“Hethinkswe’re having a boy,” Isabelle corrects. “Dr. Jae has been known to steer him in the wrong direction occasionally. What about you? Do you have any children or siblings joining us today?”
“Ah… no. I have plenty of siblings, but none that are here today.”
I almost said,none who would be happy to see me succeed, but I reined in my reply when two smaller children darted into the locker room partway through my reply. One is a girl I’m guessing is around six or seven, and the other is an African American boy with sprouts of black hair springing from his adorable head. He would only be around three, if that.
My eyes bounce between Isaac and Isabelle’s fair faces when Isaac introduces the children as theirs after scooping his daughter into his arms. “This is our daughter, Callie, and our son, Nolan. Callie loves all American sports so we thought we should introduce her to our latest recruit.”
I must do a terrible job hiding my shock because after placing her hands over Nolan’s ears, Isabelle whispers, “They’re ouradoptedchildren, but they are very much ours.”
“Of course,” I stumble out before apologizing profusely.
“Don’t apologize,” Isabelle says with a laugh. “Our mixed-race family are only half the rumors we face every year.” My brow quirks when she leans into my side and whispers, “I’ll never live down the day I arrested Isaac.”
Before half my shock registers on my face, Lindsay pops his head into the locker room to announce it’s time for the press conference to begin.
“Then let’s do this,” Isaac responds, his voice back to its regular tempo. I don’t know what he mutters into Isabelle’s ear while guiding her and his family into the press conference room, but it has her knees pulling together like Summer’s did anytime I whipped off my shirt.
Fuck, I miss her. Her smile. Her smarts. Her beauty. But more than anything, I miss the way she looked at me like I wasn’t the dumb jock everyone thinks I am.
Today, the memory makes me smile. I don’t see it lingering for long, though, especially when I notice who is seated front and center in the press conference room. My father is still hanging around like a bad smell, acting as if today’s record-breaking contract is more compliments to his hard work than Isaac’s agreement to pay my first year’s salary in advance so I could fund Rye’s medical expenses.
If that deal wasn’t agreed upon, I wouldn’t be here.
There are no misgivings to that.
After being introduced to the media contingency as Ravenshoe’s starting pitcher by Lindsay, I answer a range of questions from sports journalist who flew across the country to attend today’s announcement. Most are the standard questions you expect for a professional sportsman, but a handful are more personal.
“What do you plan to spend your first million on?”
“What car are you driving now since your first innings will out-earn your father’s entire salary during his baseball career?”
And the most hurtful.
“Who was the girl you were seen with last month when you called a similar conference as today’s?”
The first two questions are easy for me to answer.
“I’m going to pay off my student loans.”And Summer’s, but I keep that to myself. “For now, I’m still catching the bus to the stadium.” Since that gets them laughing, I quickly answer their third question hoping no one will hear me. “And as for the girl, we’re just friends.”
Ninety-eight percent of the people filling the room miss what I said, but one doesn’t, and she replies in a way I never anticipated. “Friends who fell in love.” Since I am unable to deny Summer’s one hundred percent accurate statement, she steps out from behind the camera streaming every expression crossing my face live across the nation. “But since one of them is so afraid history will repeat itself, he pushed her away instead of trusting her to make decisions right forbothof them.”
Camera flashes go crazy when I mutter, “I trust you, Summer. How couldn’t I?” Her brows stop pulling together in fret that I’m about to once again announce to the world she’s only my friend when I add, “You’re the love of my life, so how could I not trust you? But I don’t want you to lose who you are for me. I’m not worth it.” I thrust my hand at my father. “He wasn’t worth it.”
“Heisn’tworth it,” Summer corrects. “So why are you letting him destroy whoyouare for his own selfish gain?” A collective hiss breaks across the press conference room when she adds, “He is only here, encouraging this deal because if you have tens of millions of dollars or whatever ridiculous amount Colt Enterprises agreed to pay you in your bank account, you won’t go looking for the money the judge awarded you the week after your mother’s death.” My chest heaves when she says on a sob, “She won, Lennox, but he blocked every bit of correspondence from the courts so you’d never know she beat him. She won…” I nod along with her when she murmurs, “… and I’m going to win too. But I’m going to do it with you at my side. I just need you to stop pushing me away because you think it’s the right decision for me. I love you, so all you need to do is love me back. I can take care of the rest. I promise you that.”
Although hearing her say she loves me is the biggest achievement I could ever amass, it doesn’t change anything. There are no good schools in Ravenshoe, and as conceited as this is for me to say, I don’t see her harnessing her feelings for another four years while she finalizes school at Morrison before attending three years at medical school. “I don’t want you sacrificinganythingfor me.”
With half the media shadowing my father’s walk out of the conference room, Summer’s reply is crisp and precise, “I won’t sacrifice anything… because love isn’t a sacrifice. It’s a choice. I choose to love you, Lennox. I willalwayschoose to love you.” I don’t know whether to laugh or call myself an idiot when she murmurs, “And it isn’t like you can’t afford to fly me across the country every weekend for a booty call.”
My eyes rocket to the left when a deep voice pipes up, “We could most certainly help with that.” It’s the business partner Isaac introduced me to earlier. I can’t recall his name, but his offer has a reddish brunette standing at his side peering at him like she’s dying to suck his dick. “We have a fleet of jets at our disposal and two earmarked to be used by the Ravens’ players, so if this is what you want, it won’t be an issue.”
By ‘this’ he means Summer.
When I drift my eyes back to Summer, she nods her head like she has everything mapped out on one of her beloved spreadsheets. “We can do this, Lennox. You just need to trust me to make the best decisions for us.”
“I trust you,” I repeat. “I do. I just…”
I have nothing.
