Page 37 of Girl Going Nowhere

Dante scratches the column of his throat, staring down at his coffee. “Brodie knows what happened.”

He’s always been close with his cousin. They grew up together, went to the same schools, and share a lot of the same interests. Brodie got the job atSports Pactfirst, then convinced his boss to hire Dante. I used to be jealous of their friendship because I didn’t have anything like it. Dante and I may have the same father, but we’ve always had different backgrounds. I was stuck caring for my mother after every meltdown and relapse, while he was out living like any other boy his age.

“I’m sure he’s done worse,” is my response. The guy looks like a walking fuck boy who’s probably had a threesome or two in his day.

Dante’s eyes narrow. “It’s not about that.”

All I do is stare.

He sighs. “Brodie has had a thing for Blake since he met her. We all had a hands-off agreement after she and Maia moved in. Last night shouldn’t have happened.”

Ah.He feels guilty.

If there’s one thing I’ve had to overcome in this life, it’s that guilt gets you nowhere fast. You can’t change the things you do, so why dwell on it? If I let myself feel bad about the choices I’ve made, I wouldn’t be where I am.

I sure as hell won’t tell him that I asked my agent to hire a PI to get info on Blake. “From what you’ve said, he can get any girl he wants. I highly doubt this is going to bother him for long. He’ll go out, see some chick with big tits, and all will be well in the world again.”

I expect him to laugh, but he doesn’t. Instead, Dante shakes his head. “Blake is different. She’s not the type of woman Brodie is going to forget about, not even after what we did with her.”

Oh, I know.It took two days to hear from Vanessa about what the private eye dug up on the blonde Dante is referring to, including where she lives, which I could hardly believe when I saw the address I’d sent Christmas cards to before. The little details are boring—her parents’ names, where she went to school, who her friends are.

Then it got interesting. She was a wild child with quite the past if her rap sheet had anything to say. She was arrested for shoplifting twice and once for drinking underage. The first two times, she was bailed out by her parents. The third time, it was by her best friend, Emily. It seems like her parents decided to step back from how she lived her life.

According to the timeline Vanessa gave me, there was a short period of time when she went quiet. No posts. No arrests. Nothing.

Then she was tagged online with a kid. Normally, I wouldn’t read into it. If what she told me on the plane is any indication, she slept around a lot in the past and dealt with the consequences.

But then I saw the grainy photos Vanessa forwarded me from right before she went MIA. In them was Jonathon Dover and a blurry girl that looked like Blake. The date attached to them was pre-baby, which made Vanessa much more excited about the situation I asked her to investigate.

“Go stay with your brother to find out more,” she tells me over lunch. “This could be good for the both of us. If he’s the father of that baby, we can use it as ammunition. He’s the golden boy that you’re up against. If you want a cemented spot on that team, you need to use whatever you can to get there. They’ll trade if they decide they want someone with less controversy surrounding them.”

I’d like to think I’m a smart man. I’ve worked and trained hard to get where I am without blackmailing anybody. But I know she’s right. The majors are competitive. Very few people get the chance to move forward in their careers, so I need any help I can get. Do I think one little cheating scandal will get him enough negative attention to get traded or kicked off the team? No. There have been far worse scandals to hit the MLB over the years. But fathering a kid with a mistress? It’ll ruin his reputation. Put doubt into people’s minds.

I’m not proud to use Dante because I want a good relationship with my brother, but I also want to be the biggest player on the Philadelphia Phillies, and I can’t do that when the golden boy is constantly being praised in the media every day.

“You seem to like her,” I note, causally sipping my coffee.

His eyes flash. “Not in the way Brodie does.”

What is his deal with Brodie? “Did he say something to you to make you feel bad about this? It isn’t his business, Dante.”

His jaw tics. “We’re friends. Family. We all have to live with each other—”

“You can afford your own place,” I cut in. “I can help you if you need it. I’m going to get a good payday soon with this deal.”

The way he looks at me tells me that’s the last thing he wants, which I’m not surprised by. He’s always been prideful. “I’m not taking handouts. That isn’t even what this is about, anyway.”

My brows raise with curiosity. “Then what is it about? Why don’t you want to leave? I know you make decent money at your job. You don’t have to pay full rent or utilities, and you walk everywhere. I don’t get it, man.Isit Blake?”

When his nostrils flare, I study him a little harder because there’s something I’m obviously missing. “For Christ’s sake, Raf. This has nothing to do with Blake.”

I blink, absorbing his cool tone.

He pinches his nose. “Fuck. Sorry. I’m on edge because of all this bullshit with Mom and Anthony. I wish that fucker would have died during that last fight he got into in prison. When Mom got the call saying he’d been stabbed, I thought it was over. How screwed up is that?”

I get it. It didn’t exactly break my heart to hear he’d gotten hurt. “Men like that will live forever. The only thing we can do is distance ourselves from it.”

He shakes his head. “Easier said than done. Your mom got out. Mine keeps going back, no matter how hard I’ve tried getting her to stop.”

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