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She blinks. “Your PR agent?”
I nod. “She wants me to show the Lonestars fanbase that I’m invested in the city and the team.” Which is a load of crap. Theonly thing I’m invested in is my career. It’s the only reason I’m here.
“Oh. Got it.” She bites the inside of her cheek—a nervous tick she’s had for as long as I can remember. I’ve always thought it was cute.
Just like that, I’m an eighteen-year-old guy again, admiring his best friend’s little sister as she walks down the staircase in her house, wearing a curve-hugging black gown, on her way to senior prom with that prick, Augie Olsen.
That night hadn’t been the first time Carlee’s beauty robbed me of breath. As a kid, she’d been gangly and awkward, but things changed the summer before her freshman year. Curves replaced her scrawny frame. Her braces were removed, and her features matured into symmetrical feminine lines that the world’s most lucrative models would envy. Carlee was a stunner, and I wasn’t the only guy who’d noticed.
Carter spent a significant amount of our sophomore year scaring the shit out of any guy who so much as looked twice at Carlee when she started high school. I kept my mouth shut, but I made sure I was always at Carter’s side when he doled out the not-so-thinly-veiled threats. Between the two of us, we painted a formidable picture, and no one dared to go against Carter’s orders and pursue Carlee.
Until senior year.
Looking back, I suppose Augie thought Carter’s threats weren’t as scary with only one month left of school. He’d asked Carlee, who was only a junior, to senior prom. And much to my annoyance, she’d said yes.
I’d waited for Carter totalkto Augie—fully expecting the pretty boy would retract his invitation, but my best friend failed me. I think that was the only time I was ever truly angry with Carter. An asshole like Augie shouldn’t be allowed within five feet of Carlee. She was the sweetest, most genuine personI’d ever met. Her kindness knew no bounds. Someone as self-centered as Augie didn’t deserve her.
But neither did I.
I’d grown up with Carlee, admiring her kindness and genuine heart. Even on my darkest days, when my father was particularly brutal after a night of binge drinking, she was the person I could always rely on to put a smile on my face. The girl who made me believe I wasn’t a “worthless piece of shit”. Not even Carter or his parents could turn my mood around the way the youngest member of the Jones family did.
Hell, the best gifts I’ve ever received were the hand-drawn birthday cards Carlee gave me every year until I left for college. The personalized cards reminded me that someone cared about me even when I was a surly, broody teenage boy who thought the world was out to get him.
So, when I was standing there at the base of the staircase and saw Carlee’s beauty on display for someone who wasn’t me, it hit me hard… I had feelings for her. At the time, I thought I might’ve even loved her.
Knowing I wasn’t good enough, I should have kept my distance. If I had, who knows? Maybe she wouldn’t be looking at me like I’m a stranger in this dimly lit bar. Or like she’d rather chew broken glass than speak with me.
Joshua’s head has been swinging back and forth as Carlee and I talk. When neither of us goes to end the silence that’s settled between us, he says, “Well, I’m sure the fans are going to be stoked when they learn you’re already in town. If you want to work out with someone in the off-season, let me know.”
“Aren’t you going to Singapore?” Carlee asks.
“Oh. Right. Yeah.” Joshua rubs the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. “But I can come back early,” he tells me. “If you want to work out, I mean.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him I’m not interested when Carlee says, “Don’t hold your breath, Joshua. Corey prefers to do things alone. Isn’t that right, Corey?” If her tone didn’t reveal the dig, the sharp glint in her eye does.
Carlee Jones still hates me after all these years. It’s my fault, but I can’t deny it stings. There’s no one’s opinion I value more in this world than hers. Not that she would believe that.
Still, I can’t let her comment slide. “That sounds great, Joshua. Thanks.” I reach out a hand.
He takes and shakes it with a disbelieving exhale. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. I’ll tell the team’s trainers to reach out when they give me my training schedule. I’ll make sure they include your needs in the plans.” Gary’s already told the Lonestars I want to work out with their staff in the off-season to help acclimate to the team. I don’t need the extra help, but it’s all part of his plan to endear me to my new teammates and management.
“That’ll be awesome. Thanks, man.” Joshua is, once again, all smiles. “I’m gonna go tell the guys.” He strides away, sparing no thought to the game of pool he’s left behind.
“Want to play?” I ask Carlee, moving to the row of cues hanging on the wall. I take the first stick and grab a cube of chalk to rub on the end. I move to stand at the long edge of the table and motion towards the racked balls. “You can break.”
Carlee stares at me with her mouth agape.
I use the opportunity to take in the twenty-seven-year-old again, and I’m just as affected by her beauty as I’d been as a teenager. Her outfit is more risqué than anything she’d wear as a kid, but she owns it. Her tall heels make it so she doesn’t have to tilt her head back to meet my eye, and it’s impossible not to think how easy it would be to lean down and kiss her.
Not that she’d let me do that.
Not after how I acted the last time.
“Are you trying to catch flies in your mouth?”
Carlee snaps her mouth closed. Her eyes narrow. “Seriously, Corey?”
