Page 129 of Challenge Me

*****

I was still thinking about that dinner while I stared up at the ceiling in my hotel room. Avery was blown away but not surprised. She’d always believed in me more than anyone else, and she agreed that staying exactly where I was would be the best move.

My phone buzzed, so I grabbed it from the nightstand and sat up.

Trav: You should take it, obviously. That’s more than I got this year

Me: You’re still signing as a rookie. You’ll get double when the team has to fight to keep you.

Trav: It’s not about the money. I’ll turn down any offer the Braves make once I’m free because I don’t want to stay in Georgia. You want to stay where you’re at, so it’s not even a discussion

Me: You’re right.

Trav: Then what’s eating at you?

Another text came in, this time from Shawn. My heart sped up, and I had to get to my feet.

Shawn: You need to contain this. Now.

I navigated to the link he’d sent, which brought me to a brand-new piece by the wicked witch, as Mal and Remi had taken to calling her. Putting a hand over my mouth, I started the video.

“A concerning development comes to you today,” Clara said. She was seated in her studio with one leg crossed over the other casually, as if she didn’t dedicate her life to tearing good people down. “A source who has been extensively vetted says that he was threatened at gunpoint by Mr. Keane. For those of you just tuning into these stories, Remi Keane is the somewhat mysterious boyfriend of Red Sox third baseman Amir Darya. Our source is here to comment on his experience and hopefully shed light on who Mr. Keane really is.”

Gunpoint? Fucking hell.

The camera panned to a man with blond hair who wore a pea coat, dark jeans, and square-toed shoes that made him look polished. He was lean and had sophisticated features, aside from the bruising around his nose and a bandage on the bridge of it. I couldn’t imagine him as an acquaintance of Remi’s.

“Thanks for having me on your show.” His voice was deep and smooth. Too smooth, though I didn’t know what I was basing that on. I had a bad feeling, and maybe it was because I wanted to give Remi the benefit of the doubt, and if I did that, this guy had to be bad news.

“Mr. Allen, will you tell us about your relationship with Mr. Keane?”

“Sure. We go way back to college, actually.”

“At Harmon University in Seattle?”

“Yes.”

“And this was a romantic relationship, right?”

“We dated off and on for years. It’s been about two since we were last involved with each other.”

“Will you speak on his character? I know that we all have a ton of questions.”

“Remi . . .” He blew out a breath. “He’s not a bad guy, but he’s troubled. His past is spotty, and I think that contributes to who he’s become. He spent six years in foster care, with all sorts of characters that were . . . not good to him, let’s say. He left at sixteen and ran to Seattle to start a new life.”

“That’s a very sad story,” Clara said, putting on a pitying expression. “What led to your breakup, and also to these threats against you?”

“Well, his best friend is a bad influence on him. He’s controlling and likes to put ideas into his head. He was in the system, too, so they bonded over that, I guess.”

“His friend Oliver Bennett, correct? I attempted to speak with him, but he wasn’t interested in commenting.”

“He wouldn’t be. He’s sort of strange, probably screwed up in the head. Anyway, he didn’t like me, so he turned Remi against me. After I saw your story about him, I wanted to come and check in. I called first, and I got the impression that something was off. I still care about Remi, you know. I want what’s best for him.”

“But he turned you away.”

“Aggressively.” He touched the purple skin next to his nose. “He attacked me when I went to see him yesterday.”

“Did he say anything to you?”