Page 75 of Base Block

“I know that she was reaching out to you. She posted a picture I had taken when you were looking high as a damn kite. I had to work so hard to keep you in line—”

“Why did you care about that post? What difference did it make to you?”

“That little bitch was going to blackmail both of us!” she hissed. “She got into my laptop and found all kids of shit. I don’t want it getting around, not on top of everything else people say about me, so I put a stop to all of it. Mat helped because we’re a couple now.” She blushed, red blotches that spread across her cheeks.

“Oh. Congratulations.” And good luck to him, I thought.

She almost looked happy, which I didn’t think I’d ever seen before. “We’re both quitting next month but Damian doesn’t know. I, uh, cleaned up. Mat helped me with that, too. So I really didn’t need Sage getting into my business.”

“How did you stop her?”

“First I offered…” She glanced at the crowd of fans passing us. “I offered incentives but she told me that she wanted more.”

“What does that mean?” Anara questioned. “Money? Drugs?” She wasn’t whispering.

“Who is this?” Millie asked me.

I didn’t feel like answering. “If incentives didn’t work, what did?”

“Threats, of course. Damian had fired her because he found out that she’d pried a few diamonds out of one of his necklaces.” She met my eyes without blinking, like she was daring me to contradict her. “Sage went back to Sacramento,” she continued after a brief pause. “I had heard that she was trying to make up with her baby daddy so she could see her son. I guess she forgot that I had pictures of her, too.”

“Oh, more blackmail,” Anara said, nodding. “Humans are so manipulative. Vervet monkeys—”

“You should leave Sage alone now,” I told Millie. “Just get on with your life and the rest of us will, too. Leave all this behind you.”

She looked at me and then she nodded. “I’ve been watching your channel. It all seems good.”

“It is,” I answered. “It’s great. I got really lucky when you guys left me at 20 Grand.”

“Indianapolis.” She frowned. “We had to get out of there fast because of the fight in the bathroom. One of those girls had a knife and club security was going to call the police, but Mat had a warrant out of Georgia hanging over him. I couldn’t find you right away and Damian got pissed and said to fuck you, he could get another blonde. We did and…” She paused again. “Sorry.”

“No, I’m glad. It was the best thing that could have happened to me.”

“It seems like it.” She looked over her shoulder. “I better go. I haven’t quit this job yet.” She nodded at me and swiveled to leave.

“Millie,” I called. “I’m sorry that I hid in the stall when you got in the fight at 20 Grand. I didn’t back you up.”

“What?” Now she was the one who seemed confused and then we both heard Damian yell her name. “Whatever,” she told me, and ran.

Anara and I watched her disappear again. “Friends back each other up,” I said. “I’d back you.”

“We’re like cows,” she agreed. “I’ve got you, too.”

We could hear the announcer booming about the kickoff so we forgot about the baby T-shirt for the moment and rushed back to our suite to watch the Woodsmen receive the ball. Then our team in orange went out to start the second half on offense. If was funny that the color didn’t seem as bright as it had before. It had really grown on me.

I held my breath a little as they ran out, but Jory did take the field again instead of Callum for the first series. He seemed to feel ok and I watched his wife breathe out a sigh of her own. Maybe she had talked about taking it easy, but she seemed to feel the nerves, too. It was impossible to avoid them.

For the rest of the half, the two guys traded places at their position and they both did so well, which I could see because Anara let me borrow her monocular. The game ended with a lopsided Woodsmen win and we were enjoying ourselves by that point, sure that they were advancing to the next round. I had an ice cream sandwich and we sat in the suite’s open windows, taking in the beautiful California weather and toasting to the victory.

“So good,” I texted to Callum. “It was stunning.”

He answered after a while. “You are. I’ll see you soon.”

Not soon enough. It was a long flight back to Michigan, although it was an easy one in the private plane. Beau’s friends were all nice and he and I talked for quite a while as Anara slept in the seat next to me. She didn’t seem to mind pregnancy, although I bet she was glad that it wouldn’t last as long as an elephant’s did.

I drove her home before heading to the condo. Maverick wasn’t here tonight, because I hadn’t known what time I would get back and I hadn’t wanted him to be alone for too long. He and I had gone to a session with the trainer that Beau had recommended, and that guy was taking care of Mav tonight. He was ex-military and didn’t mess around, but the part I liked was that he didn’t care if Maverick listened to him. It was only important that the dog listened to me, and he was doing it! Sometimes.

“I’m not afraid of him,” I had told the trainer and for the first time, I hadn’t been lying about that. I wasn’t afraid that Mav would bite me or attack, or somehow get away and kill helpless animals. He did still attack my purse but not when I hid it very well. He hadn’t learned to open doors, which meant that as long as we were careful to keep things in the closets, our shoes were safe.