Changing the Game

Not this time.

She threw herself back into her office project, until her phone rang. She picked it up, surprised to hear Dedrick Coleman on the line.

“Dedrick, how are you?”

“Fine, Elizabeth, and you?”

“Great, thanks. What can I do for you?”

“You can possibly become my agent, if you’re interested.”

Wow. Was it going to be a good day or what? “Definitely interested. Is your contract up with your current agent?”

“Yeah. The guy is a dumb-ass. Overlooked some clauses in my last contract and tied me up with a few things that made me pretty unhappy.”

“That’s not good.”

“I’ve given him his thirty days so he knows I’m looking. Can we talk?”

“Certainly. What does your schedule look like?”

“Well, you can see our game schedule if you look it up. Problem is, my grandparents are flying in on Saturday for this big anniversary party we’re planning for them, and I’d like to get this settled one way or another as soon as possible. I don’t want it weighing on my mind with my grandparents being here and Shawnelle breathing down my neck about it. She’s already stressed enough about the party.”

“I understand. My calendar is clear the next few days. You just let me know when you’d like to meet.”

“We have a day game tomorrow. Can you come to the game? Shawnelle would love to see you, and we can go somewhere right after, have a chat, and hopefully get things ironed out.”

“Uh, Dedrick, I assume you know I’m not seeing Gavin anymore.”

“Yeah, believe me, we all know about that. He’s been moping around the clubhouse ever since you dumped him.”

“I didn’t dump him.”

“Whatever you say, honey. Look, I like you. Your shit with Gavin is between the two of you. I just want a good agent, and I think you’re a good agent. But if you think there’s a conflict because me and Gavin are friends . . .”

“I didn’t say that. I can meet with you after the game.”

“Shawnelle would be disappointed if she didn’t get to see you. You aren’t going to cut off your friendship with her just because of you and Gavin, are you?”

Now that he said it, it sounded petty of her. And selfish. “Of course not.”

“Good. I’ll leave a ticket for you at the box office, and I’ll see you after the game tomorrow afternoon.”

“That sounds fine, Dedrick.”

“And thanks for agreeing to do this on such short notice.”

“It’s no problem at all. I’ll see you then.”

She hung up, laid her phone down, and sat in her chair. Well, hell. She was hoping to avoid the Rivers—and seeing Gavin—at least until she could get her riotous emotions under control.

No such luck. She was going to have to suck it up. No way was she passing up on the chance to pick up another new client just because she might see Gavin.

Besides, he’d be out on the field. She’d be in the stands. It was unlikely he’d even be aware she was there.

IT WAS UNSEASONABLY HOT IN THE STANDS. SHE’D much prefer to be in the owner’s suite, where it was shady and airconditioned.

Then again, there was nothing like seats behind the dugout as far as the best view. And hanging out with Shawnelle and Haley again was wonderful. She’d missed her friends, and their excitement at seeing her again made her feel warm and gooey inside.

“We were afraid you had dumped us just because you fired Gavin and broke up with him,” Haley said.

Ah, nothing like the brutal honesty of youth. “I would never do that.”

“You haven’t been around,” Hayley said.

“I’ve been really busy.”

“Busy avoiding us and Gavin. You weren’t planning on hanging out with us anymore,” Shawnelle said.

“That’s not true.”

Even though that’s exactly what she’d planned to do. Now that she was here though, she was ashamed of herself for even thinking it. So what if she and Gavin weren’t together anymore? That didn’t mean she couldn’t have spa days with Shawnelle and Haley or have lunch with them or even go out for drinks and dinner once in a while.

She’d gone her whole life without girlfriends. And then she’d found a few in Shawnelle, Haley, and even Jenna. She didn’t intend to close herself off just because all of these women were in some way connected to Gavin.

She’d have to deal with it. And so would he.

It was nice to be at a Rivers game again. This was her home team since she’d moved to Saint Louis ten years ago, and she wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. Of course as an agent, she wasn’t supposed to have an allegiance to any professional team since she represented so many players from so many different teams.

But no one had to know the Rivers were her favorites, did they?

She ate a hot dog, had a soda, and enjoyed catching up with Haley and Shawnelle.

“Where are the kids, Shawnelle? I thought they’d be at the game today.”

“They came to the last day game, but they’re at the pool with my mom and dad today, while Dedrick’s parents get the house ready for his grandparents arrival. It’s one big coordinated effort for their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary.”

“Awww, that’s sweet. And how nice of you to throw a party.”

“Dedrick loves his Gamaw and Paw-Paw. They were instrumental in helping him go to college, so he feels like he owes them. And they’re just so damn proud of him.”

“It’s nice to have that kind of family support, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.”

“And how about you, Haley? How have you been?”

“Great. Enrolled in school for the summer semester, and excited as hell about taking classes.”

“Good for you. Settled on a degree program yet?”

Haley grinned. “I want to teach. Elementary education.”

Elizabeth reached for Haley’s hand and squeezed it. “I can so see you as a teacher. That’s wonderful.”

Shawnelle nodded. “I told her she’d make a great teacher. She’s incredible with my two kids. She has more patience than I do.”

Haley laughed. “It’s always easy when they’re not your kids. You don’t have to keep ’em. But I do love children. Always have.”

Shawnelle nudged her. “Ready to have one of your own?”

“Nope. Not ’til I finish school. I’m still too young. Not ready to settle down and have a family yet. I have goals.”

“And maybe you also want to stick it to your family and home town?” Elizabeth suggested.

Haley arched a brow. “Maybe just a little.”

“Ahh, there’s nothing like a little vengeance to stir the juices of motivation,” Shawnelle said.

Elizabeth laughed. She knew all about that. Her family might never know what she’d amounted to, but she knew, and that’s all that mattered.

As the game got under way and the Rivers took the field, Elizabeth’s gaze was riveted to Gavin. She swore she wasn’t going to pay attention to him, but how could she not when she loved him?

As he stretched out to catch practice balls at first base, she sighed. She knew every inch of that man’s body, and it was absolute perfection. His uniform clung tight to his muscular thighs and stellar ass, and his biceps bulged out underneath his shirt as he pulled the ball from his glove and threw it to second base.

Shawnelle smoothed her hand over Elizabeth’s back. “You miss him.”

She nodded. “I do.”

“Then fight for him.”

She shook her head. “I tried. It’s over.”

“Who walked out, you or him?”

“I did.”

“Has he been trying to contact you?”

“Yes.”

“And you won’t let him.”

“No.”

“Then bullshit. If you still have this much feeling—and I know you do because there are tears you’re trying not to shed—then it’s not over yet. Whatever it is that he fucked up, and God knows men fuck things up all the time, give it another try. If he hasn’t given up, then why have you? It’s obvious you love him, honey.”

Tears blurred her vision, and she blinked, swiping at the ones that broke free. “It’s complicated.”

Shawnelle laughed. “Honey, love is always complicated. If it was easy, there’d be no fun when you win at the end.”

“What Shawnelle says is true, Elizabeth,” Hayley added. “There are so many pressures on a relationship sometimes. Often it’s outside stuff that has nothin’ to do with the two of you that gets thrown into the mix and can muck things up. Wade through it all, and focus on what’s important. If you love him and he loves you, isn’t that what’s really important? The rest of it’s just fluff.”

Elizabeth inhaled a shaky breath, feeling as if she were balancing on a high wire with no net underneath her.

Maybe she was being too stubborn, or too afraid. Maybe she should talk to Gavin and figure out if there was anything between the two of them. Maybe he was afraid, too. He’d come to her, had tried to talk to her, and had apologized. She hadn’t given him much of a chance. She’d decided his apology wasn’t good enough, had cut him off and walked out. That had been her fear and her anger preventing communication. So maybe she owed him—owed them both—another shot at this.

“Thanks, both of you. I’ll give it some thought.”

Shawnelle smiled and squeezed her hand. “That’s good enough. Now dry your tears, and let’s root these boys on to a win.”

Elizabeth did exactly as Shawnelle suggested. She shoved Gavin to the back of her mind and focused on the Rivers. By the seventh-inning stretch the Rivers were up by three runs, and Elizabeth was relaxed and into the game.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special announcement. One of our Rivers players has asked that instead of singing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ during the seventh-inning stretch tonight, he be allowed to take the mic and ask a question.”

The crowd went silent. Elizabeth frowned and turned to Shawnelle and Haley. “What’s going on?”

Shawnelle shrugged. “No clue.”

Haley shook her head.

“Would Elizabeth Darnell please stand up?”

Oh, shit.

Shawnelle elbowed her. “Stand up.”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Go on, stand up.”

She shook her head again. Vehemently.

Shawnelle and Haley both shoved her, then the people around her started clapping and yelling and pointing her out. She had no choice. She stood, and suddenly her face was beamed up on the giant JumboTron screen.

Oh, hell.

Then Gavin climbed up on top of the dugout, much to the raucous delight of the fans. He waved his hands down and the cheers subsided.

He found her in the stands and turned his attention on her.

“Elizabeth, you know the last time we talked things didn’t go so well.”

Good God, he had the mic in his hands, and everyone could hear what he said.

“And that was my fault. This time I hope I can be a little more eloquent.”

He wasn’t playing to the crowds. He was looking right at her. He came down off the top of the dugout and Shawnelle pushed her. She went to him and met him in the aisle.

He took her hand, and when she saw him swallow, she knew he was as nervous as she was. That gave her comfort.

“Elizabeth, I love you. I’ve loved you for a while now, but I was afraid to say it. Maybe I was afraid you wouldn’t love me back. But I’m not afraid anymore, and I need you to understand that. So I figured the only way to get you to believe me was to tell you in front of forty-five thousand people.”