Over the Fence: Lyssa Layne's Baseball Romances (61 page)

“I went home, depressed and tried to find a job where I could sit since my ACL was still tore, it hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. Then one day, my dad came home with MLB scout Earl Floyd. I’d met him before when he’d watched a few of my games. My mom cooked him dinner and I thought it was just a courtesy, tough luck kind of thing. The next morning, Earl stopped by our house again and drove me to the hospital. I was so fuckin’ confused, he told me I was getting that surgery and I would play in the MLB. I still remember his exact words ‘it’d be a shame to lose talent like yours over money.’”

Jace pauses to laugh although I don’t see what’s funny. Noting my expression, he explains, “It’s ironic he said that because in the end, my talent
was
lost because of money. Once I’d healed, I got back to pitching and it didn’t take long to get drafted. I was on top of the fuckin’ world! My dream had come true but there was only one thing I was missing—Colie. I kept hoping that she would show up, come after me, but she never did. Pay days were huge and endorsements were rolling in so I pushed her to the back of my mind and started dating again. Halfway through my first season, Earl came to visit and asked me to do him a solid. I told him, yeah, sure anything. I owed him my career and he knew it. He’d come to collect his payment.”

Jace’s fingers tighten around my thighs, his knuckles turning white and I kiss his cheek, hoping to calm him. He takes a few seconds to compose himself before continuing. “He wanted me to throw a few games. My conscience told me it was wrong but what could I do? I had no choice, I wouldn’t even be in the MLB without him. So I did it, I broke the cardinal sin of baseball. In the beginning, it wasn’t often that he asked and when I complied, I beat myself up, burdened by guilt, and when I’d finally get over it, he’d ask again. At the start of my second season, he was asking more often and I told him I couldn’t do it. He threatened to turn me in to the commissioner if I didn’t oblige so it kept going. Then he was feeling generous and he started giving me ten percent of his earnings. More money, more problems, right?”

I’ve never read any of this on the Internet and I don’t even know how to respond, my mind races with questions but I can tell he’s not finished.

“Bottom line, I got too big for my britches. I became a self-absorbed dickwad who cared about nothing except myself and making money. The scheme got bigger, bringing in other people who can help throw games and then Colie walked back into my life. The second I saw her again, I wanted to change, I wanted us to be the Colie and Jace from Loyola, but that didn’t happen. Yeah, we dated, but I wasn’t the Jace from back then. When I was with her, she was enough and I was content, but when she was on the road with the Aces, it was back to my womanizing ways.” He runs his hands down his face. “God, I was such a fuckin’ douche to her and that I will never be able to forgive myself for.”

He hangs his head in shame because he knows I can’t stand a cheater. And I can’t, except that the man he’s talking about isn’t the man I know. I rub his arm, unsure what to say so I stay quiet.

“Earl got worried that I would let our scheme slip over pillow talk. He threatened to hurt Colie if I ever told her and I would’ve killed myself if he ever had. I made a few comments about what I was doing, mentioning my involvement to a few key people that I knew would talk. Grant Adamson loved Colie as much as I did so I knew it would only be a matter of time before the truth came out. Until it did, I had to keep playing the asshole game, but it was bittersweet knowing that the time I was getting with her was all just for show and that I couldn’t even be the real me.”

Jace closes his eyes and looks away from me to hide his tears. I lean forward and kiss his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

He shakes his head. “Why? I fucked it up. I ruined it for everyone—myself, my parents, Earl, Colie. No one won in this situation except Adamson, who got my girl.”

My stomach drops and I start to pull away. I’m just a Band-Aid, a fill-in for his broken heart. Jace’s hands are on my legs and he looks into my eyes. “Laurel, don’t. Stop what you’re thinking. You asked for the truth and I’m giving it to you. I loved Colie and to some degree, I always will, but that doesn’t lessen anything between us. My feelings for you are genuine and you are nothing like her at all. So just fuckin’ stop.”

His voice is demanding as he pulls me into his lap, holding on to me tightly. “Don’t leave me, Laurel. Please don’t leave me.” The authority in his tone is replaced with his pleading.

I look up into his eyes. “I know you’re a good man, Jace, my daddy was right.”

He smiles and kisses me softly. “There’s more…”

My heart drops to my feet as I brace myself.

“At spring training, I found out that I wasn’t the only guy Earl was working with. I tried to get in touch with a few of them, but of course, no one is going to rat themselves out. I asked Camila for help. If I can get the truth from Earl then the commissioner might hear me out and allow me back in the game. It’s a long shot but it doesn’t hurt to try.”

I lean my head against his chest, trying not to show my disappointment. I just got him, he said he wasn’t going anywhere, but if this works out, he’ll be gone and I’ll just be another notch on his bedpost. I nod my head, trying to show my support.

Jace doesn’t even look at my face as he holds me. “Camila set up the meeting with Earl so I can try to record him but it’s not important any more. I don’t know that I want to play pro ball any more. I’ve got you, Grey, and the team, what do I need the majors for?”

My head pops up as my heart races, I don’t want to say this but I know I have to. “Jace, you have to go to the meeting. MLB was your dream and it was cut too short. The meeting isn’t a guarantee you’ll be allowed back but you can’t pass up the opportunity to find out.” If Jace passes up this meeting for me, it’ll eventually turn to resentment down the road, just like it did for Adam when we got stuck in this town. No way do I want another relationship to falter all because of me.

He sighs. “But what about us? I promised you I’d stay.”

I give him a half smile and kiss his cheek. “We’ll figure it out. I was afraid to leave this town after high school because I had a child and no support from his father. Now that child is a young man and I’ve found someone who can help me raise him, I’m not scared any more. I have you.”

For the first time since he checked his phone, his eyes light up with excitement. Our lips touch and all my anxiety is washed away with his. Daddy said Jace Richards is a good man and I’m trusting him to make the right decision for both of us.

CHAPTER 21

Jace

Laurel’s arms are wrapped tightly around my waist, almost begging me not to go and I don’t want to. I glance at the departures screen, if I head through security right now then I’ll still make my flight, but I’m not sure that’s what I want. When Chuck told me at spring training there were other players working with Earl, I was ecstatic and made it my mission to plead my case to the MLB commissioner and take Earl Floyd down. But now, staring into the eyes of this woman, I’m torn at what I really want.

My passion has always been baseball and more than anything I would love another shot at the majors, not because of the money, but for my love of the game. Then Laurel and Grey Darbis walked into my life and suddenly, my world was tilted off its axis and playing professional ball again would probably mean losing them and I’m not ready for that any time soon.

“Call me when you land.” Her smile is soft and encouraging, but she can’t mask the anxiety in her eyes.

Without hesitating, I blurt out, “I don’t have to go.”

She laughs softly, pushing on her tippy toes to kiss me. When she pulls away, she nods toward the security line. “Yes, you do. Promise me you’ll be careful though.”

Her words and actions aren’t helping any. I’ve never had a woman that’s been concerned for my safety. With Colie, I never let her know I was vulnerable like Laurel does. Laurel’s broken down my big bad walls that I put up to protect myself. She takes care of me, worries for me, and does it in a way that doesn’t make me feel like less of a man. It makes me feel like an equal partner in our relationship, something I’ve never had before. In past relationships, I could never show any insecurities to anyone and it took its toll on me in so many ways.

Letting out a long sigh, I nod and kiss her again, slipping my tongue into her mouth and wishing we were back in bed again, replaying last night’s activities. After our first night together a week ago, I can’t seem to get enough of her, and not just sexually, it’s crazy the desire I have to just hold her in my arms.

“I get back in at midnight tonight. I’ll grab a cab, is it okay if I stop by?” Grey will be home tonight but I can imagine after this afternoon, I’ll
need
Laurel to calm my nerves by the time I get back in town.

“I expected it.” She drops her hands, squeezing my ass and grinning at me.

We share one more kiss then I make my way through the security line, glancing back after every turn until Laurel is out of sight. She blows me a kiss and when I walk through the metal detector, that’s when the nerves hit. I board my plane, putting on my headphones and turning on my old pre-game playlist to chill out and get hyped up at the same time. The songs start off mellow with Macklemore, Dave Matthews Band, Florida Georgia Line and by the time the plane’s landing in California, my adrenaline's pumping thanks to the music of Eminem, Rage Against the Machine, and Kid Rock. When I’m finally in a cab, headed to Earl Floyd’s office, I’m in the zone just like when I used to take the mound. I feel fuckin’ invincible and I’m ready to face this asshole.

I know his office all too well and even though it’s been a few years since I walked through these doors, nothing’s changed. The same tacky carpet lines the hallway and framed photos of baseball legends hang on the wall, all of them crooked, not a damn one of them level. It always irritated me before, but it pisses me off now. The man can’t even show respect to the greatest players in the game by straightening out their pictures. I get to the end of the hallway and Earl’s busty secretary stares at me, her jaw almost touches the floor when we make eye contact. The woman is as fake as can be from her tits to her personality, even when she comes, it’s fuckin’ fake, but at the time, I got what I needed so I could’ve cared less about her orgasm.

“Good to see you, too, Suz.” I kiss her cheek as I move quickly around her desk before she has a chance to warn Earl of my arrival.

One deep breath and I push his door open at the same time his phone rings with Suzie’s alert. I walk in like I own the place but his back is to the door. The high back leather chair spins around and Earl’s bald head appears as he says, “Well, well, well, William Walk—” He stops when he sees me, unable to form any more words.

With a cocky grin on my face, I nod my head in his direction. “Surprise,” I say, dropping my voice low and adding a little intimidation to my words. “What’s wrong, Earl? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

The podgy man rises from his chair, straightening out his lapel and moving around the table to me. “Jace, it’s…it’s, well, it is a surprise to see you. How’ve you been?”

I scoff and shake my head. “How the hell have I been? I fuckin’ lost my career thanks to you. Then I had to move in with my parents who hated me even more than before because they’d lost their meal ticket and the woman I loved, that you threatened to hurt, married another man. So, how the fuck do you think I’ve been?” I clench my jaw, my teeth grinding together as I fight the urge to not sock him in the stomach.

Earl rubs his hands together, a familiar habit of his that he does when he’s nervous or has an idea. “Look, Jace, I’m sorry about how things went down. We got sloppy but things have—” He catches himself and stops before he lets the cat out of the bag.

“Things have what? You’ve tightened it up? Tell me, who’s your work horses now?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jace. Once you got caught, I learned my lesson. I don’t do that shit anymore.”

“Fuck you don’t! I know you, Earl, you’re addicted to the thrill of the bet as much as you are the money.” I wave my hands in a circle. “No way in hell you’ve stopped that shit. Now, tell me who’s working for you now because I’ve got shit and I have to start somewhere.”

He rubs his hands together faster before resting them on his pot belly. “You mean you want back in?”

I shrug. “I want to know details before I screw myself over again.”

Earl’s eyes twinkle and just like I said, the thrill excites him and he starts spilling everything. “I’ve got five players now working for me.” He lists off their names, telling me each of their stories and how he got involved with them. One was a kid with a bad attitude, another that was taking care of his five younger brothers and sisters, the third had a girlfriend that was pregnant, and the other two were like me, career ending injuries that only a very expensive doctor could correct. Bile burns the back of my neck as he gloats about how much he’s made off each player.