Down the Line (Sports Romance)

by Cheryl Douglas

  “Rumor has it you dumped your fiancée for cheating on you.”

  Ethan wasn’t surprised the word was out. He’d noted and ignored dozens of social media posts on his phone. “What if I did?”

  “You’re not going to use Grace again.” Joel stood taller, obviously trying to look more intimidating. But Ethan had four inches and thirty pounds on him, and he sure as hell wasn’t backing down. “I won’t let you.”

  Ethan chuckled. “I think it’s funny, you thinking you could stop me from doing any damn thing I please. Dude, reality check. I call my own shots.”

  “Then you admit it,” he said, stepping closer to Ethan. “You just plan to use her to—what? Soothe your hurt pride, inflate your ego?”

  “If I were you, I’d back the hell up,” Ethan warned, holding up his hand. “If you don’t, you could lose a few teeth.”

  “You think I’m afraid of you?”

  Ethan laughed. “If you were smart, you would be.” He pushed off Gracie’s car. “I gotta go get a workout in. You have a good day, Doc.”

  “I’ve got my eye on you,” he warned. “I’m not going to let you get too close to Grace.”

  Ethan looked over his shoulder. “Like there’s anything you could do about it.”

  * * *

  “So, you and Ethan?” Ashton tipped his water bottle back as he leaned against the counter. “What’s that about?”

  They’d been friends so long, Grace thought of Ash as a brother, but sometimes he crossed the line and she had to remind him to back off. Like now. Digging into that topic was off-limits.

  “There’s nothing to tell,” she said, checking Ashton’s appointments for the day. He was a personal trainer, which usually kept him busy with clients and out of her hair. “We agreed to try being friends, see how that goes.”

  “You’re both single now,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “For the first time in a long time. It’s obvious the spark is still there. Maybe you should think about, you know, reconnecting with him.”

  “If by ‘reconnect,’” she said, making air quotes around the word, “you mean sleep with him, that’s not gonna happen.”

  “Why not? How many times have you told me he was the best you ever had?”

  She rolled her eyes, lowering her voice. “I’ve had two lovers, Ash. It’s not like I have a huge pool for comparison.”

  “Hey,” he said, spreading his arms, “how many times have I offered to let you take me for a test drive?”

  She laughed, slapping his rock-solid thigh. “Shut up. You and me? That’s just gross. It’d be like doing my brother or cousin or something.” She shuddered.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he joked. “Keep telling yourself that.”

  Grace’s cell phone buzzed, and Bella’s face flashed across her screen. She smiled as she answered. “My girl. How’re the meetings for the new project going?”

  “Forget about work. I talked to my brother this morning and—”

  “Yeah, I did too.”

  “You did? When?”

  “A little while ago. He came into the gym looking for a three-month membership.” She uncapped her water bottle and took a sip.

  “Really? But he has a gym at home. Why would he need to work out there?”

  “No idea.”

  Grace smiled and waved at a couple of regulars who passed the desk. She definitely heard them say Ethan’s name, which meant they’d probably spotted him in the parking lot. Since there were less than seven thousand people in their town, most people knew Ethan, but that didn’t keep them from getting fired up every time he came home.

  “But I’m kind of glad he did. It gave us a chance to talk,” Grace said.

  “You talked? Really?” Bella sounded intrigued. “What did he say? What did you say?”

  Grace laughed. Bella was so nosy. “We talked a bit about the past.”

  “In the gym? With everyone around, listening?”

  “No, we went out to his Jeep.”

  “You did? Oh my God! You were alone with him? Did he suggest that or did you?”

  Grace rolled her eyes. “You’re making too much of it. Nothing happened. We just talked.”

  “And?”

  Knowing she wouldn’t get off the phone until she’d told her BFF every little detail, Grace said, “We talked a bit about the breakup. Joel. Issie. That kind of thing. We agreed to try being friends.”

  “Oh my God! That’s huge. That’s the first step, you know, being friends with him again. I just know if you guys spend some time together this winter, you’ll remember all the reasons you couldn’t live without him.”

  “God, do you have to be so dramatic? I was a kid when Ethan and I were together. Every girl thinks she can’t live without her boyfriend at that age.” She tried to play it off, but she knew what she and Ethan had had was special.

  “Keep telling yourself that,” Bella said. “But you forget, I know you. I saw you and E together back then. I saw the way he treated you. He’s never been that way with any other girl. Like, ever.”

  It did Grace’s heart good to think she was special to him, but she refused to get carried away. He was back in Hillsborough for a few months, taking a break before spring training started in February. That was barely enough time to rekindle a friendship, much less a relationship. Not that she was interested in going there. He’d hurt her once by putting baseball first. He wouldn’t get a second chance to remind her his career was the most important thing in his life.

  “Uh, speaking of your brother, he’s back.” Grace licked her lips and diverted her eyes as he walked through the door. “I gotta go.”

  “Call me back! I want to hear what happened.”

  “Nothing is going to happen,” Grace said, lowering her voice as Ethan approached the desk. “Call you later. Bye.” She hung up and smiled at Ethan. “That was your little sister, trying to pump me for information.”

  “About?”

  “You and me.” She laughed, feeling self-conscious. “I tried to tell her there was no you and me.” She blushed at his half-smile. “Well, there’s a you, of course, and there’s a me, but there’s no us. That’s what I meant.”

  “You’re still cute when you get flustered, you know that?”

  He had no right to call her cute, and she had no business getting all gooey when he did. If only her brain and body would sync up and get the message that this guy was off-limits.

  “Whatever. You still want to get a workout in today?” She stood up to check the equipment. “A few machines are available. You want me to give you a quick tour, show you how everything works?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  She stepped from around the desk, reaching for her water bottle and phone, because free hands around Ethan used to get her in trouble. She’d never figured out how to keep her hands off him. And he’d had the same problem, which prompted her to grab a water bottle from the cooler and a towel from the stack and thrust them into his hands.

  He grinned as though he could read her mind. “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Where do you want to start? Bike, treadmill, or elliptical?”

  “You decide.”

  Ethan waved to a few guys watching them. One congratulated him on their big series win, though Grace was pretty sure Ethan had never seen the guy before, since he was new in town.

  “Okay, let’s start with the treadmill.”

  He jumped on, and Grace felt silly for watching over him. He wasn’t some newbie who’d never worked out before. He practically lived in a gym. He’d have to to maintain that mouth-watering body. Damn it. She was not going there.

  She watched him ramp it up without waiting for her instruction. He started at two and a half miles per hour and continued increasing his speed until he was jogging.

  “So, dinner tonight?”

  Grace was glad she wasn’t the one on the treadmill because that question would have landed her on her ass. “Excuse me?”

  He grinned. “I asked you if you’d like to have
dinner with me tonight. Friends do that, don’t they? Have dinner together?”

  “Well, yeah, but…” When she’d agreed to try the friend thing, she hadn’t realized she’d have to spend time alone with him. And test her willpower. It was bad enough she had to resist chocolate most of the time, but him too? That was too much to ask of any girl.

  “But what? You don’t have other plans, do you?”

  “No, but I have to close up tonight.”

  “What time will you be done? Eightish?”

  Hillsborough was one of those small towns that rolled up the sidewalk at dusk, so unfortunately, working late didn’t mean working that late.

  She nodded. “Yeah, but look at me. I can’t go out to dinner like this.” She normally wore workout attire to the gym, but today she was wearing skinny jeans and flats. She had her gear in the office but hadn’t had time to change yet.

  “No biggie,” he said, uncapping his water. “We can just grab a burger. Gerry’s is still open, right?”

  Gerry’s had been their favorite burger joint when they were dating. Ethan had been pretty fanatical about his diet, but burgers had been his one indulgence. It brought back memories… of how they used to work all those calories off.

  Blushing at the memory, she diverted her gaze. “Um, okay. I guess it couldn’t hurt.” She gestured to the machine. “Look, you probably know how to use all this stuff, so I’ll just leave you to it. Give me a shout if you have any questions.”

  “I do have one question,” he said before she walked away. “Your ex. You sure he knows you’re done with him? ‘Cause I get the feeling he thinks there’s a chance you’re getting back together.”

  She bit her lip. “Yeah, he may think that, but trust me, it’s not happening. I’m done with him.”

  He smiled, wrapping the towel around his neck. “Good to know.”

  * * *

  Ethan had showered and was getting changed in the locker room when Chase called.

  “Hey,” he said to his buddy. “You make things right with your girl?”

  Ethan sincerely hoped so, since they had a child together and Chase had never been able to let his wife go after their divorce. His best friend and teammate was one of the good guys. He deserved a happy ending.

  “I’m out ring shopping right now,” Chase said. “That should answer your question.”

  “I’m happy for you, man,” Ethan said, smiling as he sank down on the wood bench. “For real. That’s great news.”

  “Yeah, but enough about me. I called to see how you were doing. Last time I saw you, no offense, but you were a bit of a mess.”

  “I’m okay. Got a good workout in. That always helps, right? Sweating out the toxins.”

  “Yeah, so you heard from Issie yet?”

  “About eight times, in fact. I finally got sick of it and answered her call.”

  “And?”

  “I told her off. Hopefully she’ll take the hint. But I doubt it. You know her. When she wants something, she doesn’t give up without a fight.” He grabbed a clean towel and wiped the beads of water dripping from his hair onto his face.

  “Yeah. Where are you now? Still at home?”

  “No, I didn’t work out at home. A couple of friends of mine have a gym in town. In fact, you met her. Gracie.”

  Chase chuckled. “Yeah, I may be in love with Jayda, but damn, that girl was hot.”

  “Yeah, she is.” And Gracie’s beauty was effortless. Even without makeup, she was stunning.

  “But wait a minute, I thought you two were on the outs. When she stopped by your place earlier, it seemed like you didn’t want anything to do with her.”

  “Things change.” He thought about how much had changed for him in the last couple of days. He’d broken up with the woman he never should have been with and was going out tonight with the one he never should have left behind. “For the better.”

  “Oh yeah? Sounds like there’s a story there.”

  “I realized I wasn’t really mad at Gracie. I was mad at myself for breaking up with her. I was holding a grudge ‘cause she moved on when I couldn’t. That wasn’t fair. So she moved on. Big deal. She’s done with him now. We’re both single. I’d like to see where it can go.”

  “Wait. What?”

  Ethan knew his friend probably thought he was moving way too fast. But he didn’t know his history with Gracie. She’d been his whole damn world. A guy couldn’t just forget a girl like that.

  “You heard me. I’ll be here for a few months. Might be nice to see if we can reconnect.”

  “By reconnect, you mean you want to sleep with her again.” Chase laughed. “She was that good, huh?”

  Better. “If sex were the only reason, I’d look elsewhere. No, it’s different with Gracie. Being around her again reminded me how much I missed her. We were tight, man. Real tight.”

  “When you say tight…?”

  “She was it for me. The one.”

  He’d never uttered those words about another woman, but with Gracie, they still rang true. And that scared him because their history was long, sometimes ugly, and marred with pain. He’d been the one to hurt her. The one to leave her. Which meant he’d have to be the one to make amends. Somehow.

  “Wow, I had no idea it was that serious. I mean, when you told me a bit about your history, I got that you were in love with her, but are you telling me you were thinking marriage?”

  He considered whether the gym was the best place to have this conversation, but he’d been holding back for so long, he was tired of it. He was ready to be honest. With everyone.

  “The whole nine.” Which was what he’d intended to tell her the summer he came home to find her with someone else. “Damn near killed me when I found out she’d hooked up with that guy. Couldn’t get my head back in the game for nearly a year. I almost screwed up my chances of going pro.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Yeah, well, now you know. So you see why I’d want to explore this thing with her. She’s finally single. So am I. Feels like maybe it’s fate, ya know?” Not that he was a big believer in fate. But hey, if the cosmic forces had decided to align to bring Gracie back into his life, who was he to argue?

  “That’s great, Shaw. It’s good to see you with someone who does it for you. Even over the phone, I can tell you’re way more stoked about her than you ever were about Issie.”

  “I was just going through the motions with Issie.” He felt bad even admitting that aloud, but there was no point in denying the truth anymore.

  “Your phone been blowing up all morning or what? Detes about your breakup are all over social media.”

  “Ugh.” Ethan swiped a hand over his face. “Not what I wanted to hear.” Not that he was surprised. Professional athletes were used to having their dirty laundry aired in public. “But I’ll deal. It’s a good thing it happened during the off-season, at least. I won’t have a microphone shoved in my face every five seconds, with some dumbass reporter asking me how I feel about it.”

  Chase laughed. “Yeah, be grateful for small favors, I guess. You know how these things go. Just lay low for a couple of days and it’ll all blow over.”

  “Let’s hope so.” Ethan didn’t mind being the center of attention for his work on the field, but his personal life was off-limits.

  “All right, I’ll catcha later.”

  “Yeah, maybe you should text me a pic of the ring before you buy it, huh?” Ethan suggested as he stood, tossing the used towel in the laundry bin. “We both know you got no taste.”

  “Ha, I chose Jayda, didn’t I?”

  “I guess.” Ethan smiled. “Good luck, Miller. Let me know when you two set a date. You know I’ll be there.”

  “Damn right you will. Right by my side, I hope.”

  “Are you asking me—?”

  “Yeah, dumbass. Will you be my best man or what?”

  Ethan laughed as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Damn, it felt good to laugh again. To be happy and look
forward to the future. Issie cheating on him was the best thing that could have happened to him. “You know I will.”

  “Cool, thanks, buddy.”

  “You got it. Later, Miller.”

  “Miller?” Ash asked, walking into the locker room. “As in Chase Miller?”

  “Yeah.”

  Ashton had always been a huge baseball fan, so Ethan was used to him gushing over his teammates. When they came to town to visit him occasionally, it was an all-out love fest between the local boys and his teammates.

  “He had an incredible series,” Ash said, hooking a few padlocks onto lockers. “Not that you didn’t.”

  “It’s okay. It’s not a competition.” He stood in the mirror, finger combing his damp hair. Normally he would have opted for a backward ball cap, but Gracie was still there and he wanted to make the extra effort. “As long as we got the result we were going for, that’s all that matters to me.”

  “Speaking of what you’re going for…” Ash looked a little uneasy as he propped his foot on the bench between them. “I, uh, couldn’t help but overhear you asking Grace out earlier.”

  “Yeah? So?”

  They’d been friends a long time and Ethan had never known Ash to have a thing for Gracie, but he’d been gone a while. Things could have changed. Maybe now that she was single again, Ash had his eye on her, which would really suck ‘cause he didn’t want to compete for a woman, especially with an old friend.

  “I know it’s none of my business, but you know Grace and I go way back.”

  “And?” Ethan turned to face him before slamming his locker shut.

  “She was a wreck the last time you dumped her. I don’t want to see her get hurt like that again.”

  So that was the deal? Ash was just looking out for Gracie, not trying to stake his claim? Ethan bit his lip to keep from smiling. “No worries, buddy.” He slapped Ash on the back. “That’s not gonna happen.”

  “Yeah, but what is gonna happen? I mean, where do you see this thing with Grace going? You live in KC most of the year. She lives here. You’re on the road all the time. It’s not really conducive to a relationship.”

  “You’re getting way ahead of yourself,” Ethan said, pocketing his phone. “Do I still have feelings for Gracie? Sure. We have a lot of history. But a lot of time has passed since we were together. We were just kids then. Both of us have changed a lot. Maybe we have nothing in common anymore. But we won’t know that ‘til we spend a little time together, will we? That’s what this dinner is about, getting to know each other again.”