we’re definitely dealing with a narcissist. There are a few of those here. We just need to figure out which one it is.”

“Are you going to tell Seb and Sophie?”

“No,” she says, pointing at me, “and I don’t want you to tell them. This is just some stupid prank. I don’t want to ruin their weekend.”

“I won’t tell them if you don’t want me to,” I say as I pull the Jeep back onto the road. “Is that note what’s bothering you this morning?”

She pulls her hair into a ponytail as we pick up speed. “Yeah, it bothers me. I don’t want anyone hurting Sophie. There are a lot of people here that don’t seem to even like her. I’m not sure what’s going on with that.”

I shrug. “Jealousy. Seb’s a good catch.”

She spins toward me and crosses her arms. “Sophie’s a good catch, too.”

“What?” I look at her for a second. She’s scowling hard at me. “Raine, I know she is. And more importantly, Seb knows she is. He’s not cheating on her. I know Seb. I mean, he was with his share of women before her, but believe me, he stopped thinking about anyone except Sophie the second he met her.”

“Yeah,” she says, looking away from me. “I guess all ballplayers get around.”

“Get around?” I look over at her again and tug on her arm a few times. “Is that what’s bothering you? You think I get around?”

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