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“Good.” Carter’s forehead unfurrows and the anger disappears from his expression.
I think I’m hallucinating. Is he smiling? “Good?”
“Yeah. Good.”
It takes me a moment to figure out what just happened. When I do, I growl. “Were you fucking testing me, Carter?”
“Yes, and I’m happy with the results.” Carter brushes an imaginary piece of lint off his shoulder. It takes everything I have not to punch the same shoulder.
“You’re an ass.”
“So are you for not telling me about you and my sister,” he snaps back.
I scratch the back of my head. “She wanted to keep it private.”
“Ever wonder why?”
I sigh. “Yes, but honestly, I was just so happy she was giving me a chance. I didn’t question it.”
“Hm…” Carter tilts his head to the side, watching me curiously. “So, tell me, why did you punch Victor in the face?”
“He was trying to win Carlee back.”
He barks a laugh. “Really? Is that it?”
I clench my jaw. “What’s so funny?”
“You, you idiot. I can’t believe you punched a guy and risked your reputation when you have to know Carlee is crazy about you.”
“How would you know? You said yourself, it’d been ten years.” I’m not an insecure guy, but at that moment, I acted like one.
“Let’s just say I’ve read a diary entry or two,” he replies with a mischievous smirk. “And something tells me that feelings like that don’t just fade away.”
Carlee is going to kill him when she finds out he read her diary. I can’t wait to tell her. I just have to find her first.
The thought makes me frown. “You don’t have any idea where she went?”
“No, but I’m sure she’ll turn up soon. At least, I hope so. I hate to think of her alone right now.”
So do I. Which is why I’m going to do something drastic to make sure she returns from wherever she’s run off to. “I’ve got to do something,” I say without preamble. “Drive me back to Dallas?”
“Aw, man.” Carter tosses his keys in the air, catching them with a gleam in his eye as he takes in my determined expression. “I can tell this is going to be good.”
33
CARLEE
“I’m sosorry about this, Carlee. I wish there was something I could do,” Patti tells me for the tenth time today. My boss, or should I say former boss, had been waiting for me when I got off the elevator thirty minutes ago, flanked by two security guards. All three of them escorted me to the HR department like I was some kind of threat. I’d find it amusing if I didn’t feel so shitty.
I’d scanned the termination letter in a daze, not caring to understand the stuff about insurance coverage and my final paycheck. I’ll have my parents look over the document and tell me what I need to know later. For now, I just want to get my stuff from my office and get out of here before I break down. I’m still a little peeved that this paperwork wasn’t handled with the other documents I was handed yesterday. I would still be holed up in the short-term rental I’d booked out by Rose Hill Lake if Patti hadn’t called.
I wasn’t trying to go off the grid, but I did tell my family I wasn’t interested in talking right now. It’s fortunate Corey is busy with the Houston series. I have a couple of days before I’ll need to tell him what happened. Until then, I want to be alone with my thoughts as I figure out what I’m going to do next.
Just as soon as I get this part of being fired over with.
“It’s not your fault, Patti.” I place a framed photo of me and my brother into the cardboard box I brought with me.
I should’ve known something was up when Patti called me two days ago and told me I wouldn’t be traveling with the team to Houston. I honestly believed it when she said she wanted me and Chris to brainstorm new ideas on how to increase home game attendance. It became clear that was a lie when I walked into our scheduled meeting yesterday afternoon and saw an HR rep waiting to talk to me.
