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More than sex. More than lovemaking. More than he’d ever known before, ever.
“So very okay. Though I may not be able to walk tomorrow.” Her delighted laugh made him open one eye.
“You sound very pleased about that fact, Ms. St. John.”
“Absolutely. There’s so many exciting things to try. I love that we explore everything together.” She let out another laugh. “Well, even though you’ve explored all of this before.”
“Not like this,” he whispered. Not even close.
Sounding drowsy and satisfied, she snuggled closer. “So when can we do that again?”
He fell asleep with that playful question on his mind. As much as he knew he should extricate himself from her embrace and head home, he couldn’t do it. Exhausted and filled with bittersweet bliss, he held her and soon felt her relax into a soft sleep.
This was the fourth date. Only one remained.
Just one fucking date.
A short time later, his phone buzzed, pulling him back to wakefulness. Hating every movement that drew his body away from the warmth of hers, he rolled over and dug his cell out of his pants pocket. Seeing his agent’s name on the Caller ID made his breath catch painfully before he rubbed his hand over his chest and kick-started his heart again.
A call this late could only mean one of two things.
Either he was in—or he was out.
“Hank?” Brutally aware of Jill’s soft sleep sighs behind him, he lowered his voice so as not to disturb her. “What’s up?”
“There are big things on the table, Bryan.”
His throat grew dry. “Oh really? If that’s so, why haven’t you answered my phone calls this week?”
“I was lining up some important meetings for you, and I wanted to wait to speak to you until I could give you the good news.”
Rather than Hank’s statement eliciting joy, dread curdled in his stomach. “What news?”
“First off, how fast can you get back down here?”
Bryan closed his hand around his sore knee, inadvertently squeezing until a jolt rocked him and he let go. “I can’t. My sister’s wedding is next weekend. There’s the rehearsal this week, and we have other family stuff going on.”
Not that Vic would care if he split. From her tone tonight, she’d slotted him into the same category as their parents. Inconsistent and unpredictable, incapable of sticking close through anything other than smooth sailing. Yeah, that had been awesome to hear. He’d been thrilled for his buddies to hear that, too.
And Jill. He’d known Vic wouldn’t necessarily be happy about them being together, but he’d hoped she would come around. Fat chance. She’d probably take bets on him screwing up.
“You obviously haven’t been listening. The Mariners want you back, but only if you can get down here tomorrow to discuss terms. They want proof with their own eyes how you’re doing. Fact is, they have their eye on a restricted free agent, Riley—”
“Yeah, I’ve heard.” Let them have him. But he didn’t say it aloud. He came damn close, though.
“Riley’s young, and they can get him cheaper than you. His team doesn’t have the kind of cash to match the offer, not with the star power the Bucks are bringing on this season. If you don’t get down here now, they’re not going to wait around to sign you. It’ll be over.”
Bryan set his teeth. He couldn’t walk away right now, not after the night he’d spent with Jill. They needed to try to figure some of this crap out, and how was he supposed to do that if he was hundreds of miles away? “Can’t we work this preliminarily over the phone? They know what I can do on the field. Why do I have to prance in their dog and pony show?”
“What you could do pre-injury and post-surgery are two different things. To seal the deal, you need to be on-site, Townsend. Non-negotiable. I told them you had family business going on, but we both know none of that matters as much as this.” Hank paused. “If you want another chance at MVP, this is it. You head north and you’ll end up on a team that’s rebuilding and keeps your ass warming the bench more than on the field. You want serious minutes this season? This is your ticket.”
“What if I come down for a night or two and fly back?”
“It doesn’t work like that. You know this. There will be meetings and press and workouts. All of that takes time, and we have to be amenable to their schedule. Christ, has being up north freeze-dried your brain or what?” Hank laughed. “You don’t sound like the Bryan Townsend who left here ten days ago.”
He didn’t feel like him either. As hurt as he’d been after Vic’s comments, he hadn’t been ready to pack it in with Jill. Especially when she’d given him her keys and shown him by her actions that she wasn’t about to be dissuaded from pursuing things with him.
But that didn’t mean he had any illusions that they could work long-term. Vic had rammed that point home. He never wanted to be the cause of a rift between Jill and her best friend. Vic was Jill’s family. The only family she had left.
