Throwing Love #2 (Throwing Love #2) (6 page)

“Look, Emmi, I have to go.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Something came up and I have to
go.” He got up from the table, leaving his coffee untouched.

“Bennett, what's wrong?” I was
following him to the door, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Everything was so great when we left the bedroom and now he wasn't even
responding to me. “What happened? Who was on the phone and why are you so
upset?”

He turned to me. “Emmi, I'm
sorry. I have to go.” He turned from me and opened my front door, leaving my
apartment.

Chapter Ten

I stood there shell shocked,
unable to process what had just happened in the last 10 minutes. Had I done
something wrong? Had he done something wrong? What had he meant when he said it
wasn't his fault? My mind was swimming again, but this time it wasn't with
images of sex and Bennett. I was now plagued with a million thoughts on what
that phone call could have been about.

I returned to the table and sat
down in front of my coffee. I stared across the table at the mug he had left
behind. He had just gotten up so quickly and without a care about what I was
feeling or thinking. What could have upset him so much that he would behave in
that manner, especially after what happened between us in the bedroom?

Still hungry, I sipped at my
coffee, perplexed by my afternoon. I had a meeting at the paper later on that I
would have to fit into my now absent schedule. I had expected to spend the day
with Bennett and that totally blew up in my face.

I looked at my phone and
considered sending Bennett a message. Shouldn't I see if he was all right and
ask him what was going on? We were so fresh that I wasn't sure if I would be
stepping over any lines. Maybe I wasn't the one that he wanted to talk to about
this. Maybe he had someone else in his life that he felt more comfortable
talking to when he was upset. Could I really blame him? We had just met. But I
knew if I were in trouble, I would go to him and at least seek his opinion.
Well, Connie, too...but that was a given. Guys were different, though, and I
had no idea if he was in trouble or not. It could be nothing, right? Right?!

I took a deep breath and released
it slowly. There was no point in hashing it out in my head; I needed to get on
with the rest of my day. I might as well get ready for the meeting.

I wouldn't message Bennett
– I would wait until he contacted me first. I had no idea what was going
on, but I would find out eventually when he was ready to tell me. If I pushed
him too hard, I could end up pushing him away. He clearly didn't want to talk
about it at that moment since he literally walked out of my apartment without
so much as an explanation. I wasn't even sure if I should be mad at him because
of that. He had seemed so upset and distraught that it was hard to think badly
of his behavior. I just wished I knew why he felt that way. I had no idea what
had happened, so it was impossible for me to help him.

I would have to give him his space
and let him come to me with an explanation for his behavior. He was pretty
upset with the phone call, so he certainly didn't need me meddling in his
personal affairs when we had basically just started dating a week ago.
Sometimes when people tried to help others, it just made the situation worse.
That would be likely in my case, so it was best to just leave him alone for a
bit. Hopefully it wouldn't be long before he contacted me and explained.

I just wanted to focus on the
time we had spent together and not have to worry about anything else.
Everything between us was fine and we were going to be okay, despite whatever
was going on during that conversation – I just had to have faith. He had
been so happy to see me and so genuine about wanting to work things out, I
couldn't let anything get in the way of that – including my overactive
imagination. I was certain that his call had nothing to do with our
relationship, but in the wake of the article it just left me feeling uneasy.

That was why I had to start focusing
on only the good things instead of worrying about the bad. We were more than
okay.

We had certainly been more than
okay in my bedroom. Wow, just thinking about how he had made love to me made me
want to do it all over again. My cheeks grew hot as I remembered the way he
touched me. There were gentle moments, as well as the rougher, aggressive
moments and both were very appealing. Then when he entered me, it was like the
rest of the world disappeared and that feeling was amazing. In that moment, just
having him there with me had been incredible. I wanted many more years of
moments just like that one.

We had left my bedroom in such bliss;
the feelings had just been so amazing and incredible.

I finished off the rest of my
coffee and headed to the shower. I had the quickest shower of my life and then
tied my damp hair in a bun. I dressed quickly and went back to the kitchen. I
grabbed a bottle of water and a protein bar and headed out the door. I needed
to get to the meeting for the paper and see what my next assignment was. I
hoped there was no more drama in my future – that was all I asked.
Whatever the paper had in store for me surely would be something that would
keep my mind off of Bennett for a while. Focusing on something else was exactly
what I needed.

Chapter Eleven

I was planning on getting
something scrumptious after my meeting. The protein bar just wasn't cutting it
and I didn't get the chance to grab food with Bennett. Thinking about food with
Bennett made me a little sad.

I parked at the college and
headed towards the building doors. The meetings were always in the office. I
walked into the room and saw I was the last to arrive – probably not the
best thing. Ahhh, well.

“Emmi, welcome. How was your
day?”

I thought it was an odd question
and the way she said it sounded loaded. She had a weird look on her face that I
couldn't quite read. Something was up, and I hoped it had nothing to do with
me.

“My day was okay...and yours?”

“Have you heard the news?”

“News? What news?” I asked,
alarmed. It was clear that something had happened recently that I had totally
missed. I hated missing the latest gossip, and I didn't like the fact that
everyone knew but me. This was my job after all, and I hated being out of the
loop.

“You seriously don't know? Isn't
Bennett back in town?” Rebecca threw out.

“Rebecca, relax,” my editor,
added.

I rolled my eyes at Rebecca.
“Bennett being in town is hardly news.”

Rebecca smiled. “That's not the
news, and I'm surprised that you don't know what's going on.”

I was becoming increasingly
annoyed. Especially because Rebecca was implying that I had been with Bennett
and was still clueless. Maybe I was. The news obviously involved Bennett in
some way and I had no idea why he would be involved in “news.” And then it
occurred to me.... the phone call. No. There was no way that they had any idea
about that phone call, there was just no way. At least I hoped not.

I sighed deeply. “Okay, is
someone going to tell me what is going on? Because I'm clearly out of the loop
on something and I'm dying to know what it is.”

My editor spoke up next, “Bennett
Thomas was suspended off of his team. He can no longer play for the Long Island
Stingrays.”

My mouth dropped open. “What?
What are you talking about? Why?”

“Well apparently there was an
incident that happened in high school involving Bennett. It's quite the
scandal, actually, and it was just announced today.”

“Well that's what I get for going
home to rest.”

Rebecca snorted. What was her
problem? She couldn't possibly be mad at me because she was stuck writing fluff
pieces. Next time do your proper research, girl, and we won't have an issue.

“What incident?”

“He was caught cheating. The word
is that he put tar on his baseball to get a better grip.”

The room was completely silent
around me. You could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was waiting on edge to see
my reaction. They knew that I was involved with Bennett despite the article
that was printed about our relationship. They all couldn't believe I didn't
know. Why didn't I know? That was clearly what the conversation had been about
while he was on the phone. So why hadn't he told me? Especially since he knew
an announcement would be made. I would obviously find out about it, so why not
tell me himself? It just didn't make sense and it annoyed me to no end. I
didn't like coming in there and be made to look like a fool because everyone
else seemed to know that the guy I was dating was suspended but me. It was
ridiculous.

“That's impossible,” I said finally.

“Maybe not.”

“Bennett doesn't cheat.”

“Well, the league is looking into
it now, but unfortunately, he will be suspended until the allegation is either
proven correct or not.”

“Oh my God, I can't believe this.
It's just so awful.”

“Well, that's the news anyways.
We will have to wait and see what happens. Obviously we hope that the
allegations aren't true, but that's where Bennett is at for now.”

I couldn't believe what I was
hearing. I felt so terrible for Bennett. He must be losing his mind right now. But
I was also a little pissed because I couldn't believe he didn't tell me. Did he
not trust me or was I just someone he felt like he couldn't talk to me about
these things. If anyone, I would be the one person that could understand what
he was going through. If I lost my career in sports, I would be devastated.
It's something a player covets and wants to keep forever. He must be devastated
at the fact that he was suspended, and for how long? What would he do?

I felt my heart plummet to my
chest. I was at a loss for words – it was all just so much to take in.

I suddenly looked at the editor.
“I hope you don't expect me to cover the story because I won't.”

“I'm sorry, Emmi, but you do have
to cover the story. You don't have a choice and for the record, you don't get a
say in the articles you write. I'm the editor and right now you are the sports
writer. I understand you have some conflict here, but you are a professional,
after all, and you are the one that chose to date Bennett.”

“You can't be serious? Why can't
you get someone else to write it? I don't care if you even have Rebecca write
it, just not me.”

Rebecca's eyebrows rose. She
looked hopefully at the editor.

“Rebecca is being punished and
her punishment stays. You will write the story, Emmi, and it better be
unbiased.”

“I think that's very unfair. You
are putting me in a very difficult situation.”

“No, Emmi, you did that all on
your own. I have a paper to run here and I need the best writer on this story
and that happens to be you. It's nothing personal.”

“It's not personal? You have to
be kidding me.”

I wasn't sure if I was being
attacked because I was in a relationship with Bennett or if she was just
warning me, but I didn't like it either way. I was being put in a situation I
really didn't like. I wasn't going to bother clarifying the situation, I
obviously didn't have a say in the matter. I couldn't have been more upset, but
this was my job. I might as well get used to having to do difficult projects. I
wasn't sure how I was going to do this one, especially since Bennett hadn't
even talked to me about it, but I would have to do my best.

“Fine, I'll do it.” I turned on
my heel and walked out of the meeting without another word.

Chapter Twelve

That night, I had a full pot of
coffee brewing. I hated the fact that I was writing the story and I wanted it
over with as soon as possible. The entire time I was writing it, I felt sick to
my stomach. I was drinking coffee by the cup, trying to stay focused on the
project, and it wasn't helping the fact that I felt ill. But I needed it at
that moment.

I started off the project by
doing some research. I wanted to see what the league and Bennett's coach were
saying about the situation and whether Bennett had given a quote at that time.
Everything I read was so negative and it made me feel that much more terrible
for Bennett and what he was going through. I couldn't imagine going through the
same thing, and I wondered what my dad would say about the whole thing. He
surely would have heard about the incident and I wondered if I should call him
for his opinion.

I wanted to get as much
information in the story as I possibly could before I had to call Bennett. I
hated bothering him, and I was sure he was going to be equally unimpressed that
I was writing the story. I had still not heard from him, which I thought was
pretty weird, all things considered. I would have to talk to him about the
story and I wasn't sure how that conversation was going to go. I hoped it
wasn't going to jeopardize the growing relationship that had been going so well
just that afternoon.

I worked on the article
tirelessly for hours, trying to tweak things as best I could. I hoped I could
finish it without ever having to contact Bennett, but I just didn't have enough
information. I also had to continuously correct paragraphs as I found I was
being biased. How could I not be? I couldn't imagine that the story was true,
but yet here we were. I had to remain neutral and found that very difficult to
do.