I had missed five weeks of games after putting Tim in the hospital. I had been forced to go to anger counseling and when I returned to L.A, I was broken down enough to let a former fling become something more. I needed the emotional support.

But I wound up discovering that she was emailing the team daily updates on me – when I got home, who I spoke to on the phone, and any info she could get out of me regarding Tim.

I was an expensive investment for them, and they didn’t trust me to stay out of trouble, so they paid someone in my life to spy on me - to monitor my day-to-day behavior.

It was why I demanded a trade from L.A the same year they traded three key players to acquire me. It was why their manager, current roster and front office hated me, and why the fans went out of their way to heckle me when I visited. It was never a particularly enjoyable city to play in. In fact, I hated being there. Four years later, and I’d yet to touch down in L.A without thinking about all the drama that went down when I was on that team – especially since the fans loved to use the Lillards against me while heckling.

“Would it make your stay a little easier if I came?” Evie had asked yesterday morning, after our long talk in bed.

It took a good minute for me to answer because on instinct, my tongue refused to admit that I needed anyone for anything. Even after I’d proven to myself that I was no good without Evie – that my body physically ached when it wasn’t near hers – I refused to just flat-out say that I wanted her to come.

That I would be happier if she did.

But eventually, I fought myself for long enough to utter the words, “I’d like if you did.”

“Cool. Then I will,” Evie had smiled breezily, completely unaware of the fact that my body had just gone to war with itself to give her that five-word response. It was honestly ridiculous, and I recognized that. For so long, I’d trained myself to function just fine without relying on anyone but myself.

But now that I’d had a taste of Evie’s brand of warmth and comfort, there was no going back.

“Maddox. You know they’re going to go harder than usual, considering this is your first time back since you punched their captain in the face,” Iain said, reminding me of that home game a few months ago.

Cody Bryce had said something about how Pattie was rolling in her grave over what a piece of shit I was. I responded by throwing a fastball high and inside, damned near skimming his fat mouth. He stormed the mound, I clocked him in the jaw and a few days later, I was covering my bruised ankle with Keira’s makeup, in a car that would eventually take me to meet Evie.

That night had been only months ago but it felt like well over a year at this point, because I could barely remember what my life was like before this contract –before knowing Evie.

“She’s tough as nails, Iain. I promise you she can handle whatever the L.A crowd has to say to her,” I said.

“You better hope so, Drew. After that story in the tabloids about her family, the last thing you need is for one more drama to explode in her face and chase her away.”

“Have a little faith in her, Iain,” I said, a grin on my lips as the car pulled up to the stadium. “I promise you she isn’t going anywhere.”

EVIE

After my final meeting on Wednesday, I caught an afternoon flight into Los Angeles. And pretty shortly after touching down, I realized that Drew hadn’t been exaggerating in his warnings to me about L.A.

“Hey! Fuck the Empires!” some guy in the airport yelled at me with a big grin, inspiring someone else to pipe up.

“Fuck Drew Maddox!”

Jesus.

I was pretty sure I was getting recognized more here than I was at home. Thankfully, there was a lot less walking to do in L.A than in New York, which meant that for the rest of the day, I was pretty much hidden in the safety of a car. I was even able to enjoy a little bit of shopping and a solo lunch in relative peace and quiet.

No one called out at me, but I did have a pretty bad case of the giggles because Drew would not stop checking in on me.

DREW: Hey. What are you up to?

ME: Pretty much the same as when you checked in on me twenty minutes ago silly

DREW: Hey a lot can change in 20 minutes. We lost the World Series last year in a matter of 20 minutes

ME: Fair enough. Though I should say no one has said anything to me since leaving the airport

DREW: Paparazzi?

ME: Not that I can see

DREW: Good

Tags: Stella Rhys Irresistible Romance
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