Hard and Fast

Tony stared at her, seconds passing in silence. The streetlight above seemed to cast her in the spotlight while she waited.

“I promise I’ll only take a minute.” Amanda responded to the resistance she spotted in his dark brown eyes. “I don’t want to miss the chance to report on that big home run.”

Finally Tony seemed to relax. “All right. I guess I can give you a couple of minutes.”

“Great.” She turned to Kurt. “Maybe I can catch up with you at the next game?”

He tipped his hat back, giving her a direct look. “Depends. You gonna start traveling with us?”

Amanda had decided to be straightforward with the team, so she explained the situation. “If my boss likes my next story, then I’d say yes. If not, I might be headed back home to Texas but not for the game.”

“Oh, man,” Kurt said, hands sliding in his front pocket. “Being a rookie is never fun.”

“It has its moments,” she said, then forced her attention to Brad, not about to let him think she was intimidated. “You still owe me an interview.”

His eyebrow inched upward. His expression was unreadable but still managed to suggest intimacy. “Do I?” he asked. “I thought we covered just about everything last time.”

The private, underlying meaning charged the air. Amanda swallowed against the sudden dryness in her throat, finding herself at a rare loss for words.

“Not everything.” That was the best she could up with in front of an audience.

“She asked to talk to me,” Tony said, moving his chin to dismiss the other two players.

Saved by Tony’s need to be the center of attention. His interjection rescued her from a mess with Brad. Plus, she’d guaranteed his willing participation by asking to speak to Brad and Kurt.

The three men exchanged a few words, then Amanda found herself alone with Tony. Arms crossed in front of his body, an expectant look on his chiseled face, he confronted her.

Clearly, he was on edge, even though he wanted this interview. He wanted the attention but not the questions about anything beyond his home run.

“Tony, it’s important to me to earn the trust of the team. I figure to do that, I need to shoot straight,” she said, repeating the words she’d practiced in her head while waiting for him. Saying them out loud, however, she worried they came off as lame and insincere. “That’s why I’m not going to print anything that could be damaging without talking to the player involved first.”

His eyes darkened, the rich brown color becoming deep black. “What does that have to do with me?”

Touchy. She wondered why. “Maybe nothing,” Amanda told him, “but sticking to the commitment I just made, I want you to be aware of a few things regarding Laura. She’s been clinging to me a lot, doing a lot of talking.”

“So what?” he said, his tone clipped. “She’s the social type.”

“She’s talking about you, Tony. She gets upset and cries, and threatens to tell some big secret.”

“I don’t have any big secret,” he said, hands going to his hips. “Whatever you’re trying to find out here, it won’t work.”

“I’m not digging. And I’m not trying to find out anything. So far I don’t recall asking a question.” Amanda let her statement linger a moment for impact before she went on, choosing her words with care. “She hasn’t confessed anything, and I don’t push her to. Frankly, a jealous girlfriend isn’t the best of sources.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“She thinks she is. I’ve seen you with her and I know you have made your lack of commitment clear. But she’s not listening. She’s young, Tony. She’ll get hurt easily and lash out.”

He turned away briefly and sighed. “I’ve never done anything but shoot straight with Laura.”

“I believe you.” Tony was proud of his well-earned reputation with women. An apparent lover of variety over longevity, he never kept a woman around for more than a few weeks. “But that doesn’t make this situation less of a problem. If she comes to me and shares this secret and I do nothing with it—assuming it merits a story—then she’ll go to someone else. Maybe to Jack.”

“Great. So this is a heads-up that I’m screwed.”

His statement was telling. If he had nothing to hide, he wouldn’t have said such a thing.

“What I’m saying is the most I can offer you is a chance to tell your side of things before it hits the press. I won’t print anything she tells me without talking to you first. The thing is, I’m in a bad spot, Tony. If I pull away from her, I might not be the one she tells. That’s another reason I came to you. I don’t want you thinking I’m trying to work her. Frankly, I feel damned if I do, and damned if I don’t.”