Fool Me Once (Bad Boy Romance)

by Lexy Parker

  I knocked on the door of my mom’s house before walking in. “Mom?” I called out, not too loud in case she was taking a nap.

  “In here!” she called from the spare room that she had transformed into a craft room.

  I walked down the hall. She was sitting at her desk, her vinyl cutter humming along as it cut some new design she had created.

  “What are you making?” I asked her.

  She smiled. “Some T-shirts for the Bane family.”

  I nodded. When she got sick, she’d needed a way to make money without having to leave the house. She had put her love of crafts to work for her. It wasn’t exactly a lucrative job, but it was a little extra spending money.

  “Oh,” I said half-heartedly.

  “What are you doing here in the middle of the day? Did you get off work early?” she asked.

  I slowly shook my head. “No.”

  She stopped what she was doing and looked at me. “Evie, is everything okay?”

  I shook my head again. “No,” I whispered.

  She got to her feet. “Let’s go get some of that cake I made, and you can tell me what’s going on,” she said gently.

  I nodded, really needing cake in that moment. I sat down at the table while she cut us two pieces, delivering the slices along with two glasses of milk. She sat down and waited, letting me tell my story of woe on my own time.

  “I got fired,” I said, my voice so low I wasn’t sure she would hear me.

  “You got fired!” she shrieked, telling me she’d definitely heard me.

  I nodded. “Yep. Friday. I’ve been hiding out and being a big baby.”

  “Oh dear. What happened?”

  I took a bite of the rich dessert. “Dayton’s people came storming in and said it was our fault the news found out about his arm and where he was. Not ours, mine.”

  “Why would they say that?” she asked, completely bewildered.

  “They asked if I told anyone. I told them I told you.”

  Her mouth dropped open before she narrowed her gaze at me. “You know me well enough to know I certainly didn’t say anything to anyone.”

  I nodded. “I know and I told them that, but they didn’t care. They made Tom fire me or they would sue him and the clinic. Now, they’re only going to sue me, which seems pretty stupid considering they just cost me my job. You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip,” I muttered, using one of her old favorite sayings.

  She chuckled. “You’ve got that right. Maybe they’re just throwing their weight around. I can’t imagine they would sue you. What could they possibly have to gain?”

  I shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. I guess they enjoy ruining lives.”

  “Your life isn’t ruined.”

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t be without a job. It isn’t like there are a lot of massage therapy clinics around here. I’m going to have to wait tables or something,” I grumbled.

  “Relax. We will figure something out.”

  I stuffed another bite of cake in my mouth. “How did they find out? I don’t understand.”

  My mother scoffed. “This is a small town. There are no secrets. Everyone knows someone that knows someone else. Instead of the six degrees of separation, we have maybe two degrees. There are eyes and ears everywhere. I can’t imagine they actually thought they could keep his location a secret. And the injury, well, I heard he did it during a game. Everyone that was watching would have seen him get hurt. The news and sports people, they all saw him walk off the field.”

  “What? How do you know?” I asked, surprised she knew anything about it.

  “Like I said, people talk. I never offered any information, but it has been the talk around town. I didn’t hear anything about him being here, but everyone knew about the injury. I think those people are just looking for someone to blame,” she said angrily.

  I smiled. “You and me both.”

  “Have you talked to Dayton about it?” she asked gently.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “Is he angry? I’ll talk to him if you want me to. I will tell him it wasn’t me and it certainly wasn’t you,” she said, her mama bear hackles going up.

  I shook my head. “No, you don’t need to do that. He came by my house earlier.”

  “So you have talked to him?”

  I shook my head. “No. I didn’t answer the door,” I told her, feeling a little foolish for my response.

  She burst into laughter. “Thatta girl! Way to face your problems head-on!”

  I groaned. “Mom. I didn’t know what to say. I know he thinks it was me. I ruined his life!”

  She rolled her eyes. “Since when did you become big on the dramatics? No one has had their life ruined. This is a bump in the road. He was already going to retire, or at least that’s what the buzz was. You didn’t hurt his arm. You are not responsible. If he wants to blame you, then so be it. Good riddance to the man.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not sure what he wanted. I didn’t give him the chance. He said he wanted to talk.”

  “I’m guessing he’s not mad at you then. If he went to your house and asked to talk, I doubt it was going to be a shouting match or a lecture. Maybe he needed you. Maybe he’s dealing with a lot and wanted to talk to you. Don’t try and tell me the two of you haven’t grown close these past few weeks. I’m old, not blind and not dumb. You care about him and I have a feeling he cares about you,” she said gently.

  “I don’t know. I just wish none of this would have happened,” I muttered.

  “That’s not true. If it hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t have gotten to meet him. You can’t tell me it was all bad. You’ve been pretty happy. I have hardly seen you. It was like my little girl had finally spread her wings,” she said with laughter.

  “I’m sorry. Did I neglect you? I told him I should have come over more often. I got so caught up in him, I couldn’t see clearly,” I said, feeling even more guilty.

  “Evie, I don’t need you to coddle me. I’m healthy. I’m getting my strength back and I can be alone. I appreciate all you have done for me, but I’m ready to be an adult again. You got me through a tough time, and I am ever so grateful you are my daughter and that you were here, but it’s time for you to have your own life. I want you to be happy. I don’t want my cancer to prevent you from being happy,” she said.

  “I am happy. Well, I was happy. Now I’m just a little lost.”

  “You’ll find your way. You always do. We’ll figure out a way,” she assured me.

  I thought about the expensive medicines she needed. I had been helping out, picking up her prescriptions and paying for them to ease her burden. I was already calculating how much I could get for selling my furniture. I was going to have to move back in with her. It would be easier to support one household rather than two.

  “Thanks, Mom, I really hope so. I’m sorry to dump all of this on you,” I murmured, feeling like a total failure.

  “It’s fine. I’m not worried. You shouldn’t be worried. Eat cake. Always eat cake when you need to think something through,” she said with a laugh.

  I scoffed. “If I ate cake every time I had a problem, I wouldn’t be able to fit through your front door.”

  “I’m sure you would find a way to work it off,” she said with a laugh.

  I cleared the table, feeling moderately better after getting her reassurance that it had definitely not been her that said anything. I knew it wouldn’t have been but hearing her say it helped ease my mind. It didn’t change the fact that my life as I knew it was over and I had no idea how I was going to pay rent or anything else. Dayton had breezed into my life without warning and been ripped from my life as fast as he had come in.

  I had told myself over and over not to get attached and I had gone and gotten attached. I wanted to bang my head against the wall. It wouldn’t solve anything and only leave me with a horrible headache.

  “I’m going to go,” I told her, giving her a quick hug.
/>   “Don’t stress out about this. You have enough savings to get by a couple of days.”

  I didn’t tell her that I really didn’t. She didn’t need to worry about my finances. I was a big girl. I left her house and drove back home, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. I locked the door and closed the blinds. I wanted to be completely alone while I wallowed. I wasn’t ready to talk to Dayton and honestly didn’t know if I ever would be. Even if his career was over, I knew he was gone from my life. He had the money to live anywhere. Hope was not his destination. He’d go on with his life and I would be stuck in Hope with no job and a serious lack of dignity if the team decided to sue me. Everyone would know I was the one with the loose lips. Regardless of the situation, they would blame me. I would become persona non grata in Hope and probably have to move anyway.

  “Why did you ever sign that stupid agreement?” I moaned.

  My mom was wrong. I wished I had never met Dayton. I wished he’d gone somewhere else for therapy. The time with him had been great, but it was a lot like chocolate cake. It was a moment of sweet ecstasy that was gone too soon. He was there and now he was gone.

  “Move on, Evie. Pull on your big girl panties and move on,” I told myself, heading for the kitchen to bust open the bottle of wine I had splurged on before I knew it would be the last bottle I could afford for a long time. I was going to drown my sorrows.

  Chapter 35

  Dayton

  I looked around the extended stay room and took a deep breath. It had been my home for months. It was the luxury I had craved, in the best area with an active city life just beyond the door. It was a place I could be proud to give as my address and show off how well I’d done for myself. It wasn’t a mansion, but I was working my way to that—was. That had been my goal. Goals change. When I had landed back in San Francisco a couple of days ago, I had mixed feelings. It was a lot like coming home and yet, I felt like I had left home at the same time. I loved California and the opportunities it presented, but it wasn’t the same. Being in the golden state made me miss home. What had once brought me so much joy and satisfaction was gone. It was only a place to visit.

  I took a deep breath and grabbed my phone off the kitchen counter before heading out. It was a rainy day, befitting my mood as I walked to the waiting car Victor had sent to pick me up. I didn’t necessarily feel stressed or nervous about what I was going to do. It was more like embarking on a road to clarity. It was like traveling in a circle, around and around and then suddenly finding the pathway out of the endless cycle. I had found my path.

  I walked into Victor’s office, looked at the pictures on the wall of the magazine covers he’d been on. Photos of him with the team and the many awards he’d won over the years. His storied career had been long and successful in the world of baseball, going from player to coach. I used to think his journey was one I wanted to embark on. Now, I wasn’t quite so sure.

  He stood and shook my hand. “Good to see you,” he said.

  “Is it, though?” I asked.

  “I’m sorry it’s on these terms, I really am. I was hoping things would work out. I can’t tell you how many guys I have seen go through this.”

  I let out a long sigh. “I guess it’s part of the game. You gamble with your health. If I was in football, it be my knees I’d have to worry about. I think athletes beat the hell out of their bodies without thinking of the long-term consequences.”

  Victor grinned. “Trust me, when you get to my age, it’s all you can think about. Every morning when you wake up and you feel every ache, every muscle strain and every slide into first and the first thing on your mind is reaching for the Advil. We do it because we love the game and we love the fame.”

  I laughed. “You’re right, so right. If only we could get a glimpse into our futures so we could have all the facts about what our love for the game and the fame would cost us.”

  “Shoot, son. Half the fun is not knowing what the future holds. Would you have really wanted it any different?”

  I shook my head. “Probably not. I wouldn’t have played as hard. I’d be too worried about protecting my arm.”

  “Exactly. Again, I’m really sorry about the arm. It’s a damn shame,” he muttered.

  I shrugged. “It’s fine. What time’s the press conference?”

  He checked his watch. “About an hour. Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “I have to. I can’t let this ride any longer. I shouldn’t have waited as long as I did. It’s only made things worse. We need to be honest with the fans or it’s really going to blow up in our faces,” I told him.

  He nodded. “I understand. I’m sorry it’s come to this, but I admire you for what you’re doing.”

  “It’s not your fault and don’t admire me. I’m only doing what needs to be done.”

  “We’ll be beside you. If there is a question you don’t want to answer, tap your finger once and I’ll take it or shut it down. I would suggest you keep it short and sweet. I don’t want you to say too much and reveal more than you want in the tabloids. Remember, give them a little nugget and they will take it and run with it. Your personal life will be splashed all over the papers and internet. I know the way you lived when you were here, but I’m not sure you want to keep that up for too long. There is such a thing as being overexposed. Look at those Kardashians,” he said, shaking his head.

  I smirked. “I don’t plan on ever reaching that level.”

  “Good.”

  We chatted a bit more, killing time before the press conference. When it was time to head to the conference room, the nerves hit. I took the offered water before taking a seat at the long table. Victor sat on the other side of me with the team press manager. I looked at the faces that I had talked to so many times in the past. They were all looking at me and I suddenly felt like the biggest asshole in the world. I had mistreated many of the people looking at me.

  “Let me start by apologizing,” I said, earning a lot of confused looks.

  Victor leaned over. “What are you doing?” he whispered.

  I ignored him. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated many of you over the past few years. It wasn’t okay. It doesn’t matter who I am or what my name is, I had no right to treat any of you with disrespect. For that, I’m truly sorry. Jim, you especially. I know I’ve been absolutely horrible to you. You were only doing your job and I made it more difficult for you. That wasn’t cool and I’m ashamed of my behavior.”

  The man was a local reporter who was a little older than the rest and not quite as pretty. He smiled and gave me a quick nod. “Thank you.”

  “Anyway, I’m here today to give you all an update on what’s going on. There are a lot of rumors and I want to get the truth out there. After the pitch, I went home to do some rehab on my arm to try and heal it and get back in the game. It turns out, it wasn’t just my arm I was rehabbing, it was me. It was the man I had grown into, a man that my parents couldn’t be proud of. A man I wasn’t proud to be. That’s changing. Everything is changing.”

  There were soft murmurs echoing around the room.

  “What does this mean, Dayton?” Jim asked.

  I looked at him and smiled. “It means I’m officially retiring from baseball. My arm is shot. My career in the MLB is part of my past. I’m looking forward to a very bright, fulfilling future.”

  There were gasps and the sounds of tapping on phones and the scratching of pens over paper. I had known they expected me to announce I was out for the season. I doubted they thought I would be out for good.

  “What happened?” someone shouted.

  “What happened?” I repeated. “I wanted to be the best. I wanted to get famous and be the next big thing. I wanted to have my face on cereal boxes and billboards. I worked too hard. I got caught up in this crazy idea that money and fame equaled success and happiness. I’ve learned it doesn’t. I cost myself a career because I ignored my trainers and the doctors and pushed too hard. Turns out I’m not always right and I
don’t know everything,” I said with a chuckle.

  The reporters laughed along with me, probably at me, but I was going to hope with me.

  “Will you be getting surgery?” someone asked.

  I debated whether or not that information was relevant and decided it wasn’t. I was stepping out of the public eye and didn’t feel like I needed to share that information. “I haven’t decided.”

  “Will you be staying in California?” someone else asked.

  I grinned. “I don’t know. I’m retiring, from all of it. I’m going back to being Dayton Black, the kid from a small town down south. I want to be a nobody. I suspect this is the last time any of you will ever print my name or think of me at all and I’m absolutely okay with that. I’ve enjoyed my time here and I appreciate Victor for giving me the chance to play a game I have loved for years. He’s taught me a lot, even if I didn’t show it.”

  Victor laughed. “You’ve been an excellent asset to the team and I’m sorry we didn’t get more time together.”

  I held out my hand, giving him a rather weak handshake with my awkward reach but hoping the cameras wouldn’t notice. The next questions were directed at Victor, giving me a reprieve. A part of me was going to miss the attention and the spotlight, but another part of me was looking forward to taking a step back and living a quiet life.

  We managed to get through the rest of the press conference. We got up and walked out of the room and headed back to his office. I took my seat again and let out a long breath. It felt good to get it all out on the table. I felt free.

  “Thanks for everything, Victor. Really. I didn’t think it would be so easy to leave the game, but I’m ready,” I told him.

  Victor smiled and nodded his head. “You’re a good kid. Cocky, but good.”

  “Thanks. Did you tell the lawyers what I told you?” I asked him.

  He nodded. “I did, but you know they don’t listen to a lot of what I say. They speak their own language.”

  “She doesn’t deserve what’s happening to her. I know you have no say over what happens with her job, but I want it made clear she was not the one who let out our little secret,” I told him. “My parents, they were only doing what they do. They pray. They pray about everything.” I laughed.