Sidelined

“Isn’t it?” She paused. “I have to go. I have to get to the stadium to meet Heather and give her my uniform. They won’t even let me inside. We have to meet at the gate. Do you know how humiliating this is? Do you even know what this is doing to me?”

I couldn’t fix it. I couldn’t take away her embarrassment. I couldn’t retract the photo. God, I couldn’t even punish Maddie for screwing me over again.

“I’m sorry, Natalia. Look, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“No. Stay away. Stay in San Antonio with your ex or whoever. Just leave me alone, Sam. You’ve done enough.”

She hung up and I sat up in bed. I stared at the TV. The announcers were still speculating on when Natalia and

I had met and how long we had been seeing each other. Maddie must have sent the picture to her phone when I was in search of tissues for her fake tears. With a first name and a picture, it only took two days to track down her position with the Warriors.

I should have given her the money when she asked for it. Instead, she found a way to take it from me. I didn’t know which tabloid had paid her for it, but they could expect a huge lawsuit headed their way. Someone was going to pay for what this had cost Natalia.

I knew Natalia was angry and hurt. She thought I betrayed her, maybe in more than one way. I had to prove to her that I wasn’t that kind of man. I had questioned it myself. I had the pictures. I knew with one social media post our relationship would blow up the headlines. A Wrangler and a Warrior. What would be more taboo than that? We’d get all kinds of attention. I knew she’d be fired and that would leave her free to finally move in with me. Yeah, I was the kind of asshole who thought about doing it. I had thought about it more than once. But fuck, Natalia made me want to be a better man than that. I didn’t want to trick her into living with me. I didn’t want to force her into my life. I could have been the one to do what Maddie did, and I was ashamed of that thought more than anything.

I rolled out of bed to get dressed. I had ninety minutes to get to Austin.

My phone rang. I looked at the number. It was Keith Stone, the Wranglers’ head of publicity. It was never good when Keith called.

“Hey, man,” I tried to sound casual as if nothing catastrophic was happening.

“Sam, we need to talk about the Sports Now story.”

I started getting dressed while I talked to him, grabbing a clean pair of jeans from my dresser. “What do you want to know, Keith?”

“Is the picture real? Is the girl a Warrior Goddess? What the hell is going on?”

I sat on the edge of my bed to put on my socks. “Yes, yes, and I don’t know.”

“Not what I wanted to hear. You know management is on me to find out what’s going on.”

“I know. I know. It shouldn’t be a problem, right? I’ve been seeing her a few months. We met when the team was in Austin for the season opener. Yes, she was a Warrior, but they fired her this morning. I’ve got to get to Austin, Keith, so we can talk while I drive or I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“No, I just needed the facts.”

“Is there a problem?” I ran my hands through my hair, holding my breath.

“Nothing a good story from my office can’t handle. Send me a picture of you two when you get a chance. Not that one. Something different we can use exclusively.”

Shit. Natalia wasn’t going to like that anymore than what had already happened. I needed to see her first. I needed to make sure we were okay. I had to fix us.

“All right. Give me a few hours and I’ll send you something. Anything else?”

“I’ll call you if there is. Just know fans are going to give you hell for a while, but it actually helps that the Warriors fired her. She’ll gain sympathy points. It might make it less brutal when you two are seen out together.”

I hadn’t thought about that. The rabid rivalry had kept us apart, but now that we were public, it could be a complete nightmare for Natalia. What if the Wrangler fans didn’t embrace her? What if they turned their backs on me?

I shook my head. It didn’t matter. She was worth it. And if I had to find another team that would accept both of us, I would. I’d do whatever it took to make her happy and make her feel safe. I’d even leave Texas.

“Thanks, Keith. Thanks for taking care of this. And anything you can do to make Natalia look good, to get her Wrangler support, I’d appreciate it.” I realized instantly how valuable this man was.

“I’ve got it. Don’t worry. The Wranglers are going to welcome her if that’s what you want. Let me work my magic and don’t forget to send me a picture.”

“Sure thing.” I hung up and raced to the parking garage.

Seconds were ticking by and I needed to know that Natalia was okay.

Thirty-Two